(no subject)
Who: Aelan, Bailie and Carina
What: Aelan and Carina get into a physical knockdown drag-out.
When: It is 19:56 on day 12, month 3, turn 2 of the 7th Pass.
Caucus Barracks(#324RA)
This large cavern is kept in a state of perpetual gloom. Rows and rows of cots and presses stretch out from the door, separated by wide aisles. The walls have been covered with old tapestries taken from stores, both to provide warmth and to muffle the sound of multiple people snoring. A section near the front of the cavern has been partitioned off with large opaque screens to make an area for holdbred women who prefer privacy.
(OOC Note: You may either @link yourself here or build a cot to serve as your home. If you build a cot, it must be set dark. Please do not leave objects or puppets laying about in the room.)
***
Aelan
Boyish and slender, Aelan looks very little like a proper Lady Holder. She's tall for a woman, at five feet and ten inches prone to looking men right in the eye, and she holds herself with a stubborn defiance that makes her height even more obvious. Her boyish form is sorely lacking in feminine charms, rangy and too clearly marked with athletic muscle, only slender fingers and the lines of long legs truly feminine. Her features are bold, if not beautiful, large eyes of a hard slate grey tilted upwards slightly at the corners, and a narrow nose marked by a distinct hook in the bridge. Dusky skin and thick, dark hair showing signs of growing out of an uneven cut complete the picture, the shaggy cut falling to a sharp chin in the front and brushing her shoulders at the back.
Aelan's clothes are an odd mix of rich and poor fabrics, and good and poor fitting. From the waist up, a close-fitting shirt of cloud-soft charcoal flannel hugs her slender torso beneath a heavy vest of ivory suede lined with silvery rabbit fur and worked in crimson embroidery. The high-quality materials and tailored cut show the status of the Blood of Keroon, as does the expertly-worked piece of red jade in the shape of a galloping runner that hangs from a black leather thong at her throat. Her lower half, however, is nearly lost in a pair of leather trous worn shiny from use that look like something from a common stores, cinched and bunched at a slender waist, worn at the hems, and pooling at her feet, hiding most of a pair of soft black suede boots lined with fur.
***
Bailie
Even in winter, Bailie's skin has the healthy hint of a tan, smooth and even. Whilst mostly straight, her dark brown hair flicks into soft waves as it nears her shoulders, where neatly trimmed edges rest. Defined brows sit above strikingly rich brown eyes, lined with thick black lashes. The apples of her cheeks are naturally a little pink, and a small mole mars the right one. Her nose, whilst a little chubby, is well-formed; below it, wide pinks lips curve parallel to her rounded chin. Not unnaturally short, she stands between five and five and a half feet - petite, though curvy enough for her age.
To guard against High Reaches chill autumn and winter, Bailie is clad in a tight-fitting cream top and a billowy rose skirt. Both are embroidered with fawn stitching, several flowers and petals along the hemlines of her waist. Fawn boots without laces cover her feet, pink roses stitched on the sides of the calves to complete the outfit. When outside, a long fawn dress coat keeps her warm, with cream contrast stitching on the lapels and large cream buttons just for show.
A simple necklace of silver and pearl drapes delicately from Bailie's neck. Double strands of silver twist to a central point from which a large, creamy peach pearl dangles. Arrowing upwards from the single pearl are several matching pearls in translucent white, held tightly against the silver.
***
Carina
Carina is the epitome of the dark and mysterious school of beauty. She has an unremarkable face shape, distinguished only by her distinctively proud nose, aquiline in shape. In the season of winter, her skin has paled to a very fair color, the only splash of color being a rosy tint to her cheekbones. Her hazel eyes are outlined in kohl, finely applied, and her dark eyebrows she keeps trimmed to a medium width -- the better for a striking gaze. She sports a klah-colored leather hat, creased in the front and with medium-length upturned brim. Most of her long hair has been tucked under it, the remaining hair tied into three equal proportions with tan ribbon.
Today, Carina is wearing a tan jacket over a solid black outfit. The jacket is a thin canvas trenchcoat, no doubt little protection against the storms High Reaches is noted for in its winter. A knitted scarf in a dark brown has been wrapped around her neck. These two items are the only spot of color, albeit neutrals, in an otherwise jet outfit. Her clinging shirt is a black square neck, exposing skin, over which a black underbust corset has been layered. The corset features embrodery of black flowers against the black canvas. Her skirt is long and pleated, with multiple layers, and she wears knee-high lace-up boots with a solid heel of three inches in height.
***
Carina sweeps in from the common room, obviously fresh from outside. Her tan trenchcoat is damp, dark patches of a deeper amber where the water has soaked through the fabric. She is already pulling the leather hat off her head and swishing the brim each way with the flat of her palm, shaking off the beading water. She drops the hat onto her cot and then shucks off the coat quickly and flops it right over the hat.
