Nostalgia is Over-rated (Tags Darya)

[Ember]

T'san sighed quietly as he washed a pot in the kitchens. It felt like being a weyrling again being forced to do chores. Of course, he'd brought this upon himself really. He'd been trying to sneak some food from the kitchens but been caught by Mae. He definitely wasn't any good for stealth missions or the like. He'd been pressed into service by the scary kitchen woman and that's how he found himself washing dishes. Fun, fun. At least he'd gotten himself some company while being caught. The one stuck washing dishes with him was actually quite innocent.

He turned to his companion and commented cheerily, "At least the kitchens are a warmer than most other places." After the insanely hot summer, Selenitas passed into an equally extreme winter. The southern weather had gone completely nuts. Oh well. It was easier to warm up than to cool down and he was northern born so he was more used to it. Wearing a second shirt also made more sense in the winter than it did in the summer. Why wear a second shirt in summer? Well, it beat the long scratches his blue firelizard gave him otherwise. Nevroti was in his shirt at that moment, cowering from the the noise of the kitchen. It had the brownrider a bit on edge as well.

T'san wasn't sure what the other person's name was but he decided to find out because she proved a decent distraction. That's why he'd accused her of being his accomplice in the first place. "Please excuse my manners. I'm T'san of Dsoleth. You are...?" He turned his head slightly so he could see her better. He was looking at none other than Darya, an ex-weyrlingmaster. Of course, T'san didn't know that. As long as a person entertained him he didn't really care who they were. She better get to entertaining. If not he'd have to bug her for his fun. Pretending to be a weyrling again wasn't all that interesting.

[Kisha-Ra]

Darya glared furiously at the sink until the water should have been boiling with the force that was concentrated on it. Her hands went through the tedious motions of washing pots by themselves, leaving her mind free to think up a multitude of horrible things to do to the man who’d not only ratted her out, but also accused her of being his partner in crime, as if she needed help to pilfer, and as if she’d team up with someone so obviously incompetent at stealing from the kitchen anyway.

Darya growled and gave the pot she was working on an extra hard scrub, firmly resisting the urge to wallop the prat next to her as he actually spoke to her. Shut face evilone. Bite I will. Darya’s actual accomplice responded for her from his most elevated position on the back of her neck. ‘You should listen to Imp.’ Darya advised, applying her efforts in scrubbing to a long spit. ‘One more chirpy ‘look on the bright side’ type comment and you’ll have more than a salamandyr bite to worry about.’ Darya lapsed into silence and returned to glaring at the sink, scouring pots wasn’t her idea of a good way to get warm. Imp flared his frill at the enemy and hissed quietly, this wasn’t his idea of fun either. No greens in here.

T’san of Dsoleth, Darya marked the name in her memory, so she knew who she was looking for when the time came to fill his room with trundlebugs or fish guts or something else foul, she hadn’t decided what yet. For a moment she considered ignoring the question just to be awkward but decided on the whole that it wasn’t worth the effort, she was nearly out of creative revenge plans for the moment and this could prove a mild distraction from the mind numbing tedium of washing pots. ‘Darya, of blue Azrath. I might forgive you for the lack of an introduction but insinuating that I need your help to pilfer from the kitchen is unforgivable.’ She replied, remembering to keep her voice down lest another pile of pans make it into the water before her. Imp is I. Your nightmare stupid man. Terrible I! as if to prove his point the salamandyr moved up to the edge of Darya’s shoulder, as close to T’san as he could get, and puffed himself up, while making a complex (and presumably terrifying) display pattern with his frill.

[Ember]

T'san probably would have laughed at Imp's words had they actually been from Darya. He'd lost his own green salamandyr a while ago but not long enough to completely recover from the loss. The firelizard his dragon had made him get had helped considerably and even now was comforting him silently. It worked to calm the blue a little bit as well. He somehow always managed to Impress things that adored him but had little use for other people. The soothing thoughts from the youngest addition help calm the brownrider and he managed a slight chuckle. "Fair enough." He didn't bother making a threat in return since there was no need. Besides, she could do a lot more damage to him in the kitchens then Dsoleth could do to her considering he didn't fit.

