Part of 'Everyone'
Nature abhors a virgin - a frozen asset. ~Clare Booth Luce
OOC Date: November 13, 2009
IC Date: Day 15, Month 3, Turn 21
Who: Gabrion, P'ax
Where: Bathing Pool, High Reaches Weyr
P'ax has moved in on Gabe's crush Shad, and gets glared at a lot for it. Gabrion would like to get laid, but failing that, he at least would like people to acknowledge the existence of the possibility, however remote, that he could get laid. P'ax does not give him satisfaction on either score, but Gabe is somewhat mollified at having his manly bits checked out.
For someone who, often as not, goes around with a scowl on his face that's black enough to frighten the kitchen staff, Gabrion is in quite a good mood today. He's humming to himself as he strides into the bathing cavern, finds a place to leave his stuff, and shucks off his clothes. He makes straight for the hottest of the pools and slides in, and settles himself against the ledge with a happy sigh in anticipation of a nice, relaxing soak.
P'ax comes in looking mused, sweaty, sleepy, and somehow very satisfied. Rather than look around before he starts shucking clothes, he goes about it in a daze, stalking into one of the pools and sinking down into it. Finally he notices that he's not the only one in it. "Oh...hey Gabe," he offers as he realizes that he recognizes the boy in the pool.
Gabrion might or might not have been watching P'ax's approach through half-lidded eyes. When the greenrider greets him, he perks up and sits up straighter in the pool. "Hey P'ax," he says cheerfully. "How's it going? How's Yyth?"
P'ax can't blame the boy for looking, being a fine specimen of, um...sweaty manliness... or something. "Things are good, she's good," he decides, grinning languidly. He lifts a dripping hand out of the water to run through his hair and asks, "How are you? Good day?"
"Yeah, pretty good," Gabrion says with a smile that turns a bit bashful as he adds, "I got some news." He doesn't come out with it right away, though, but waits to see if P'ax shows any interest.
P'ax knows how to follow the line of a conversation and a lead in so obligingly he arches an eyebrow and drawls out a long, "Oh?" Meanwhile he's searching for the soapsand to start lathering up.
Gabrion isn't bothering with the soap just yet; he means to have a good soak, first. "Yeah," he says happily. "Madilla talked Journeyman Delifa into writing to healer hall and asking them if I can get reinstated as an apprentice, but posted here. So I wouldn't have to go back but... I could keep up with my studies and all, and still be a healer. If they say yes."
P'ax ahs quietly and smiles, seemingly truly pleased for the younger boy. "That was very nice of Madilla. If that's what you want, then I'm very happy for you. It's, er, you know... nice having you here and all."
Gabrion blinks in surprise and smiles, at the last bit. "Aw, well, thanks! It's good to be here. And have friends, and everything." P'ax is apparently numbered among those. "It was /really/ nice of Madilla," he agrees. "I mean, it's the perfect idea really, and not like I hadn't thought of it but I wasn't going to ask, you know? But she brought it up so I was like sure, okay, whatever, and then she asked Delifa and /she/ said yes, so... maybe that means the people at the hall will too. Maybe not. But it's not like I have anything to lose, right?"
P'ax chuckles and splashes a bit of water lazily at Gabrion for his exhuberance, scrubbing the back of his neck with the soap and then down his shoulders. "No, you don't, do you. Either way, you don't have to go back to those jackasses..." He clicks his tongue together and asks, "You ever right your friend back there though? The one who came out to say goodbye?"
"Firistan," Gabe says with a smile. "Yeah, we write now and then. This other guy too, Corvahl's his name. I write to him, too. I mean, I did have /some/ friends there, it was just... you know." He shrugs a little. And waits until P'ax has let his guard down before he splashes back.
P'ax nods his head a few times absently. "Good, good. I wish I'd had a few friends when I was your age." He chuckles when the splashes hit him. "Think that's funny, punk?" he teases. "Don't make me come over there."
"Or else what?" Gabrion challenges, with a cocky smirk, though he does leave off splashing. "Anyway, you got friends now, that's what matters."