Bailie is in her area, the curtain drawn back so that everything inside her partitioned space in the front corner can be seen. Carina's swooshing-sweeping entrance draws her attention from the neat line of shoeboxes stacked against one screen, and the Fortian Lady finds a smile. "Good evening, Carina!" She calls gaily, craning her neck to the side a little that she might be a bit easier to locate.
Aelan is much less upset about the rain than Carina, it seems, coming with a laugh and a wave over her shoulder to someone out in the bowl, the smell of wet beast and the heavy grime of the stables clinging to her even after the rain. Once she enters, she gives herself a doglike shake to get rid of the worst of the wet, laughing at the spray. "Ah, at last, something other than snow!" she exclaims with a gleeful laugh.
Carina does a brief check over her shoulder towards her brother's cot, but he's nowhere to be found. She just as quickly flips her gaze back to Bailie's corner and says, "Good evening, Bailie!" And then lifting her pleated black skirt with her hands, she trots over to the screen with the clear intention of visiting, only to be in the path of Aelan. "And a good evening to you, Lady Aelan. In fine form as usual, I see."
"I've started working on -" Bailie stops that train of thought mid-way as Carina greets Aelan, dark eyes shifting to inspect Keroon's Blood. "Good eve," she bids the jovial girl, purposely forcing herself back to counting shoeboxes to avoid any... offence, that staring might cause.
Aelan smiles sweetly at Carina, reaching up to ruffle at the wet mess of her hair. Ruffling, apparently, is supposed to be akin to fingercombing, and while it does /almost/ make the ragged cut look like a style, it isn't the most effective effort. "Ever had a cow patty fight in the rain?" she asks nonchalantly as she moves to walk past the woman, no doubt expecting the implications of her question to have Carina well out of the way before she gets there.
Carina doesn't budge. In fact, it could be said that she actually moves to hip check Aelan, her eyes following the Keroon blood. "I have not, but that doesn't mean I'll allow you to come in here for the evening without a proper bath first. No one else needs to smell you like this tonight." There's a flickering twitch of her eyes towards Bailie, but Carina makes the effort to keep her focus solely on Aelan.
Bailie is counting her shoes! She is most certainly /not/ peering at Aelan out the corner of her dark eyes, and the slight frown she presses is certainly /not/ drawn due to that horrid activity the Keroonian alludes to. And she most certainly does not lose count of her shoeboxes trying to keep it from looking as though she's not doing those things! "Oh, bother." Okay, perhaps she does.
Aelan doesn't seem much phased by the lack of motion, bracing herself even and unmoving afterwards, leaving her quiet close to the Benden woman. "It's a pity you don't own the place," she notes with a cold smirk. "I figure I'll bathe when it suits me, and you can bathe when it suits you. Now. Are you gonna get out of my way, or am I going to get to make you?" she asks sweetly, apparently oblivious to Bailie's presence.
With every inch of proper posture, so as to attempt to loom on Aelan, Carina says quiet and calmly: "You'll do it now, as I said so, because I am your chaperone and responsible for the women in this room. You will NOT ruin this evening for the rest of us because no one taught you how to be hygienic." In the moment, she has now completely forgotten there are other people in here.
Oh, bother! No longer interested in shoes, Bailie unabashedly lavishes a half-scowl on Aelan, which turns mildly sympathetic as her attention switches to Carina. The Fortian taps her foot a little, heel clicking on the stone floor.
Aelan tsks softly, shaking her head. Efforts to loom over the tall, lanky girl would seem to be in vain. "You didn't ask politely," she says, then promptly makes her move to rectify the lack of manners: the Keroon hellion draws back an arm and aims a snap of her fist - and one that looks like it has some instruction and training as well as forceful intention behind it - at Carina's face. Her nose, to be exact.
Carina half-steps out of the way of that fist -- not quite fast enough. "You little bitch," she practically spits as she rubs at her cheekbone, off of which Aelan's fist grazed. She does, however, have the quick sense to hop backwards on her booted heels, once and then twice. It's even more impressive when you realize she hasn't flicked her skirts up out of the way, and the black fabric of the back is currently pinned under one heel. "Get out now, Aelan. I'm not in the mood to start a political conflict between our Holds over my honor -- but I will."
"Goodness, gracious...!" Bailie's shocked, her jaw slacking open as she takes rushed little steps to Carina's side, placing a hand gently on the older woman's back. "Are you /insane/?" She demands of Aelan, disbelievingly peering at Keroon's daughter. A beat, and then concernedly back to Carina, "Are you alright?"
