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+--- Thread: [G] [C] 742.02.09 | Discreet Confrontation (/showthread.php?tid=4830)
742.02.09 | Discreet Confrontation - V'lis - 09.Feb.21
It had been a week and still no sign of the clutch hatching. Probably the gold's fault, Corvilis mused to himself as he wandered the lower caverns. With how angry she'd been she probably scared the babies into staying quiet in their shells without wanting to come out. He was still going to Stand though, even if he thought his chances were even lower. Fetch had whined about how his friends should still go and let him know how things went and in order to get the guy to shut up Corv had agreed even though he wasn't one of the friends the man had been whining about.
Still, hopefully that would all be over with soon so he could go home and wait for bigger clutches to Stand for. Maybe he'd just stay in Ista and wait there so that he could at least take walks outside more comfortably instead of lurking in the lower caverns because he couldn't be assed to put on his coat. He was tempted to go back and get his coat anyway so that he wouldn't just be staring at tunnels while he roamed. This close to a hatching he didn't want to get into a game of cards and risk getting itchy fingers and cheating, especially after he'd been scolded by that egg.
Might as well go back and get his coat. He sharply turned around and jumped as he suddenly saw that D'hys had been right behind him. "Shit!" He scrambled back a couple of steps and caught his breath as he tried to calm down. "You can't just sneak up on a man like that. You got a job for me or something?"
RE: 742.02.09 | Discreet Confrontation - D'hys - 10.Feb.21
"Or something," D'hys agreed and took two steps forward to help close the gap. "And you will find I can do whatever I want." It wasn't entirely true but close enough to it that it counted and the truth rang clear in his words. It helped to befriend the Weyrleader--although their working friendship began in Katila with the wings. He had helped to cover and keep R'nya's secret lover as exactly that and did some shadier tasks for the man. When R'nya got his cushy job, D'hys didn't waste time ensuring he got a piece of the action. The downside was he had to do some boring and legit work but R'nya also turned a blind eye in more...delicate matters.
Corvilis was at risk of becoming a delicate matter.
"It's time for a little chat, Corvilis." D'hys finished closing the space between them and pinned Corvilis against the wall with a firm hand on the Candidate's chest. "I was tasked with ensuring the whole mess with the Touching was properly cleaned up and something odd came to light. Your name appeared on a tongue. Care to explain why that would happen?"
RE: 742.02.09 | Discreet Confrontation - V'lis - 10.Feb.21
Corvilis immediately narrowed his eyes and frowned, quickly backing away from D'hys until his back was against the wall. He quickly looked around to try and decide which way would be the best way to run if he needed to. What the fuck had D'hys pissed off at him? Had he stolen from someone too important? He didn't think he'd fucked up any of the jobs the bluerider had assigned him. Certainly not bad enough to warrant this sort of reaction.
"The fuck is this about? I didn't say nothing to anybody about any of the stuff you had me do," Corvilis said in a low hiss. Then D'hys mentioned the Touching and he bit back a curse. Who the fuck talked?! He'd find out and he'd figure out something to do to them once he made it out of here. If he made it out of here.
Not that what happened was his fault in the first place! Corv scowled, his mind quickly maneuvering the events that happened to diminish his own contribution. "I was waiting on some guy to finish up with an egg, and as I walked past him my foot slipped in the sand. It was just enough that he also tripped. I tried to apologize but then he went off and bumped into someone else and those two assholes got in a fight and I stayed the fuck out of it like Fetch should have done."
Hopefully that would satisfy the angry bluerider and help Corv keep his skin intact. He did his best to try and keep calm though, or at least as calm as he could as he was being pressed against the wall.
RE: 742.02.09 | Discreet Confrontation - D'hys - 10.Feb.21
D’hys continued with his cold stare after the Candidate had finished his version of the event. He didn’t quite believe it—after all, Corvilis was a liar and a thief. It would be easy enough to spin a lie from the truth, especially as he had a week to work on it in case a moment like this happened. He didn’t need Zeianth to prod around in Corvilis’ head, a task D’hys reserved for only the toughest of nuts to crack since neither of them enjoyed the task. It was somewhat cheating to pull information straight from an unguarded mind and Zeianth insisted they both still had some morals and should stick to them.
“Is that all? Then you have nothing to worry about, do you?” He finally asked, though his hold on Corvilis didn’t let up any. In a way, keeping the kid pinned was keeping D’hys from punching him. He did believe Corvilis—mostly. From all accounts, Corvilis hadn’t been involved in the fight, just the initial collision. The part D’hys didn’t believe was whether it was innocent or not. He suspected it wasn’t and that patience was something the Candidate wasn’t too intimate with and likely tripped the other man for taking too long. In a way, Corvilis was to blame for the death of the unborn dragon and D’hys was ready to find him guilty and drop him between like he had done with the two careless idiots that had been in the fight. But R’nya wouldn’t appreciate this death as much as he did the other two and D’hys knew he would have to keep the kid close to keep an eye on him for a while.