P'ax snorts and says with cocky enthusiasm, "Or I'll find out how long you can hold your breath for." He finishes sudsing and dunks up to his chin to rinse it off. "I got a few," he agrees easily. "Not going to argue there."
Gabrion sticks his tongue out, but does not pursue the matter. "I haven't seen that Shad guy in a while," he mentions. "They didn't send him back to Crom or anything, did they?"
P'ax considers it for a minute and shrugs. "Haven't seen him since B'tal's flight." Ignore the smirk, really, that's normal. "But I figured maybe he might not want to see me so I hadn't been looking."
"Oh. Huh." Gabrion's forehead creases, but he doesn't go so far as to ask why Shad might not want to see P'ax. Instead, he says, "I'll have to see if I can hunt him up. I bet Milani knows which room he's sleeping in, if he's still here. I thought he was kind of cute."
Smugly, P'ax says, "I know where his room is." Gabe probably doesn't need to ask the why after that little tidbit. Offhandedly he comments, "He's well enough. A little young... but he'll get there."
Gabrion glares stormclouds at P'ax. He grimaces, and starts to say something, but then just settles for muttering a curse word under his breath and reaching for the soap.
P'ax lifts his eyebrows in surprise at Gabrion's reaction. "What?" he murmurs, sounding truly curious. Without apology he ventures, "Were you hoping to break him in or something?"
Gabrion now gapes at P'ax. "What the...? NO! Why would you say something like that? That's just..." he's horrified by the phrasing, maybe even the idea behind it. "But you saw I was trying to hit on him. You could probably sleep with any guy at the weyr, and you have to go after a guy you knew I liked?"
P'ax blinks at Gabe for a moment and then tilts his head. "Gabe," he ventures gently, "I sleep with /everyone/. It's nothing personal. It was a flight, he was messed up, I helped him out... nothing beyond that." Tipping his head back to rest against the pool edge with a sigh, P'ax stares bleakly up at the ceiling.
"Uh. Not quite /everyone/," Gabe points out sharply. "Sheesh, you couldn't just... whatever, man." He folds his arms across his chest and huffs in frustration.
P'ax lifts his head to give the other a funny look, like he's trying to puzzle out who he thinks is safe from the list. "Huh... No... pretty much everyone. Uh, except maybe old ladies, I'm sort of not into saggy -- you know..." he cups his hands over his chest to demonstrate breasts and bounces them a few times, just to get the full effect of his miming. "Look, he's all yours, okay? Don't gotta get huffy on me."
Gabrion looks torn between laughter, at the breast-miming, and perhaps punching P'ax, for some other reason. He settles for covering his face with his hands and groaning. "Whatever, he's probably not even interested anyway, not that.. gah. Can we change the subject?"
P'ax looks vaguely amused at his discomfort but shrugs. "Sure kid, whatever you want to talk about." Without remorse, P'ax sets in on his hair with the soap.
Gabrion goes red in the face. "Would you stop calling me 'kid!'" he snaps, and sends a great wave of water at P'ax with both hands.
P'ax spits out a mouthful of water and makes a high sound when soap runs down into his eyes, quickly dunking to wash them out. "Damn, what's your problem? It's never bothered you before." He sends Gabe a glare, though his eyes are reddened now from the irritation.
"Yes it did," Gabrion mumbles. He manages to look contrite and irritated, all at the same time. "Just... sorry. Whatever. Maybe I /should/ go back to Healer Hall." Now he's just being dramatic.
P'ax rolls his eyes and lets out an annoyed breath, staying steely silent rather than giving in to the absurdity of that statement. Instead he redoes his hair and ducks under the water for a long while to rinse it out well.
Gabrion snatches the soap back when P'ax is done and lathers himself up, scowling. It's something to do. He eyes P'ax when he stays underwater for such a long time, but says nothing further.
