[Log] No More Kissy Face
Who: Ephara, R'dur, Trevan
When: Day 22, Month 9, Turn 13
Where: Candidate Barracks, Telgar Weyr
What: The morning after the party, R'dur stops by to talk to Ephara and Trevan about what Ziglan told him. In the process, he proves he is the world's most pathetic candidate coordinator.
Candidate Barracks, Telgar Weyr
This cavern has a rather low ceiling, with many openings for air, since this becomes an abode for a large number of people before every hatching. Every inch of the floor is kept clean, although little of it can be seen due to the many rows of cots that fill most of the space. The central part of the cavern is rather dim, as most of the glows are on the walls. Little decoration is evidenced except for a few personal effects. You wouldn't call it uncomfortable unless the unusually low ceiling for a weyr makes you claustrophobic. On the wall, scrupulously maintained, is a list of Candidates and their assigned chores for the day. Tampering with it is rumored to be an offense punishable by death or latrine duty for the rest of one's life.
Contents:
Ziglan
Ephara
Revuen
Stone Ledges
Obvious exits:
Lower Caverns
The morning after the party, when most of the others candidates are finishing getting ready and heading to their chores, R'dur makes his way against the flow and into the barracks, looking a little tired and definitely unhappy as he moves to the side and stops, glancing around the barracks and earning lots of curious looks in return, and a few sniggers from those who've heard the gossip that gets around so quickly.
Ephara is sitting on her cot, which she's apparently decided to move back into now that she and Trevan are speaking again. She burrows around in her press, holding a sock up triumphantly when she finds the mate to the one already on her foot. "Ahhah, you scoundrel, thought you could hide from me. I'm trickier than your trickiest, mister sock." Lifting her bare foot into the air, she pulls the errant sock on with satisfaction and then drops to her knees on the floor to find her boots where she hid them. Head beneath her cot, she's oblvious to R'dur's entrace just yet, newly covered toes wiggling as her hand can be heard smacking in search of her beat up shoes.
Trevan is, of all things, remaking his bed, tongue sticking out a bit as he works on getting the blankets smoothed out. Every time he tweaks the covers though this one wrinkle starts up on the far side of the cot and when he tweaks that one, a different one pops up in the middle. Back. Forth. Back. Forth. Finally Trevan throws his hands in the air and just sits on the cot, hands resting on its edge. But then R'dur walks in so he gets right back up and nods. "Good morning sir."
"Trevan," says R'dur, rubbing the back of his neck as he glances to the man, and then the half of Ephara that's sticking out from under her cot. "Ah. Ephara?" he asks hesitantly. "Good morning. How are you?"
Ephara squeals in dismay as something plops on the back of her hand, withdrawing her arm and leaping to her feet with such speed and force she nearly falls backwards again, shaking her hand violently as far from her body as she can stretch it. Flailing her arms and hopping backwards away from her cot, her eyes scan the floor for any trace of the offending spinner. "Guh.." she gives a final shudder, certain the tiny arachnid has disappeared, and then sees R'dur out of the corner of her eyes. "Huh, what? Oh..Ah, hello, R'dur, sir." She tugs on her lower lip, glancing aside at Trevan with a 'we're in for it now' look plastered all over her face.
Trevan looks remarkably calm for all there's supposedly about to be the Wrath of R'dur cast about. He nods once and answers the Weyrsecond's question. "I'm good, thanks."
R'dur just stares at Ephara, and takes a step back as she reacts so violently. "Ah. Are you... all right?" he asks after another moment, hesitant, as he shoots a glance at Trevan as though the young man is going to give any sort of explanation. Then, ruffling his hair again, the brownrider offers, "Let's sit. How about we sit? That would be better. And then we can--talk." He sounds about as enthusiastic about it as the pair of them do.
Ephara clears her throat and looks extremely sheepish, rubbing the back of her hand against the fabric across her ribcage as if she can still feel six tiny legs crawling across it. "Crawlies, I don't really like crawlies. Er, sure.. sitting's alright." She glances back at her cot mistrustfully before plunking her butt down on it and glancing between both men slowly.
There's a light shrug from Trevan about the spinner. "Lots of spinners in the Barracks, sir. I'm sure you remember." He chews on his lip then gestures to his cot and press. "Right here, sir?"