"And you're /still/ under the mistaken impression you own this place," Aelan observes, stepping forward to try to walk past the woman again. "Back off, bitch," she snaps back, including Bailie in the glare this time before raking Carina up and down with a sneer. "What's the matter? Pissy you couldn't fit more than two bronzeriders up your skirts at a time?" She snorts, a distinctly unladylike sound. "You can come off the high runner now, /Lady/ Carina," she drawls, loading the title with derision. "All Pern knows how you prefer to spend your time."
"I'm fine." Carina says to Bailey without looking at her, hand still on her cheek but eyes on Aelan. Well, maybe not: at Aelan's comment about how she spends her time, she pivots on her hip, her booted heel swinging straight with a trajectory for Aelan's side.
Bailie shuffles back and out of the way, hands rising next to each ear as she claims no involvement in the argument. "Oh, /my/!" Scandalised by their actions, the prim Fortian has no idea; what does one do in these situations, besides cover their gaping jaw with one disbelieving hand? One... one flees, is what! Now if only she can navigate around the scuffling pair...
There isn't much space in the narrow aisles to move back, so Aelan moves forward instead, getting out of the way of at least the sharp heel, even if it does mean a shin to the ribs. "Oh, you want to play /that/ game, do you?" she growls after an 'oof' that has her half-stumbling, reaching out to try to grab Carina's leg before she can put it back down, trying to pull her off balance.
There are no words, just the heavy huff of breath from Carina when her kick lands. Unfortunately, Aelan's got a good grasp on her leg now as she pulls it down for a stomp. With her skirts tangling into things and her leg half-entraped, Carina does the one sensible thing that she can think of -- fall into Aelan.
"Someone, /please/!" Bailie calls in desperation, searching the immediate area for any sign of life. Bailed up against the entrance to her area by the fighting pair, she's got little choice but to witness the incident; but wait, is this an opening? As Carina falls, she leaps at the opportunity to flee - hopefully the two will crash to ground, enabling a quick sidestep maneuver to carry her away.
Aelan is not terribly comfortable to fall onto, what with all the bones and angles, but she does make /some/ padding against the stone floor, which quite knocks the breath out of the Keroonian. Despite that, though, she's quick to keep clawing and punching, if with less direction than before. And once she gets her breath back, she quickly makes use of it in a string of profanities that can only come from a farming culture. This, for all the ladies and gentlemen of the Caucus who have yet to have the pleasure of seeing one, is a proper brawl!
Carina thinks Aelan makes a softer cushion than the floor, that's for certain. Fortunately for her, she is not without her corset this evening, so any clawing and punching of her midsection simply gets ignored. She likely can't feel it very well under the stiff fabric and bones. She clambers too -- not particularly delicate in what or where she's smooshing as she rushes to get up to her knees and hands. In fact, if anything, she goes out of her way to try and smoosh Aelan under her and keep her as entrapped as possible.'.
Bailie is victorious! As far as victory goes for bystanders, anyway. As neatly executed as it can be, she completes her sidestep maneuver and heads for the hills - er, the commons. "Someone, come quickly!"
Aelan doesn't limit her punching and clawing to the hard parts, oh no! There are soft bits above that corset, after all, that are generally pretty tender. And then, of course, there are the shameless attempts at blows to the face, and there's the kicking, and even a little biting if anything stays still long enough for it. Trying to stay on Aelan is growing increasingly like trying to stay on a tunnelsnake.
Aelan's blows to her face and chest do land, for all that Carina is trying to keep her chin tucked close to her body and out of range. Carina's huffing of breath is also quite noticable -- her mouth nipping open to catch a breath and then shutting again as Aelan's hands come clear. The corset comes with its own drawbacks. More important than that, is Carina spreading her legs wider so that her skirt works as a net to try and limit Aelan's ability to move, and her attempts at inching her hips up Aelan's center of gravity, and to get her own hands closer in to Aelan's upper regions.
Aelan notes what's going on, cursing at a bite to her hand before /both/ hands struggle to get a grip on Carina's skirt and try to rip it even as she puts an elbow up into the older woman's chest to help her try to roll over.
Carina huffs as she inches up again, but since Aelan's hands are so conveniently at her waist, she stops for the moment to pry at the hands prying at her clothes, clawing at them with those nails of her. That elbow especially gets attention, as now that it is pressing hard into her chest, both of her hands work with the leverage of her upper body to try and pin it down.
Aelan isn't giving up on that elbow or on the skirt, seeing as how it's keeping her from getting pinned until someone big enough or brave enough to separate the two shows up. Determined, she snarls at the woman pinning her down, trying to twist her leg around to kick a heel at Carina's leg, anything to distract her long enough to roll her off with a push of that elbow.
Carina's leg gets kicked -- or more like brushed, since she is more or less sitting on Aelan's hips. Her breathing is continuing to come in big gulping pants, but as she can't seem to pry the elbow down on her own, she starts to lean into it with her chest as well. Is someone going to come to break this up? Despite herself and the numerous scratches and bruises that are in first blush, there's an increasingly victorious gleam in Carina's eyes.