P'ax exhales when he comes up and dashes water off his face with his hands. "Look kid-- Gabe -- whatever your problem with me is, you might as well come out and say it. I'm an honest kind of guy, and I appreciate it in turn."
"You talk about me like I just don't even count as a person," Gabe says, and though he's steely-eyed, it's clear his feelings are hurt.
P'ax's eyebrows draw together. "Do I?" He shrugs then and says, "Sorry. It's just how I am, though. I don't know what you... think I should do differently, how I make you feel that way. Because I call you kid?"
"Well, yeah," Gabe says in a 'duh' tone. "And acting like I don't count. I mean, /I'm/ not an old lady with floppy boobs." And P'ax hasn't slept with him! "But like, if you do it in front of other people they they act like that to me too. That's how that stuff works. It's just like how if whenever I'm sitting eating with B'tal and people, and W'chek comes in and starts going on about how I'm a stupid kid, people quit talking to me." Well, B'tal does. But that's a small detail. "He's just a jerk, so whatever, but you're not like that." So Gabrion firmly believes, for some reason. "So I don't get why you act like that to me."
P'ax blinks at Gabe for long, silent moments. "You're mad because I haven't slept with you?" is more or less all he manages to pull out of that little monologue. Okay, and: "I'm a jerk, Gabrion, I just don't make it as obvious as W'chek does. Uh, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings though?"
Gabrion's ears are red; P'ax must be close to the mark. Neverthless, Gabe tries to explain. "Because I don't even count as part of 'everyone' to you. I mean, it's not like you /have/ to sleep with me. Maybe I'm not your type or whatever. But you act like nobody would ever even think to want to sleep with me; everyone acts like that, and I'm just tired of it." He sets his jaw, prepared to have a good sulk. It doesn't seem to have occurred to him that this is the lot of many fourteen-turn-olds. Nor, alas, does he seem likely to react well should this be pointed out to him.
P'ax frowns, but it's not so much for Gabe so much as, well, for the concept. "You're a little young to be worried about sex, Gabe," he says gently. "It's not that I...would not, but..." A sigh escapes him, obviously frustrated at trying to phrase it nicely. "I was...a bit older than you before I even kissed anyone, let alone had my first encounter. I think most people are. They probably just don't consider you... ready... for that." Well, aside from the stumbling, awkward pauses, he seems pleased to have gotten through that.
"I am not," Gabrion argues, resentful. "Holder girls get married sometimes when they're even younger than me. You're kind of proving my point."
P'ax presses his lips together and the only logical step the greenrider can conclude is to ask bluntly, "What, do you want me to screw you, then? Is that what will make it up to you?" Neither angry or judgemental, simply trying to figure out what it is that's trying to be accomplished here.
Gabrion wasn't expecting that. He gapes at P'ax once again. "I... uh... I don't... I mean..." he stammers ineffectually, the rest of his face going red to match his ears.
P'ax shrugs his shoulders, steadily watching the young Healer drop-out. Rather than push for an answer he keeps his mouth patiently closed, letting him blush and babble his way through it.
"I just," Gabrion says desperately, "I just want to be part of 'everyone.' A person who counts. That doesn't mean I'm trying to make you... do that." He's still beet red. "It's not like there's some rule you have to like me or whatever but it's just..." he mutters a curse.
P'ax's eyebrows knit again; he's still perplexed. "What made you think you weren't? Just because I don't come out and say it doesn't mean I never would. It's just not my style to throw myself at everyone. I...suppose I like to test the water, see where I'm welcome. If I don't get the vibe, I don't go there, you know? And there's plenty of people I /would/ sleep with that I never necessarily /will/ because they've never acted like they wanted to." Shrug. "Besides. I, uh, kinda thought you and your, um... friend were involved?"
"Firistan?" Gabe says, and shakes his head absently. "No, he likes girls." He pauses a moment, and clarifies, "Well, he says he does, anyway. He's planning on getting married." Gabe looks down at the water and sighs. "Whatever. I didn't mean to make you upset. ...I'm sorry."