“I advise you keep your head down, work on your patience, and don’t test my own patience or kindness again. I would hate for you to end up like those two fools who fought.” A slow grin slid into place and D’hys finally moved to give a rough double tap slap to Corvilis’ cheek as if he was patting a friend’s shoulder. “Are we clear?” He asked as he took a step back so the kid could flee, hopefully in terror.
RE: 742.02.09 | Discreet Confrontation - V'lis - 10.Feb.21
Corv kept his eyes on D'hys, not liking the look he saw in the man's eyes at all. He could have tried to call for Fern or Sky to get in his face and distract him, but he knew in his gut that wouldn't turn out well for him at all. One of the lizards would probably get hurt, D'hys would get angrier, and the attention the incident drew would probably end up twisted in the bluerider's favor anyway. The man was the sort who could and would see that sort of thing happen.
So Corvilis swallowed nervously as he tried to keep his own posture submissive, tried to shrink as best he could with the hand pinning him against the wall. It wasn't his fault, D'hys was just pissed at someone else and it was spilling over. That's all, he thought to himself. Just keep quiet, wait for it to blow over and try to ingratiate himself back into the man's good graces until it was time to leave and head back home.
He couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the fighters, but he wasn't about to ask, instead just nodding instead of talking back for once. His patience was fine after all, he just... chose to ignore it sometimes. Corv winced at the light slaps to his face, hating the gesture more than it actually hurting. "Got it, we're clear. I'm not trying to do anything to piss you off, I didn't get in any fights or anything like that."
The impulse to run was ignored, because D'hys very much reminded him of a predator in that moment and running from a predator was the last thing you wanted to do. Instead Corvilis stayed leaning back against the wall for a moment, trying to think of some sort of bone he could toss the bluerider to ease the man's temper. "Look, I know you're pissed at me and even though it's because of those two assholes I want to make it up to you. Next job you give me I'll do for free. I don't want any bad blood or shit between us... I'm not a bad guy, I'd rather we stay on good terms."
Fuck he hoped that worked as some sort of apology and didn't just piss the bluerider off more.
RE: 742.02.09 | Discreet Confrontation - D'hys - 11.Feb.21
Corvilis seemed to enjoy running his mouth and wasn't quite as clever as he seemed to be. Sure, backing away and fleeing could be seen as a weakness but the kid had to realise he was the weaker of the two and he was being given an easy out. Prolonging their exchange raised the chances that D'hys would change his mind or find a new way to instill fear.
However, the Flight victory the day before was still leaving Zeianth in a smug and good mood which meant D'hys was feeling some of it. It was easy enough at this stage in their bond to block it out but D'hys enjoyed their connection and sharing good moods. So Corvilis had been blessed with a slightly mellowed yet angry bluerider.
"How kind of you," D'hys drawled, not really impressed by the gesture. He saw it for what it was; a way to save his own skin and keep some marks rolling in. "I will take that offer and politely remind you how if you take one wrong step, I will know and I will use that against you and not need to pay you for your services after that."
Again he grinned. "But no bad blood and all that, right? I'll be in touch when I have something for you to do." Instead of letting Covilis flee again, D'hys ended the conversation with another step back and turned his back on the kid, showing how little of a threat Corvilis posed to him, and made his way down the hall.
RE: 742.02.09 | Discreet Confrontation - V'lis - 11.Feb.21
"Yeah... yeah. I've been trying not to start any serious shit in your Weyr, been doing jobs for you, keeping all my personal shit on the small side but you know about that. Just card hustles on occasion, nothing serious. I don't want to do anything to piss you off, D'hys. Really." Corvilis stayed with his back against the wall as he watched and waited.
Somehow the bluerider's grin was not at all comforting. "Yeah... no bad blood. Just let me know..." as soon as D'hys turned his back on him and walked away, Corv took that opportunity to turn and make his own hasty exit, fighting the urge to run until he was at least around a corner.
Fuck. Not how he wanted his evening to go, not how he wanted any of his time in Fort to go honestly. Hopefully this would all blow over and D'hys would just forget he was pissed at him. And if not, hopefully he could either find a way to really get back into the rider's good graces or just never come back to Fort. Either were options, though one was certainly much easier to do than the other. For now he was going to slink back to his cot and have a drink and wait until the Hatching or D'hys came to him with a job, whichever came first.