+- World of Pern (https://pern.second-pass.net/forum)
+-- Forum: Southern Pern (https://pern.second-pass.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Katila Outskirts (https://pern.second-pass.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=90)
+---- Forum: Candidate Isle (https://pern.second-pass.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=95)
+---- Thread: [Open] Dusty Halls (/showthread.php?tid=1375)
[Open] Dusty Halls - Oahvakeen - 05.Mar.13
![[Image: r2faqzN.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/r2faqzN.jpg)
Oahvakeen had agreed to a boat ride in the wee hours of the morning to reach the island, and a few days stay to assist a cleaning and stocking crew import new supplies and export whatever was close to spoiling back to the main Weyr, so it could quickly be consumed, lest it go bad. Things weren't usually this hectick, but with all the excitement over gold clutches, inventory and stocking had skipped the mind of the island's overseer. For Oahvakeen, it meant two days he wasn't sweating over a firey forge back in his crafthall, and though it was a trade-off in labor versus knowledge, at least it was a change. Perhaps others had come to assist, too, but he hadn't given it much notice.
Two young candidates dressed in pajamas trodded by, whispering to one another. "Did you hear that the basement really is haunted?"
"I heard the rumor, but how do they know for sure?", said the second candidate.
"Noises! Everyone heard the noises. Even Jacks poked her head in, and nearly passed out in fright, so it must be true!", replied the first, as they both turned a corner and disappeared.
Oahvakeen took no notice of them as he headed towards the stocking room. He took note of the room number on the door: "ground-level storage". With so many boxes, there was little time to waste, so he entered, let his eyes adjust, and began peering into boxes and taking inventory. He hadn't noticed that the door next to his said "Basement", and housed an exciting, new development inside.
But inside the Ground Level Storage room that Oahvakeen found himself in, there were only boxes. Rows and rows of boxes, most with labels, but some without. The smell of something rotten emanated faintly from a distant corner.
Re: [Open] Dusty Halls - Peorray - 03.Apr.13
To say that Peorray was not thrilled by this assignment would be something of an understatement. She'd never liked Candidate Isle, where she'd woken hurting (hangover), confused (hangover and drastic location shift) and angry (at the rider -hah!- who'd ultimately turned out to be responsible for all of the above). As soon as she'd made that promise not to escape, she'd moved on without looking back. The place likely hadn't improved with the recent neglect, either.
But she'd volunteered herself for the cleaning and restocking crew with the promise of a few whole, blissful days without chore duties afterward. She saw him here and there, but an extended, uninterrupted stretch of time with her son would be welcome. Not only was Soren growing so fast these days, but Peorray was still Standing for clutches, and could walk away with another young one demanding her attention at any one. Time now was precious.
At the moment, Peorray's precious time was being spent cleaning up where she was told to and shifting what needed moved to and fro. She'd sidled out of helping with the inventorying process itself, not wanting to rouse someone's irritation by taking too long with reading labels and figuring numbers. Some of the handwriting on them was horrible, anyway.
After a few other stops, the young woman poked her head in the open 'ground-level storage' door, followed by the rest of her as her eyes adjusted and took in Oahvakeen's presence. "Is there anything in here that needs to go yet?" Cleaning would have to wait until counting was done.
Though, Faranth knew, the room needed it. Peorray wrinkled her nose slightly as an odor tried to tease at her senses. Hopefully it wasn't the boy himself.
Re: [Open] Dusty Halls - Oahvakeen - 03.Apr.13
He was jotting down a number when all of a sudden, there was a voice. His writing utensil jumped in his hand, drawing a line where a dainty number should have been. He frowned at himself for being so gullible and jumpy. The whole place just set him on edge.
"Oh, I'm in here!", he called back. He moved to hold his clipboard at his waist, straining to see who was there. He barely made out the figure of a female near the door. "Uh, go? Uh...", his tongue and brain scrambled for words. "I, uh...", the fumbling continued. He realized he was stuttering because the stranger in the room was female. He'd just have to treat her like a male so he'd be able to think again.