P'ax snorts in amusement. "I'm not upset, I'm just trying to understand what you want. I mean...I'm a slut, Gabe, I'll be the first to admit that, but even I have... rules." A cheshire grin splits his face. "If there's no grass on the field, I'm not playing ball, you know?" He waves a hand dismissively and turns his back to the pool so he can hook his elbows over the edge and rest his head against his arms. "So you've never...ever... I'm guessing."
"Grass?" Gabrion repeats blankly; he doesn't get the metaphor. As to the question, he frowns. "Maybe I have and maybe I haven't," he says, so stiffly and defensively as to make the truth obvious.
P'ax snorts, taking that as enough of an answer right there. "Grass... you know... uh... never mind." Clearly talking about sex is easier than explaining the obvious effects of puberty. "Give it a turn or two, Gabe. You've got lots of time to go there."
Gabrion shakes his head. "No... seriously, what does that mean? I don't know what you're talking about." The 'give it a turn or two' has him grinding his teeth in frustration. "I could have screwed this girl at the turnover celebration if I wanted to," he blurts out. "I just don't like girls."
P'ax clears his throat. "Hair...down there, Gabe. You know...puberty." Now it's his turn to go a little red, but only a little. "Uh...okay. Girls are all right. I like guys better, but if you turn a girl over... well, it's easy enough to pretend." Don't spare us the romance here, P'ax, really.
Gabrion's mouth falls open yet again; that's the third time in the past half hour. "They let you do that?!" he exclaims in disbelief. "That's - I mean - really? Girls /do/ that?" With a shake of his head, he adds - just so it's clear - "I have hair."
P'ax shrugs lazily. "Sure, some of them." But it's not really what he goes for. Eyes flick downwards briefly, just briefly, and he murmurs, though it seems to embarrass him that he has to fess up to not being a total gentleman in the baths, "Uh, yeah, I can see that. You know, water's not exactly opaque."
"You were looking at...!" Gabrion spits out the words in indignation, though it does, belatedly occur to him that perhaps he ought to take this as a positive sign of some kind. After all, in the process of getting laid, having a guy check him out in the baths could be considered a very preliminary first step. Maybe. "Well," he says, having regained his composure, "fine, then."
P'ax decides to tease at that point, dancing away from his discomfort by turning it around on the poor boy. "Going to tell me you haven't looked?"
"No," Gabrion says simply. "It's the bathing pools. I mean, doesn't everyone look?"
P'ax inclines his head as Gabe more or less proves his point, smirk blooming across his features again. "There you go. Can't blame a guy for peeking, even where he shouldn't."
"You're just not supposed to /say/ you were looking," Gabe chides the rider, with an echoing smirk on his own face.
P'ax snorts dismissively. "Told you I was honest," he defends mildly. "And sometimes, these things can't be helped anyway. I mean, I /did/ have to wash my eyes out, right, so of course I opened them while I was down there. It's not my fault." Innocent he says, innocent.
"Was /that/ why you were under water so long?" Gabe is torn between laughter and irritation.
"No, I was washing my hair," counters P'ax primly. "And I was trying to avoid your wrath. So it was rather win-win."
Gabrion snorts. "Uh huh," he says, smirking again. "Suuure."
P'ax just shrugs and applies leverage to the edge of the pool, hoisting himself out. "I am what I am, Gabe. Take it as you will." He reaches for a towel now that he's out of the warm water, slinging it around his hips.
Gabrion stands up and wades to the edge of the pool and clambers out, though not in as athletic a manner as P'ax. He uses the towel he fetches to rub at his hair vigorously, and only then wraps it around himself. Showoff. "Tell Yyth I said hi," he says to P'ax with a broad grin.
P'ax doesn't look this time, being all gentlemanly and all. "Uh, sure, will do," he says, seemingly perplexed. "Have a good night k-Gabe."
Gabrion seems pleased with himself at setting P'ax off balance. "Yep. You too," he says, and when he goes to get his clothes, he drops the towel altogether and fiddles with them, turning them right-side out and smoothing them just so for a good few minutes before he finally starts putting them on.