With the elbow as something of a guard and Carina leaning down on her, Aelan gives a grunt of effort and, after a last rip at the skirt with her other hand, aims a truly vicious punch at Carina's lower abdomen, hoping to get at least enough of a reaction to upset her balance.
It's a good while before Bailie returns, hot on the heels of a burly guard. His unshaven jaw looms down over the entangled punching-pair, and he bellows a deep, "What in th'name o'...?!" One massive hand reaches down to latch onto Lady Carina's hair, the other to grasp at some part of Lady Aelan, and the large man puts himself right in the thick of things. "C'mon, girls, no need f'this, now!" Bailie's just standing in the doorway, a groupd of Caucus students milling behind her, watching the scene.
Carina winces a bit. Something has gone snap inside the corset and it seems to skew a bit. Aelan likely just snapped a bone in two. She's much more careful about where she leans for a moment, as if testing, and then she skews to the other half of Aelan, looking to brace the arm that just punched her to the ground. Too bad she's snagged by the hair and howls for a moment, pulling forward anyway. Damnit. The guard keeps his hand on her hair though, and she goes slack for just a moment before rocking back on her feet as fast as possible. The tatters of her skirt are ignored as she tries to put as much space between her and Aelan in this moment as possible.
Aelan's hands come up to wrap around the meaty hand that gets a grip at the front of her shirt, but her struggles are limited once the guard comes in, one hand instead coming up to wipe at her mouth. "Look at her!" she exclaims to the guard, pointing at the struggling Carina. "She's crazy! Just went nuts!" And considering that when the guard came in, it was Carina on top of Aelan... "Is this what the Caucus calls a chaperone, some woman who gets her jollies bullying students?"
"Ah, shush. Both of yer'!" The guard testily thrusts Aelan back, letting go of the girl brusquely. Carina's given much the same treatment, yanked by her hair, which the taller man lets go of as soon as he's separated the two. One or two of the nearby watchers gives a catcall, something about wishing they'd seen the start, and howzat for Ladylike behaviour! "None more o'this brawlin', y'hear? If'n I get called again, I'll be sure t'do more'n just yank yer hair and push yer apart." He balls a fist menacingly, the muscles in his upper arm flexing threateningly. Oh, yeah, girls. Get a load!
Carina reaches out with a hand towards the doorway and Bailie. She can't seem to catch her breath, before she decides that the doorway isn't close enough and her hands reach back to shakily pull at all the laces which have been torn and undone from their neat bow during the struggle. Carina studiously ignore the guard, now pulling at the corset from her front and then wriggling it off her shoulders before dropping it. Her black tunic falls loose, and her breath seems to come more evenly now.
"I'll have her before the Headmaster!" Aelan exclaims, stepping back in the opposite direction and towards her bed as the wipe artistically smears a bit of blood across her cheek from a busted lip. "Chaperone, indeed, who can't keep herself from attacking a student. A good thing some of us know how to defend ourselves!" she adds indignantly before turning a proud tilt of her chin and a quivering lip on the guard. "You just do your job and keep that monster away from me, Sir," she says with a well of wounded dignity. "I don't even know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up when you did."
"Lucky, indeed," Bailie scoffs from her spot in the doorway, but the guard ignores the Fortian. He's too busy scowling back and forth between Aelan and Carina. "M' sure y'will, lass," he agrees, about having the chaperone before the Headmaster. "But it's not m'place to take sides. I jus' do the peacekeepin', is all." And seeing as the brawl is now broken up, Thuggy McThuggerson sees fit to retreat - Caucus students shuffle this way and that, trying to clear the doorway for him and heading back to their former posts. Bailie, for her part, scurries off; probably to find her fiance and tell him the scandalous story!
Carina experimentally examines her own lip with a finger. She's going to have a hell of a bruise there in the corner of her mouth, but as she looks at her fingers, no blood. Her hands next smooth down her sides until she finds the bit of flesh under her broken corset. Without it, her breasts are basically falling down her chest and a bit of a pouched gut sticks out even under her clothes. As soon as she has enough breath, she says, "I'd like to go see a healer." And she turns to her cot, ignoring Aelen and the rest as she grabs her hat and shoves it on her head, then puts her still damp coat on and turns to walk out alone.
Aelan continues to stay near her cot with the act of wounded innocence, inspecting each and every bruise and scratch before gathering her towel and soaps. "And I think I'll go take a bath, try to wash all this horror away," she says dramatically.
It is my belief that Carina would have won this fight and that it got broke up just in the nick of time. Carina ICly used to scrap with her brothers; her moves in this scene are inspired by the fights I used to have with my own siblings.