"Uh. Over there.", successful improvement, but still vague. Just a man, just a man, this was only a man. "There's a pile of boxes with three on the bottom, two on the middle, and one on the top. They're all supposed to be some kind of citrus fruit, but mold got to them and spread. I wouldn't touch them with bare hands though, they're pretty nasty. I bet that's what smells."
Sounds from the room next door began to trickle through the walls. Faint scratching sounds. Wobbling sounds. Scraping sounds. A small explosion of some sort. And then guttural sounds. "Sounds like a wildcat is making babies next door, heh.", he commented. "I mean...", he began to stutter again at the realization he'd just made some sort of suggestive joke to a girl. Bad Oahvakeen, bad.
"I think we have to clean out that room too, but no one's gotten to it yet."
Re: [Open] Dusty Halls - Peorray - 04.Apr.13
Oh. The boy -man- looked a bit older than she'd first thought, the further she got into the room. Not that she was the best judge of such things, and being around dragonriders for a few Turns had eroded her ability to reckon ages based on appearance all to Between and back.
Peorray waited patiently for him to find his voice, feeling as though she ought to apologize for startling him as she obviously had. Some people just didn't react well to being surprised. But he got down to business quickly enough and she forgot about it as she found herself nodding in absent acknowledgement of the moldy citrus.
"I'd wait a bit and hope whatever's in there clears out first. Cats are supposed to be quick, right?" Peorray asked with all the frankness of a girl who'd grown up in a family of sheep breeders for whom animal mating habits were, if not exactly dinner table conversation, fairly common topics of discussion. "I just hope it is cats, and not tunnelsnakes or something." There was at least one type of those that was poisonous, if she remembered correctly.
Re: [Open] Dusty Halls - Oahvakeen - 18.Apr.13
Oahvakeen stared at the sounds, forgoing his chart-keeping as he gazed at the walls of the room nearest the noises. He grimaced, and wasn't sure what else to do.
"Yeah, maybe it's best to let them finish. Sounds like we'll have a mess to clean up. I wonder how they got in anyways.", he pondered aloud. Some girls interrupted them in noisy conversation as they walked by.
"No, I want to escape first."
"No, I want to escape first!"
"No, me."
"Me!", the two looked quite alike, both with soft medium length brown hair straight down their backs and long bangs.
Were they really talking about escaping as if it was such a trivial thing? Arguing amongst themselves like a pair of children insisting they each go first down the slide? He felt embarrassed and angry and his cheeks blushed with both emotions. He waited for them to stop the nonsense.
They only stopped right outside the doorframe, and continued their arguing. "Me first!", "No, me!", "Me!", one girl reached up and raked the side of the other girl's face with her finger nails. The first girl did the same, and soon they were scratching at one another's faces.
"Uhhh...", he watched the scene unfold in complete disbelief. Who had the foresight to search those two out?
Re: [Open] Dusty Halls - Peorray - 19.Apr.13
Peorray couldn't believe what she was hearing at first. A brief flash of gratitude to the new girls for interrupting a potentially awkward silence died a quick death as the two fought over who would be the first to 'escape'. If such a thing were possible (and she rather doubted it, from the practical considerations alone), better than these two had tried. Her eyes flicked from the girls to Oahvakeen and she could feel her face start to flush with embarrassment on behalf of female-kind. Of all the stupid catfights-!
"You know, part of me wants to encourage their so-called escape attempts. It's bound to be a good laugh." Peorray spoke in a softer tone to avoid attracting the combatants' attention, stepping closer to the man so she could still be heard. "But all it would take is the wrong rider with a poor sense of humor to come along when I said it. And my mother did teach me better than that."
"It's funny who the riders thought would make good rider material, isn't it?" Of course, that may not have been the brain the rider was thinking with when he picked these two up. Once upon a time, Peorray would've been judging the man for that, but enough time at Katila had relaxed her mores a bit. Those who'd had sex outside of wedlock shouldn't throw stones, and if there was one thing she wasn't, it was a hypocrite.