A more genuine smile crossed his face when Darya responded with her name in kind. Somehow T'san magically stayed just on the safe side of the annoyance boundary. Perhaps it was a gift. More likely he was just lucky. It was clear in his confidence which one the man preferred to believe. In his mind he was both quite charming and easily forgotten. Maybe a bit of it was true but Dsoleth slipped his doubts into the brownrider's mind. No, he was just an annoying brat. Too childlike to hate too much and not man enough to defend himself if someone decided they hated kids. T'san mentally goaded his dragon before shutting him out to concentrate on what Darya was saying.

Ah, was that what she was so angry at (besides getting caught)? He grinned slightly but the bronze salamandyr spoke again and moved...closer. He shifted away just slightly as he finished a pot, pretending it was for the sake of putting the pot in the clean pile. "Nightmare indeed. Well, Darya, you do seem capable. But careful, those cooks are learning the tricks quickly. Although, it wouldn't be any fun if there was no risk," he mused aloud. He didn't really need to use her name but it would help him remember it for later on. Who knew when he might meet up with her again.

[Kisha-Ra]

Imp hissed and flared his frill once more in a last gesture of defiance before he retreated back to his preferred spot, apparently satisfied with the half hearted acknowledgement of how terrifying he was. Darya wiped one hand dry on her trousers and reached up to pet the salamandyr without really thinking about it, making the formerly aggressive little beast hum happily and contort himself into strange positions so he could get the best of the scratching before Darya realised what she was doing.

Darya shrugged noncommittally, so far they hadn’t worked out her tactics, probably because none of the cooks they currently had would think a salamandyr would actually obey someone. ‘I was doing all right until some prat pointed me out just as I was about to slip out the door. Imp’s a pretty good accomplice, not to mention a better sneak than a brownrider stood less than two feet from me. Besides we go through cooks like nobody’s business here what with salamandyrs, firelizards, dragonriders, weyrbrats, pranks, wars, weird weather and general chaos driving them out. By the time they learn it’s nearly time for them to quit and go somewhere quiet to get their nerve back.’ Darya grinned wolfishly as she expressed this opinion, as if she might have had something to do with driving a few cooks off.

‘Fun? I just can’t cook for myself.’ Darya told the partial truth with a mocking tone, she really couldn’t cook but she wasn’t in the dining hall, oh no she was in the kitchen trying to pilfer some hot fruit tarts before they were served. ‘What were you after anyway? I was too busy resenting your interference to really pay attention.’ She added out of curiousity, anything to take her mind off pans…

[Ember]

T'san relaxed a little as the bronze shoulder ornament stopped paying attention to him. It wasn't really Imp's fault and the brownrider even felt a little guilty for taking out his problems on innocent people. He wasn't even sure either noticed his behaviour though so he didn't bother apologizing for it anyways. A wave of forgiveness washed over him from Nevroti and he felt a little better for it. Even when he didn't voice his problems to the blue he understood and tried to help. He was a very sweet creature. T'san wished he could show him off more but the blue didn't like other people.

The man grinned when his company spoke of a prat. He knew well who she was talking about and it certainly fit in those circumstances. Knowing from experience how crafty salamandyrs could be and also how agreeable they could be, T'san certainly couldn't deny that Imp probably did make a really good accomplice. His grin widened into a smile as he though of all the cooks that must have fled the weyr fearing crazy pets and the like. "Poor cooks. Almost feel sorry for them. If they only gave us more food when we want it they'd have a lot less trouble." He understood why they couldn't cook too much more than what everyone needed but he didn't have to like it.

T'san blinked at Darya's admission, surprised to find someone who couldn't cook. He wasn't the best cook in the world but he could do alright. "Me? I after the best cuts of meat before the others got 'em. The fact that it's kind of fun to snipe food from the kitchens doesn't hurt either." If anything, the brownrider had done it more for the fun of it than anything else. He hadn't expected to get caught though, hence his believing the cooks were getting smarter about their guarding.

[Kisha-Ra]

Darya gave a soft snort at the sight of a grin from the prat who got her into this. Yes, she was referring to him. Well done, no need to look so proud of figuring it out. Feel sorry for the cooks? As if. ‘I don’t, they get into a lot less bother if they just did as they were supposed to and fed us, and by this I mean decent food, less stew and more pies.’ It was clear where Darya’s present interests lay. ‘I don’t eat at their sufferance.’ She grumbled, but not too loudly, she didn’t actually want the cooks to hear her complaining about them, they seemed to have an endless supply of dirty things to drop in the sink before her, no doubt to dismay her and destroy her moral.