What: Aelan and Carina get into a physical knockdown drag-out.
When: It is 19:56 on day 12, month 3, turn 2 of the 7th Pass.
Caucus Barracks(#324RA)
This large cavern is kept in a state of perpetual gloom. Rows and rows of cots and presses stretch out from the door, separated by wide aisles. The walls have been covered with old tapestries taken from stores, both to provide warmth and to muffle the sound of multiple people snoring. A section near the front of the cavern has been partitioned off with large opaque screens to make an area for holdbred women who prefer privacy.
(OOC Note: You may either @link yourself here or build a cot to serve as your home. If you build a cot, it must be set dark. Please do not leave objects or puppets laying about in the room.)
***
Aelan
Boyish and slender, Aelan looks very little like a proper Lady Holder. She's tall for a woman, at five feet and ten inches prone to looking men right in the eye, and she holds herself with a stubborn defiance that makes her height even more obvious. Her boyish form is sorely lacking in feminine charms, rangy and too clearly marked with athletic muscle, only slender fingers and the lines of long legs truly feminine. Her features are bold, if not beautiful, large eyes of a hard slate grey tilted upwards slightly at the corners, and a narrow nose marked by a distinct hook in the bridge. Dusky skin and thick, dark hair showing signs of growing out of an uneven cut complete the picture, the shaggy cut falling to a sharp chin in the front and brushing her shoulders at the back.
Aelan's clothes are an odd mix of rich and poor fabrics, and good and poor fitting. From the waist up, a close-fitting shirt of cloud-soft charcoal flannel hugs her slender torso beneath a heavy vest of ivory suede lined with silvery rabbit fur and worked in crimson embroidery. The high-quality materials and tailored cut show the status of the Blood of Keroon, as does the expertly-worked piece of red jade in the shape of a galloping runner that hangs from a black leather thong at her throat. Her lower half, however, is nearly lost in a pair of leather trous worn shiny from use that look like something from a common stores, cinched and bunched at a slender waist, worn at the hems, and pooling at her feet, hiding most of a pair of soft black suede boots lined with fur.
***
Bailie
Even in winter, Bailie's skin has the healthy hint of a tan, smooth and even. Whilst mostly straight, her dark brown hair flicks into soft waves as it nears her shoulders, where neatly trimmed edges rest. Defined brows sit above strikingly rich brown eyes, lined with thick black lashes. The apples of her cheeks are naturally a little pink, and a small mole mars the right one. Her nose, whilst a little chubby, is well-formed; below it, wide pinks lips curve parallel to her rounded chin. Not unnaturally short, she stands between five and five and a half feet - petite, though curvy enough for her age.
To guard against High Reaches chill autumn and winter, Bailie is clad in a tight-fitting cream top and a billowy rose skirt. Both are embroidered with fawn stitching, several flowers and petals along the hemlines of her waist. Fawn boots without laces cover her feet, pink roses stitched on the sides of the calves to complete the outfit. When outside, a long fawn dress coat keeps her warm, with cream contrast stitching on the lapels and large cream buttons just for show.
A simple necklace of silver and pearl drapes delicately from Bailie's neck. Double strands of silver twist to a central point from which a large, creamy peach pearl dangles. Arrowing upwards from the single pearl are several matching pearls in translucent white, held tightly against the silver.
***
Carina
Carina is the epitome of the dark and mysterious school of beauty. She has an unremarkable face shape, distinguished only by her distinctively proud nose, aquiline in shape. In the season of winter, her skin has paled to a very fair color, the only splash of color being a rosy tint to her cheekbones. Her hazel eyes are outlined in kohl, finely applied, and her dark eyebrows she keeps trimmed to a medium width -- the better for a striking gaze. She sports a klah-colored leather hat, creased in the front and with medium-length upturned brim. Most of her long hair has been tucked under it, the remaining hair tied into three equal proportions with tan ribbon.
Today, Carina is wearing a tan jacket over a solid black outfit. The jacket is a thin canvas trenchcoat, no doubt little protection against the storms High Reaches is noted for in its winter. A knitted scarf in a dark brown has been wrapped around her neck. These two items are the only spot of color, albeit neutrals, in an otherwise jet outfit. Her clinging shirt is a black square neck, exposing skin, over which a black underbust corset has been layered. The corset features embrodery of black flowers against the black canvas. Her skirt is long and pleated, with multiple layers, and she wears knee-high lace-up boots with a solid heel of three inches in height.
***
Carina sweeps in from the common room, obviously fresh from outside. Her tan trenchcoat is damp, dark patches of a deeper amber where the water has soaked through the fabric. She is already pulling the leather hat off her head and swishing the brim each way with the flat of her palm, shaking off the beading water. She drops the hat onto her cot and then shucks off the coat quickly and flops it right over the hat.