Re: [Open] Dusty Halls - Oahvakeen - 20.Apr.13
He nodded to Peorray's comment about encouraging them to leave; his ears and brain would certianly be thankful. But was he concerned about what would happen if the girls got caught? He thought for a moment. No, he didn't care, and he felt that they even deserved it. Heck, he'd take a whipping for them to attempt to escape and get caught anyday. Not that he was sadistic or mean, but that they deserved it.
"I don't know why they were searched. Let's ask them". Peorray hadn't asked him to ask, she had just talked about her feelings. But typical guys didn't understand the difference between wanting to talk about feelings and wanting problems solved. She'd posed a question, so he'd get the answer.
"Hey, hey!", he had to call loudly at first, and then softly to catch their attention. They paused.
"Did you hear something?"
"It came from in there."
"Ew, there's boxes in there. "
"And this ugly guy and disgusting girl. Ugh, who is she kidding in that outfit."
"Yeah, who picked out your clothes for you, was it mommy?", a bout of laughter followed from both girls.
"Aww, someone failed the gold try-outs. Waah, waah.", she made a crying expression, rubbing her fists near her eyes as she taunted Peorray.
"What were you both searched for?", Oahvakeen asked. Keeping a straight, blank face was very, very hard.
"Weaving.", said the first, the two girls responding one after another.
"Harping.", said the second
"And goldrider.", said the first.
"No,I'm going to be a gold rider first. I'm going to be the weyrlady."
"But who asked you? You're dirty and disgusting."
"And ugly."
"Like, whatever."
"Laughing out loud!"
Oahvakeen turned a worried glance to Peorray to see how she was faring under the battery of insults and verbal abuse from the two girls who seemed more like outwardly pretty, but inwardly hyenas.
Re: [Open] Dusty Halls - Peorray - 21.Apr.13
Wait- what? Since when had 'I don't know why they were Searched' come to mean 'I know, let's ask them!'? But the few moments Peorray spent staring at him in confusion meant that when Oahvakeen called out to the airheads, she was too late to shush or distract him.
Males.
Because she'd probably had more experience than her companion with the sort of behavior that petty little bitches like these were capable of, she wasn't entirely surprised when they started in on her looks. Having her clothing targeted was a bit new, but the teasing itself so ridiculous that Peorray found it hard to take seriously.
And then Oahvakeen actually asked his question, and Peorray's first impulse was to laugh at their answers. The girls who'd just been planning to escape were also fighting over who was going to Impress first? Yeah, that made sense. But then they continued taunting Oahvakeen and, ridiculous as the insults were, they actually made her angrier than the ones to herself. The anger made a her take a step forward, fists half-raised at her sides as she wondered exactly how much trouble she'd get into for just popping the two in the nose, and if the punishment might be worth it anyway.
But then a thought struck her, so brilliant that it drove the anger right out of her mind. She turned her motion into a hand wave toward the room they'd heard the suspicious sounds coming from. "You know, you're right. My outfit is no match for yours." Peorray dropped her eyes as though in shame. "But they said that room is where they put the women's dresses- maybe you could check it out, and give me some advice?" Sweet as pie, and something no one with half a brain would probably fall for.
Re: [Open] Dusty Halls - Oahvakeen - 22.Apr.13
Peorray kept silent throughout most of the conversation, and Oahvakeen followed suit, mostly because he didn't know what else to do. Everything about them turned Oahvakeen off, and even their physical beauty seemed to wane and pale. He didn't have anything against their voices, but the way they went on and on bothered him.
At last, Peorray stepped up to the plate, saving him the embarrasment of doing it himself. After all, what could he possibly say? He had a slight smile on his face, feeling that Peorray would put them in their places. But what she said suprised him, and a quick expression of horror flashed on his features.
He had to do something, had to say something, but what? He couldn't just stand there like a rag doll while Peorray consented to this verbal abuse! He had to ... wait, what? Ohhhhh.....