"If you don't mind?" R'dur glances at Trevan, and then the cot. "All right. I... scrubbed my cot and around it. It was disgusting," he admits the latter to Ephara, with a very weak attempt at a smile. He moves to perch on the edge of the cot, plainly not very comfortable even now. "So... What happened? The other night?" he finally gets to business.
"Not at all, sir." Trevan for his part, remains standing creating a sort of lopsided pyramid between himself, Ephara and the Weyrsecond, hands going to his pockets, posture upright, yet somehow casual. Really, he doesn't looked fussed by the entire proceedings at all. "Not much, really, when you get down to it sir."
Trevan pages to Ephara and R'dur: In the interests of keeping things moving, I'm jumping you 'Phara 'cos I'll be idling ina second
Ephara looks aside at Trevan and licks her lips, nodding her head and letting him do the talking for now, her toes wiggling as she holds her legs out straight in front of her, watching R'dur though it seems like she's looking at her feet.
"The truth, please?" R'dur asks, with a puppy-dog expression that, on anyone else, would be borderline manipulative, but on him is as guileless as everything else he does. "I know... that's not it."
"That is the truth, sir." Trevan meets R'dur's gaze, equally guileless, apparently unaffected by puppy dog eyes, at least on other guys. "Ephara got mad, threw her plate at me. Mostly missed because I ducked."
And from the way he says that, clearly, Trevan doesn't think it's that big of a deal.
Ephara looks at the wall, eyes rolled up towards her hairline, face blank for a moment. "Really, it was all a misunderstanding. We've talked things through and everything is just fine between us now. It won't happen again."
"Yes, I... I got the gist of that," admits R'dur, ducking his head. His brows knit as he glances at the pair. "But I was really... I mean, I wanted to--know why, really. I mean, if there's something going on--" Ephara's reassurances do not ease his mind, apparently, because he adds, "What happened, then?"
"Like 'Phara said, it was a mis-, misunderstandin'." The word is tripped over, not out of nerves but lack of use, Trevan frowning a little over it. "Y'know, from not bein' on the same page. Not thinkin' the same way." He nods once when that's explained to his satisfaction. "Uh ... I left? Had to go take my blankets to the laundry and whatnot, get new ones. Then I had to take a bath too. 'Cos of the food see."
Ephara's mouth trembles a bit to contain her smirk, but she manages to keep it under control. "Well, you see, I was thinking that my friend Ed was promising me to help me get in good with Trevan while she there liked Ferros and I was gunna help her get in good with him. But then I got it in my head that she'd gone behind my back and she and Trevan were a bit of something. But they aren't, and I just had a bit of overreaction. I ain't used to being cooped with so many people, it's starting to make me a little uncomfortable, you know? But honestly, no big deal. No harm done."
R'dur blinks at Ephara, hesitating as she answers. One hand rakes back through his hair before he asks slowly, "Was that... where the, um. Snogging--" he pinkens slightly "--came in?" A glance drifts between the pair.
Steadily, Trevan nods very seriously. "Yessir. That's what it was about. 'Course, I ain't never kissed Ephara, 'cos we're friends, see?"
Ephara makes a face, "Snogging? No, no snogging. Not us at least. I don't snog." she makes a face of disgust. "Er, yeah, what he said, I dunno who told you anything about snogging." yes she does, but she's not a squealer like Ziglan. "But no kissing."
There is, on R'dur's part, a very long pause then. "Edlyn?" he suggests after a moment, quite uncertainly when Trevan denies Ephara. This time, when it's the girl who's less than helpful, he glances to the younger man.
For that, there's only one answer and Trevan doesn't flinch as he looks R'dur right in the eye with a two word reply. "Yessir."
Ephara makes a face, though her head is turned away from R'dur once more. Her toes take up wiggling once more in irritation as she glances across at Trevan.
R'dur takes a deep breath, grimacing. "Right," he says heavily. "Well. I... This is why--this is why we ask candidates not to get involved in relationships. It makes things so... complicated, and difficult, when you're in such close quarters--especially if it goes... sour, and especially if you should impress together and be crowded even more, and with dragons to worry about upsetting," he offers after a moment, lips pursing. "I can't really... I have to do something, you understand, it's my job, and I have to, and I'm sorry?"
Ephara's eyebrows raise slightly in alarm, looking hard at R'dur. "You aren't gonna kick us out, are you, right? It was just a silly arguement.. Trevan didn't even really do anything, see. I was the one who got mad and stuff.." She twists her fingers together over her lap, drawing her lower lip into her mouth.