Bailie is in her area, the curtain drawn back so that everything inside her partitioned space in the front corner can be seen. Carina's swooshing-sweeping entrance draws her attention from the neat line of shoeboxes stacked against one screen, and the Fortian Lady finds a smile. "Good evening, Carina!" She calls gaily, craning her neck to the side a little that she might be a bit easier to locate.
Aelan is much less upset about the rain than Carina, it seems, coming with a laugh and a wave over her shoulder to someone out in the bowl, the smell of wet beast and the heavy grime of the stables clinging to her even after the rain. Once she enters, she gives herself a doglike shake to get rid of the worst of the wet, laughing at the spray. "Ah, at last, something other than snow!" she exclaims with a gleeful laugh.
Carina does a brief check over her shoulder towards her brother's cot, but he's nowhere to be found. She just as quickly flips her gaze back to Bailie's corner and says, "Good evening, Bailie!" And then lifting her pleated black skirt with her hands, she trots over to the screen with the clear intention of visiting, only to be in the path of Aelan. "And a good evening to you, Lady Aelan. In fine form as usual, I see."
"I've started working on -" Bailie stops that train of thought mid-way as Carina greets Aelan, dark eyes shifting to inspect Keroon's Blood. "Good eve," she bids the jovial girl, purposely forcing herself back to counting shoeboxes to avoid any... offence, that staring might cause.
Aelan smiles sweetly at Carina, reaching up to ruffle at the wet mess of her hair. Ruffling, apparently, is supposed to be akin to fingercombing, and while it does /almost/ make the ragged cut look like a style, it isn't the most effective effort. "Ever had a cow patty fight in the rain?" she asks nonchalantly as she moves to walk past the woman, no doubt expecting the implications of her question to have Carina well out of the way before she gets there.
Carina doesn't budge. In fact, it could be said that she actually moves to hip check Aelan, her eyes following the Keroon blood. "I have not, but that doesn't mean I'll allow you to come in here for the evening without a proper bath first. No one else needs to smell you like this tonight." There's a flickering twitch of her eyes towards Bailie, but Carina makes the effort to keep her focus solely on Aelan.
Bailie is counting her shoes! She is most certainly /not/ peering at Aelan out the corner of her dark eyes, and the slight frown she presses is certainly /not/ drawn due to that horrid activity the Keroonian alludes to. And she most certainly does not lose count of her shoeboxes trying to keep it from looking as though she's not doing those things! "Oh, bother." Okay, perhaps she does.
Aelan doesn't seem much phased by the lack of motion, bracing herself even and unmoving afterwards, leaving her quiet close to the Benden woman. "It's a pity you don't own the place," she notes with a cold smirk. "I figure I'll bathe when it suits me, and you can bathe when it suits you. Now. Are you gonna get out of my way, or am I going to get to make you?" she asks sweetly, apparently oblivious to Bailie's presence.
With every inch of proper posture, so as to attempt to loom on Aelan, Carina says quiet and calmly: "You'll do it now, as I said so, because I am your chaperone and responsible for the women in this room. You will NOT ruin this evening for the rest of us because no one taught you how to be hygienic." In the moment, she has now completely forgotten there are other people in here.
Oh, bother! No longer interested in shoes, Bailie unabashedly lavishes a half-scowl on Aelan, which turns mildly sympathetic as her attention switches to Carina. The Fortian taps her foot a little, heel clicking on the stone floor.
Aelan tsks softly, shaking her head. Efforts to loom over the tall, lanky girl would seem to be in vain. "You didn't ask politely," she says, then promptly makes her move to rectify the lack of manners: the Keroon hellion draws back an arm and aims a snap of her fist - and one that looks like it has some instruction and training as well as forceful intention behind it - at Carina's face. Her nose, to be exact.
Carina half-steps out of the way of that fist -- not quite fast enough. "You little bitch," she practically spits as she rubs at her cheekbone, off of which Aelan's fist grazed. She does, however, have the quick sense to hop backwards on her booted heels, once and then twice. It's even more impressive when you realize she hasn't flicked her skirts up out of the way, and the black fabric of the back is currently pinned under one heel. "Get out now, Aelan. I'm not in the mood to start a political conflict between our Holds over my honor -- but I will."
"Goodness, gracious...!" Bailie's shocked, her jaw slacking open as she takes rushed little steps to Carina's side, placing a hand gently on the older woman's back. "Are you /insane/?" She demands of Aelan, disbelievingly peering at Keroon's daughter. A beat, and then concernedly back to Carina, "Are you alright?"