OOC Date: November 13, 2009
IC Date: Day 15, Month 3, Turn 21
Who: Gabrion, P'ax
Where: Bathing Pool, High Reaches Weyr
P'ax has moved in on Gabe's crush Shad, and gets glared at a lot for it. Gabrion would like to get laid, but failing that, he at least would like people to acknowledge the existence of the possibility, however remote, that he could get laid. P'ax does not give him satisfaction on either score, but Gabe is somewhat mollified at having his manly bits checked out.
For someone who, often as not, goes around with a scowl on his face that's black enough to frighten the kitchen staff, Gabrion is in quite a good mood today. He's humming to himself as he strides into the bathing cavern, finds a place to leave his stuff, and shucks off his clothes. He makes straight for the hottest of the pools and slides in, and settles himself against the ledge with a happy sigh in anticipation of a nice, relaxing soak.
P'ax comes in looking mused, sweaty, sleepy, and somehow very satisfied. Rather than look around before he starts shucking clothes, he goes about it in a daze, stalking into one of the pools and sinking down into it. Finally he notices that he's not the only one in it. "Oh...hey Gabe," he offers as he realizes that he recognizes the boy in the pool.
Gabrion might or might not have been watching P'ax's approach through half-lidded eyes. When the greenrider greets him, he perks up and sits up straighter in the pool. "Hey P'ax," he says cheerfully. "How's it going? How's Yyth?"
P'ax can't blame the boy for looking, being a fine specimen of, um...sweaty manliness... or something. "Things are good, she's good," he decides, grinning languidly. He lifts a dripping hand out of the water to run through his hair and asks, "How are you? Good day?"
"Yeah, pretty good," Gabrion says with a smile that turns a bit bashful as he adds, "I got some news." He doesn't come out with it right away, though, but waits to see if P'ax shows any interest.
P'ax knows how to follow the line of a conversation and a lead in so obligingly he arches an eyebrow and drawls out a long, "Oh?" Meanwhile he's searching for the soapsand to start lathering up.
Gabrion isn't bothering with the soap just yet; he means to have a good soak, first. "Yeah," he says happily. "Madilla talked Journeyman Delifa into writing to healer hall and asking them if I can get reinstated as an apprentice, but posted here. So I wouldn't have to go back but... I could keep up with my studies and all, and still be a healer. If they say yes."
P'ax ahs quietly and smiles, seemingly truly pleased for the younger boy. "That was very nice of Madilla. If that's what you want, then I'm very happy for you. It's, er, you know... nice having you here and all."
Gabrion blinks in surprise and smiles, at the last bit. "Aw, well, thanks! It's good to be here. And have friends, and everything." P'ax is apparently numbered among those. "It was /really/ nice of Madilla," he agrees. "I mean, it's the perfect idea really, and not like I hadn't thought of it but I wasn't going to ask, you know? But she brought it up so I was like sure, okay, whatever, and then she asked Delifa and /she/ said yes, so... maybe that means the people at the hall will too. Maybe not. But it's not like I have anything to lose, right?"
P'ax chuckles and splashes a bit of water lazily at Gabrion for his exhuberance, scrubbing the back of his neck with the soap and then down his shoulders. "No, you don't, do you. Either way, you don't have to go back to those jackasses..." He clicks his tongue together and asks, "You ever right your friend back there though? The one who came out to say goodbye?"
"Firistan," Gabe says with a smile. "Yeah, we write now and then. This other guy too, Corvahl's his name. I write to him, too. I mean, I did have /some/ friends there, it was just... you know." He shrugs a little. And waits until P'ax has let his guard down before he splashes back.
P'ax nods his head a few times absently. "Good, good. I wish I'd had a few friends when I was your age." He chuckles when the splashes hit him. "Think that's funny, punk?" he teases. "Don't make me come over there."
"Or else what?" Gabrion challenges, with a cocky smirk, though he does leave off splashing. "Anyway, you got friends now, that's what matters."