"Maybe you could help us by taking an inventory of the ... dresses? Since we're here to help you guys and all.", he stepped forwards and handed a sheet of paper and a pencil to the first girl. It was their turn to look horrified now.
"No way! I won't touch that!", said the first.
"Why- ooh, I forgot you can't write.", replied the second
"I can too, shut up!"
"No you can't, everyone knows you only passed your literacy class because you slept with the instructor."
"It wasn't my fault that he was young and attractive."
"That's cause you dress so skanky!"
"So do you!"
And so the banter continued between them.
"Maybe you could just tell me what's in there and I'll write them down then.", Oahvakeen tried.
"No way! We're not doing work for you, ugly boy!", whined the first.
"Yeah, ulgly-boy, red monkey thing ugly man!", the second tried an insult, and the first looked back at the second as if she'd just sprouted three heads.
"Well....", he tried his wits. "We don't know what's in there until we write it all down, so if someone wanted to, they could permanently accidentally borrow something and no one would ever know because it wasn't in the inventory."
The girls eyes widened and they made a dash for the door, opened it, and then shrieked.
Oahvakeen quickly rushed through his room and into the next, to discover the two girls covered in nine total squirming firelizards delighted at their presence. He drew back into the hall, and then back into the room where Peorray had been.
"They found some .. ah... poop.", he made up a lie. He just didn't feel like telling her that the girls had just bonded with an entire clutch of firelizards and there were none left. Besides, the lie sounded like a more believable story.
"Remember that girl?", the voices of the two girls echoed from the wall next door.
"Which one?"
"The ugly one we were just talking to."
"Yeah? What about her? She was ugly."
"Let's pick up the ugliest dirtiest dress and make her wear it."
"Hahaha, yeah! Like ugly Cindera!"
"Cinderella?"
"Yeah! Except she'll never get a weyrmate or have a happily ever after or ever go to a ball on pumpkins!"
"... Sometimes I worry about you."
"Aww! How nice!"
Oahvakeen turned to Peorray. "So ah... what are you going to do if they do find an ugly dress in there? What would you consider ugly? I don't like the color pink, it makes me feel unmanly.",
He turned to a crate, lifted the lid, peered inside, and marked "oranges, 5, spoiled" on his sheet.
Re: [Open] Dusty Halls - Peorray - 24.Apr.13
It seemed like forever before the airheads took the bait and rushed into the room. Peorray frowned when she heard them shriek, trying to decide whether it was a good shriek or a bad one. When she didn't hear any snarls or shouts of joy, she started for the doorway to the other room to see for herself. With her luck, they really had found dresses in there, and maybe the secret way to escape that the Weyrleaders didn't want anyone to find. She pulled up short when Oahvakeen rushed back to report instead.
The content of his report got him a skeptical look and a brief glance over his shoulder toward the other room, but she shrugged and headed back to their work. At least he'd got rid of them. And if the mental image of the two covered in animal shit made her smile a little anyway, so much the better.
"At this point, I'd probably try to gag them with it." She answered truthfully. "I don't have much faith in their ability to judge beauty, though, so they might actually bring back something pretty by accident." Once Oahvakeen had inventoried the first crate, she moved to set it aside in the discard pile. "Also, I wouldn't put two marks on their remembering our existence ten minutes from now. Those two are two stuck on themselves to think about anyone else that long."
Which one, indeed!
Re: [Open] Dusty Halls - Oahvakeen - 25.Apr.13
A smile crept on Oahvakeen's lips at the thought of Peorray gagging the girls with feeces.
"Brownies ...", he said aloud as he imagined the color and consistency of his thoughts.
"That's true. It's not their selfishness that worries me though, it's their lack of intelligence. If one ever did impress a gold, I'd probably throw up right then and there out of insult. Imagine one of those girls as weyrlady, too. The whole weyr would be upside down and inside out. I think everyone's lives would be a little bit better if they did leave..."
-- fade out --
OOC: Looks like a nice place to close, feels like that time...