"And you're /still/ under the mistaken impression you own this place," Aelan observes, stepping forward to try to walk past the woman again. "Back off, bitch," she snaps back, including Bailie in the glare this time before raking Carina up and down with a sneer. "What's the matter? Pissy you couldn't fit more than two bronzeriders up your skirts at a time?" She snorts, a distinctly unladylike sound. "You can come off the high runner now, /Lady/ Carina," she drawls, loading the title with derision. "All Pern knows how you prefer to spend your time."
"I'm fine." Carina says to Bailey without looking at her, hand still on her cheek but eyes on Aelan. Well, maybe not: at Aelan's comment about how she spends her time, she pivots on her hip, her booted heel swinging straight with a trajectory for Aelan's side.
Bailie shuffles back and out of the way, hands rising next to each ear as she claims no involvement in the argument. "Oh, /my/!" Scandalised by their actions, the prim Fortian has no idea; what does one do in these situations, besides cover their gaping jaw with one disbelieving hand? One... one flees, is what! Now if only she can navigate around the scuffling pair...
There isn't much space in the narrow aisles to move back, so Aelan moves forward instead, getting out of the way of at least the sharp heel, even if it does mean a shin to the ribs. "Oh, you want to play /that/ game, do you?" she growls after an 'oof' that has her half-stumbling, reaching out to try to grab Carina's leg before she can put it back down, trying to pull her off balance.
There are no words, just the heavy huff of breath from Carina when her kick lands. Unfortunately, Aelan's got a good grasp on her leg now as she pulls it down for a stomp. With her skirts tangling into things and her leg half-entraped, Carina does the one sensible thing that she can think of -- fall into Aelan.
"Someone, /please/!" Bailie calls in desperation, searching the immediate area for any sign of life. Bailed up against the entrance to her area by the fighting pair, she's got little choice but to witness the incident; but wait, is this an opening? As Carina falls, she leaps at the opportunity to flee - hopefully the two will crash to ground, enabling a quick sidestep maneuver to carry her away.
Aelan is not terribly comfortable to fall onto, what with all the bones and angles, but she does make /some/ padding against the stone floor, which quite knocks the breath out of the Keroonian. Despite that, though, she's quick to keep clawing and punching, if with less direction than before. And once she gets her breath back, she quickly makes use of it in a string of profanities that can only come from a farming culture. This, for all the ladies and gentlemen of the Caucus who have yet to have the pleasure of seeing one, is a proper brawl!
Carina thinks Aelan makes a softer cushion than the floor, that's for certain. Fortunately for her, she is not without her corset this evening, so any clawing and punching of her midsection simply gets ignored. She likely can't feel it very well under the stiff fabric and bones. She clambers too -- not particularly delicate in what or where she's smooshing as she rushes to get up to her knees and hands. In fact, if anything, she goes out of her way to try and smoosh Aelan under her and keep her as entrapped as possible.'.
Bailie is victorious! As far as victory goes for bystanders, anyway. As neatly executed as it can be, she completes her sidestep maneuver and heads for the hills - er, the commons. "Someone, come quickly!"
Aelan doesn't limit her punching and clawing to the hard parts, oh no! There are soft bits above that corset, after all, that are generally pretty tender. And then, of course, there are the shameless attempts at blows to the face, and there's the kicking, and even a little biting if anything stays still long enough for it. Trying to stay on Aelan is growing increasingly like trying to stay on a tunnelsnake.
Aelan's blows to her face and chest do land, for all that Carina is trying to keep her chin tucked close to her body and out of range. Carina's huffing of breath is also quite noticable -- her mouth nipping open to catch a breath and then shutting again as Aelan's hands come clear. The corset comes with its own drawbacks. More important than that, is Carina spreading her legs wider so that her skirt works as a net to try and limit Aelan's ability to move, and her attempts at inching her hips up Aelan's center of gravity, and to get her own hands closer in to Aelan's upper regions.
Aelan notes what's going on, cursing at a bite to her hand before /both/ hands struggle to get a grip on Carina's skirt and try to rip it even as she puts an elbow up into the older woman's chest to help her try to roll over.
Carina huffs as she inches up again, but since Aelan's hands are so conveniently at her waist, she stops for the moment to pry at the hands prying at her clothes, clawing at them with those nails of her. That elbow especially gets attention, as now that it is pressing hard into her chest, both of her hands work with the leverage of her upper body to try and pin it down.
Aelan isn't giving up on that elbow or on the skirt, seeing as how it's keeping her from getting pinned until someone big enough or brave enough to separate the two shows up. Determined, she snarls at the woman pinning her down, trying to twist her leg around to kick a heel at Carina's leg, anything to distract her long enough to roll her off with a push of that elbow.
Carina's leg gets kicked -- or more like brushed, since she is more or less sitting on Aelan's hips. Her breathing is continuing to come in big gulping pants, but as she can't seem to pry the elbow down on her own, she starts to lean into it with her chest as well. Is someone going to come to break this up? Despite herself and the numerous scratches and bruises that are in first blush, there's an increasingly victorious gleam in Carina's eyes.