P'ax snorts and says with cocky enthusiasm, "Or I'll find out how long you can hold your breath for." He finishes sudsing and dunks up to his chin to rinse it off. "I got a few," he agrees easily. "Not going to argue there."
Gabrion sticks his tongue out, but does not pursue the matter. "I haven't seen that Shad guy in a while," he mentions. "They didn't send him back to Crom or anything, did they?"
P'ax considers it for a minute and shrugs. "Haven't seen him since B'tal's flight." Ignore the smirk, really, that's normal. "But I figured maybe he might not want to see me so I hadn't been looking."
"Oh. Huh." Gabrion's forehead creases, but he doesn't go so far as to ask why Shad might not want to see P'ax. Instead, he says, "I'll have to see if I can hunt him up. I bet Milani knows which room he's sleeping in, if he's still here. I thought he was kind of cute."
Smugly, P'ax says, "I know where his room is." Gabe probably doesn't need to ask the why after that little tidbit. Offhandedly he comments, "He's well enough. A little young... but he'll get there."
Gabrion glares stormclouds at P'ax. He grimaces, and starts to say something, but then just settles for muttering a curse word under his breath and reaching for the soap.
P'ax lifts his eyebrows in surprise at Gabrion's reaction. "What?" he murmurs, sounding truly curious. Without apology he ventures, "Were you hoping to break him in or something?"
Gabrion now gapes at P'ax. "What the...? NO! Why would you say something like that? That's just..." he's horrified by the phrasing, maybe even the idea behind it. "But you saw I was trying to hit on him. You could probably sleep with any guy at the weyr, and you have to go after a guy you knew I liked?"
P'ax blinks at Gabe for a moment and then tilts his head. "Gabe," he ventures gently, "I sleep with /everyone/. It's nothing personal. It was a flight, he was messed up, I helped him out... nothing beyond that." Tipping his head back to rest against the pool edge with a sigh, P'ax stares bleakly up at the ceiling.
"Uh. Not quite /everyone/," Gabe points out sharply. "Sheesh, you couldn't just... whatever, man." He folds his arms across his chest and huffs in frustration.
P'ax lifts his head to give the other a funny look, like he's trying to puzzle out who he thinks is safe from the list. "Huh... No... pretty much everyone. Uh, except maybe old ladies, I'm sort of not into saggy -- you know..." he cups his hands over his chest to demonstrate breasts and bounces them a few times, just to get the full effect of his miming. "Look, he's all yours, okay? Don't gotta get huffy on me."
Gabrion looks torn between laughter, at the breast-miming, and perhaps punching P'ax, for some other reason. He settles for covering his face with his hands and groaning. "Whatever, he's probably not even interested anyway, not that.. gah. Can we change the subject?"
P'ax looks vaguely amused at his discomfort but shrugs. "Sure kid, whatever you want to talk about." Without remorse, P'ax sets in on his hair with the soap.
Gabrion goes red in the face. "Would you stop calling me 'kid!'" he snaps, and sends a great wave of water at P'ax with both hands.
P'ax spits out a mouthful of water and makes a high sound when soap runs down into his eyes, quickly dunking to wash them out. "Damn, what's your problem? It's never bothered you before." He sends Gabe a glare, though his eyes are reddened now from the irritation.
"Yes it did," Gabrion mumbles. He manages to look contrite and irritated, all at the same time. "Just... sorry. Whatever. Maybe I /should/ go back to Healer Hall." Now he's just being dramatic.
P'ax rolls his eyes and lets out an annoyed breath, staying steely silent rather than giving in to the absurdity of that statement. Instead he redoes his hair and ducks under the water for a long while to rinse it out well.
Gabrion snatches the soap back when P'ax is done and lathers himself up, scowling. It's something to do. He eyes P'ax when he stays underwater for such a long time, but says nothing further.
P'ax exhales when he comes up and dashes water off his face with his hands. "Look kid-- Gabe -- whatever your problem with me is, you might as well come out and say it. I'm an honest kind of guy, and I appreciate it in turn."