"Begging your pardon sir, but you said no tumblin'. And last I checked ain't none of us in here gettin' hitched. Ain't a single rule been broken. 'Less you wanna maybe spell that one out a bit better, 'cos there's a world of difference between 'no sex' and 'no kissin''." Trevan still seems remarkably unperturbed, shoulders rolling a little as he eyes R'dur quizzically.
"Kick you out!" R'dur blinks, eyes widening slightly in surprise at that suggestion. "Should I? I don't want to. I don't think--I mean, it's not going to happen again, is it? /Any/ of it?" He tilts his head slightly as he looks seriously between the two. "And it's... the spirit of the law, really. No fighting, no sex--that doesn't just mean no, no sex or punching each other." He does not look terribly certain about it, though.
Ephara shakes her head, "I'm much happier eating my food, honestly, than throwing it." She says sincerely. "Asides, like I said, we're good." She glances at Trevan and shakes her head, mouthing to herself with amusement, "Though you might have to get the Healers to stich his lips shut."
"I'll take my lumps if you decide so, sir. Don't really wanna get kicked out." Trevan's still blunt-spoken as the conversation continues and he shrugs again. "Like I said. Might wanna spell it out then. 'Cos it's about as clear as mud that way and I woulda never thought to ask about each n' everything between a kiss and well ... y'know, all the way." Unlike R'dur, Trevan doesn't seem to have /any/ problem whatsoever spelling things out without blushing. There's nary a sign of pink on the young man's cheeks and he seems honestly perplexed by the whole thing. "'Sides, with this many young folks, if anybody seriously thinks every tiny bit o' snugglin' is gonna stop? Well, that ain't real sensible is it?" Ephara's last earns a smirk from Trevan. "Yeah, yeah. All right. I'll hush up."
Even having someone else spell it out makes R'dur pinken slightly again. "Well. Consider this--consider this clarification, then," he finally concedes. "I don't want this--any of this, the, the kissing or throwing food or anything else, no arguments like that--happening again, okay? It doesn't... it really doesn't stay quiet, you know--not in a Weyr, and, well, next time I'll really /have/ to do something."
An indelicate snorting noise is Ephara's reply to R'dur, sighing, "If it's alright, then, the lunch rush is about to begin and I'm on serving detail, which means I'll probably be taking Olwyn and Gr'din out their meals and all." She glances at Trevan. "We'll talk later, eh?" While said in airy fashion, there's a hint of a frown on her face.
Looking a little non-plussed, Trevan nods a few times. "Might want to post that up, sir. So everyone knows it. I ain't tellin' who else, but I sure as daisies ain't the only one." He sticks his hands back in his pockets then and nods again, this time at Ephara. "Sure. See you later Ephara."
"You understand, don't you, Ephara?" R'dur presses, frowning himself. "I don't... Please don't make me have to do something. Really." Another glance between the pair, and he nods. "Go on; get to work. If anyone says anything about you being late, tell them I kept you, please. And I'll speak to everyone about the--issue." Glum in regard to that, he still manages a tentative smile for the pair.
Ephara waves a hand, "Yeah yeah, I got it. Don't beat the boys up, don't kiss 'em neither. Keep a friendly distance and ignore them if I can. Should be easy enough, they're all gits anyways." Grinning mischeviously she scampers out of the cavern before R'dur can get after her more for being pert.
R'dur just sighs, shaking his head as Ephara skips out. "I'm too old for this," he murmurs to himselft, and pushes himself tiredly to his own feet again.
"Don't worry sir. Before you know it the eggs will hatch and then we'll be out of your hair one way or the other." Trevan's actually trying to /jolly/ the Weyrsecond? "For what it's worty, m'sorry for any trouble, R'dur."
"Until you impress and end up in the wings," R'dur notes with a shake of his head but a small smile for Trevan. "It's okay, really. Thank you for telling me the truth, at least, and... Well. I'm sorry, too. But I should let you get back to your chores, so I'll see you later. Have a good day." He moves to leave himself then, heading back out into the day.
Trevan stands there for a moment longer, watching the Weyrsecond out. "Good day t'you too, sir." Then he turns back to his clothes press and puts on his junkiest clothes for what's an apt duty for the day, given the turn of events: latrines. Lovely latrines. Le sigh.