With the elbow as something of a guard and Carina leaning down on her, Aelan gives a grunt of effort and, after a last rip at the skirt with her other hand, aims a truly vicious punch at Carina's lower abdomen, hoping to get at least enough of a reaction to upset her balance.
It's a good while before Bailie returns, hot on the heels of a burly guard. His unshaven jaw looms down over the entangled punching-pair, and he bellows a deep, "What in th'name o'...?!" One massive hand reaches down to latch onto Lady Carina's hair, the other to grasp at some part of Lady Aelan, and the large man puts himself right in the thick of things. "C'mon, girls, no need f'this, now!" Bailie's just standing in the doorway, a groupd of Caucus students milling behind her, watching the scene.
Carina winces a bit. Something has gone snap inside the corset and it seems to skew a bit. Aelan likely just snapped a bone in two. She's much more careful about where she leans for a moment, as if testing, and then she skews to the other half of Aelan, looking to brace the arm that just punched her to the ground. Too bad she's snagged by the hair and howls for a moment, pulling forward anyway. Damnit. The guard keeps his hand on her hair though, and she goes slack for just a moment before rocking back on her feet as fast as possible. The tatters of her skirt are ignored as she tries to put as much space between her and Aelan in this moment as possible.
Aelan's hands come up to wrap around the meaty hand that gets a grip at the front of her shirt, but her struggles are limited once the guard comes in, one hand instead coming up to wipe at her mouth. "Look at her!" she exclaims to the guard, pointing at the struggling Carina. "She's crazy! Just went nuts!" And considering that when the guard came in, it was Carina on top of Aelan... "Is this what the Caucus calls a chaperone, some woman who gets her jollies bullying students?"
"Ah, shush. Both of yer'!" The guard testily thrusts Aelan back, letting go of the girl brusquely. Carina's given much the same treatment, yanked by her hair, which the taller man lets go of as soon as he's separated the two. One or two of the nearby watchers gives a catcall, something about wishing they'd seen the start, and howzat for Ladylike behaviour! "None more o'this brawlin', y'hear? If'n I get called again, I'll be sure t'do more'n just yank yer hair and push yer apart." He balls a fist menacingly, the muscles in his upper arm flexing threateningly. Oh, yeah, girls. Get a load!
Carina reaches out with a hand towards the doorway and Bailie. She can't seem to catch her breath, before she decides that the doorway isn't close enough and her hands reach back to shakily pull at all the laces which have been torn and undone from their neat bow during the struggle. Carina studiously ignore the guard, now pulling at the corset from her front and then wriggling it off her shoulders before dropping it. Her black tunic falls loose, and her breath seems to come more evenly now.
"I'll have her before the Headmaster!" Aelan exclaims, stepping back in the opposite direction and towards her bed as the wipe artistically smears a bit of blood across her cheek from a busted lip. "Chaperone, indeed, who can't keep herself from attacking a student. A good thing some of us know how to defend ourselves!" she adds indignantly before turning a proud tilt of her chin and a quivering lip on the guard. "You just do your job and keep that monster away from me, Sir," she says with a well of wounded dignity. "I don't even know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up when you did."
"Lucky, indeed," Bailie scoffs from her spot in the doorway, but the guard ignores the Fortian. He's too busy scowling back and forth between Aelan and Carina. "M' sure y'will, lass," he agrees, about having the chaperone before the Headmaster. "But it's not m'place to take sides. I jus' do the peacekeepin', is all." And seeing as the brawl is now broken up, Thuggy McThuggerson sees fit to retreat - Caucus students shuffle this way and that, trying to clear the doorway for him and heading back to their former posts. Bailie, for her part, scurries off; probably to find her fiance and tell him the scandalous story!
Carina experimentally examines her own lip with a finger. She's going to have a hell of a bruise there in the corner of her mouth, but as she looks at her fingers, no blood. Her hands next smooth down her sides until she finds the bit of flesh under her broken corset. Without it, her breasts are basically falling down her chest and a bit of a pouched gut sticks out even under her clothes. As soon as she has enough breath, she says, "I'd like to go see a healer." And she turns to her cot, ignoring Aelen and the rest as she grabs her hat and shoves it on her head, then puts her still damp coat on and turns to walk out alone.
Aelan continues to stay near her cot with the act of wounded innocence, inspecting each and every bruise and scratch before gathering her towel and soaps. "And I think I'll go take a bath, try to wash all this horror away," she says dramatically.
It is my belief that Carina would have won this fight and that it got broke up just in the nick of time. Carina ICly used to scrap with her brothers; her moves in this scene are inspired by the fights I used to have with my own siblings.