"You talk about me like I just don't even count as a person," Gabe says, and though he's steely-eyed, it's clear his feelings are hurt.
P'ax's eyebrows draw together. "Do I?" He shrugs then and says, "Sorry. It's just how I am, though. I don't know what you... think I should do differently, how I make you feel that way. Because I call you kid?"
"Well, yeah," Gabe says in a 'duh' tone. "And acting like I don't count. I mean, /I'm/ not an old lady with floppy boobs." And P'ax hasn't slept with him! "But like, if you do it in front of other people they they act like that to me too. That's how that stuff works. It's just like how if whenever I'm sitting eating with B'tal and people, and W'chek comes in and starts going on about how I'm a stupid kid, people quit talking to me." Well, B'tal does. But that's a small detail. "He's just a jerk, so whatever, but you're not like that." So Gabrion firmly believes, for some reason. "So I don't get why you act like that to me."
P'ax blinks at Gabe for long, silent moments. "You're mad because I haven't slept with you?" is more or less all he manages to pull out of that little monologue. Okay, and: "I'm a jerk, Gabrion, I just don't make it as obvious as W'chek does. Uh, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings though?"
Gabrion's ears are red; P'ax must be close to the mark. Neverthless, Gabe tries to explain. "Because I don't even count as part of 'everyone' to you. I mean, it's not like you /have/ to sleep with me. Maybe I'm not your type or whatever. But you act like nobody would ever even think to want to sleep with me; everyone acts like that, and I'm just tired of it." He sets his jaw, prepared to have a good sulk. It doesn't seem to have occurred to him that this is the lot of many fourteen-turn-olds. Nor, alas, does he seem likely to react well should this be pointed out to him.
P'ax frowns, but it's not so much for Gabe so much as, well, for the concept. "You're a little young to be worried about sex, Gabe," he says gently. "It's not that I...would not, but..." A sigh escapes him, obviously frustrated at trying to phrase it nicely. "I was...a bit older than you before I even kissed anyone, let alone had my first encounter. I think most people are. They probably just don't consider you... ready... for that." Well, aside from the stumbling, awkward pauses, he seems pleased to have gotten through that.
"I am not," Gabrion argues, resentful. "Holder girls get married sometimes when they're even younger than me. You're kind of proving my point."
P'ax presses his lips together and the only logical step the greenrider can conclude is to ask bluntly, "What, do you want me to screw you, then? Is that what will make it up to you?" Neither angry or judgemental, simply trying to figure out what it is that's trying to be accomplished here.
Gabrion wasn't expecting that. He gapes at P'ax once again. "I... uh... I don't... I mean..." he stammers ineffectually, the rest of his face going red to match his ears.
P'ax shrugs his shoulders, steadily watching the young Healer drop-out. Rather than push for an answer he keeps his mouth patiently closed, letting him blush and babble his way through it.
"I just," Gabrion says desperately, "I just want to be part of 'everyone.' A person who counts. That doesn't mean I'm trying to make you... do that." He's still beet red. "It's not like there's some rule you have to like me or whatever but it's just..." he mutters a curse.
P'ax's eyebrows knit again; he's still perplexed. "What made you think you weren't? Just because I don't come out and say it doesn't mean I never would. It's just not my style to throw myself at everyone. I...suppose I like to test the water, see where I'm welcome. If I don't get the vibe, I don't go there, you know? And there's plenty of people I /would/ sleep with that I never necessarily /will/ because they've never acted like they wanted to." Shrug. "Besides. I, uh, kinda thought you and your, um... friend were involved?"
"Firistan?" Gabe says, and shakes his head absently. "No, he likes girls." He pauses a moment, and clarifies, "Well, he says he does, anyway. He's planning on getting married." Gabe looks down at the water and sighs. "Whatever. I didn't mean to make you upset. ...I'm sorry."
P'ax snorts in amusement. "I'm not upset, I'm just trying to understand what you want. I mean...I'm a slut, Gabe, I'll be the first to admit that, but even I have... rules." A cheshire grin splits his face. "If there's no grass on the field, I'm not playing ball, you know?" He waves a hand dismissively and turns his back to the pool so he can hook his elbows over the edge and rest his head against his arms. "So you've never...ever... I'm guessing."
"Grass?" Gabrion repeats blankly; he doesn't get the metaphor. As to the question, he frowns. "Maybe I have and maybe I haven't," he says, so stiffly and defensively as to make the truth obvious.
P'ax snorts, taking that as enough of an answer right there. "Grass... you know... uh... never mind." Clearly talking about sex is easier than explaining the obvious effects of puberty. "Give it a turn or two, Gabe. You've got lots of time to go there."
Gabrion shakes his head. "No... seriously, what does that mean? I don't know what you're talking about." The 'give it a turn or two' has him grinding his teeth in frustration. "I could have screwed this girl at the turnover celebration if I wanted to," he blurts out. "I just don't like girls."
P'ax clears his throat. "Hair...down there, Gabe. You know...puberty." Now it's his turn to go a little red, but only a little. "Uh...okay. Girls are all right. I like guys better, but if you turn a girl over... well, it's easy enough to pretend." Don't spare us the romance here, P'ax, really.
Gabrion's mouth falls open yet again; that's the third time in the past half hour. "They let you do that?!" he exclaims in disbelief. "That's - I mean - really? Girls /do/ that?" With a shake of his head, he adds - just so it's clear - "I have hair."
P'ax shrugs lazily. "Sure, some of them." But it's not really what he goes for. Eyes flick downwards briefly, just briefly, and he murmurs, though it seems to embarrass him that he has to fess up to not being a total gentleman in the baths, "Uh, yeah, I can see that. You know, water's not exactly opaque."
"You were looking at...!" Gabrion spits out the words in indignation, though it does, belatedly occur to him that perhaps he ought to take this as a positive sign of some kind. After all, in the process of getting laid, having a guy check him out in the baths could be considered a very preliminary first step. Maybe. "Well," he says, having regained his composure, "fine, then."
P'ax decides to tease at that point, dancing away from his discomfort by turning it around on the poor boy. "Going to tell me you haven't looked?"
"No," Gabrion says simply. "It's the bathing pools. I mean, doesn't everyone look?"
P'ax inclines his head as Gabe more or less proves his point, smirk blooming across his features again. "There you go. Can't blame a guy for peeking, even where he shouldn't."
"You're just not supposed to /say/ you were looking," Gabe chides the rider, with an echoing smirk on his own face.
P'ax snorts dismissively. "Told you I was honest," he defends mildly. "And sometimes, these things can't be helped anyway. I mean, I /did/ have to wash my eyes out, right, so of course I opened them while I was down there. It's not my fault." Innocent he says, innocent.
"Was /that/ why you were under water so long?" Gabe is torn between laughter and irritation.
"No, I was washing my hair," counters P'ax primly. "And I was trying to avoid your wrath. So it was rather win-win."
Gabrion snorts. "Uh huh," he says, smirking again. "Suuure."
P'ax just shrugs and applies leverage to the edge of the pool, hoisting himself out. "I am what I am, Gabe. Take it as you will." He reaches for a towel now that he's out of the warm water, slinging it around his hips.
Gabrion stands up and wades to the edge of the pool and clambers out, though not in as athletic a manner as P'ax. He uses the towel he fetches to rub at his hair vigorously, and only then wraps it around himself. Showoff. "Tell Yyth I said hi," he says to P'ax with a broad grin.
P'ax doesn't look this time, being all gentlemanly and all. "Uh, sure, will do," he says, seemingly perplexed. "Have a good night k-Gabe."
Gabrion seems pleased with himself at setting P'ax off balance. "Yep. You too," he says, and when he goes to get his clothes, he drops the towel altogether and fiddles with them, turning them right-side out and smoothing them just so for a good few minutes before he finally starts putting them on.