‘Oh don’t look like that, it’s not like I didn’t try, it’s just that my cooking is so awful I used to get crappy jobs like this whenever I had kitchen duty as a weyrling.’ Darya snapped, feeling mildly defensive for some reason, just because she’d probably starve if she had to eat her own cooking. ‘It’s not my fault that I only have to stir a pot to make the contents char.’ Imp frilled some more from his sprawled position, picking up on the added hostility, but deciding he was too lazy to actually move. He was still terrible lying down wasn’t he?

Darya’s mouth curved upward in a victorious smile, she doubted it was the meat he’d really been after in here. It was just an excuse to pilfer. ‘Well stealing food out from under the noses of these cooks is a lot more satisfying when you actually get away with it.’ She commented, although without the open hostility this time. ‘You should find yourself an accomplice, have you got a salamandyr? or a firelizard? Firelizards are just as good as distractions, except my green’s mute, not to mention so fast I doubt the cooks would even see her. If you want I can leand you Imp, he’ll probably display at you the whole time and tell you how terrible he is, but he’s very good at drawning all attention to him. Little show off.’

Not Showoff! Imp objected, digging in his claws in reprimand. How could Darya insult him like that. Showoff ugly fatass mean evil BAD! As he complained the bronze salamandyr puffed up more and more in ire. Insulted I. Not speaking. He announced decisively as if this was the worst thing he could inflict.

[Ember]

T'san chuckled softly at Darya's words. "I did say almost. I mostly just agree with you. Could definitely do with more food. At least it beats going hungry, or having your parents tell you that you can't have dinner because you've been a bad boy or girl," he added in a mocking tone. Dragonrider meant never having to go hungry, so long as you stayed at a weyr. His father had used that punishment on him way back when. The runners he'd been working with at the time had never looked so good. His father had been one heck of a stern man.

The brownrider raised both hands, washing cloth in one hand. "Sorry, sorry. It's just unexpected. I don't normally have people telling me they can't cook." He meant, of course, that a lot of people didn't want to reveal that they couldn't cook. if asked he never mentioned how badly he cooked. Just that he could. He chuckled softly and shook his head. "Well, charred pot contents or not, at least you can pilfer the goodies? That's the most important thing." It must really suck to be doing dirty dishes again if that's what she'd had to do in the kitchen as a weyrling. He had no particularily bad memories about doing kitchen chores as a weyrling, though part of that was because Fort had been very orderly. That and less time was spent doing dishes as opposed to training.

T'san made a sound of agreement with Darya's statement. Yes, getting away with it was so much better than being caught. Although...the reactions of the cooks when they caught someoen was very amusing as well. The question if he had a salamandyr made him pause in memory but he pushed it aside in favour of the other question. "I have a firelizard. He's not exactly useful for that kind of thing though. Unless I want attention on myself.... He clings to me something fierce and hates noisy places," he said fondly. He was only able to get away with it because Nevroti was fast asleep in his shirt. He wasn't too surprise Darya didn't see the bulge. She wasn't at the right angle to.

As for borrowing Imp.... "Thanks for the offer but I'll let you keep him. I can't really handle 'mandyrs." It was the truth, though he hadn't mentioned the reason. He didn't need to bring it up just for the sake of sympathy. If asked he'd tell but he saw no reason to talk about it randomly. She may get curious and ask since it was a bit odd, but he'd accepted that when he said it. As much as Nevroti didn't like salamandyrs or metallic colours he wouldn't use the blue as an excuse.

[Kisha-Ra]

Darya frowned at her washing up. ‘I’ve always disapproved of withholding food as a punishment, especially if it’s being withheld from me.’ She commented, not that anyone really could withhold food from her, even as a child she’d been pretty adept at just wandering into the kitchens and helping herself to a few things.

Darya nodded solemnly. ‘I wasn’t really expecting to have to wash someone else’s charred pot as a result though.’ She commented in a mournful tone, lifting a pot that had black gunk stuck to the bottom of it out of the bottom or her sink. ‘Evidently someone who should be hasn’t been banned from cooking yet. Well, either that or they’re burning stuff on purpose.’ Darya wouldn’t put that past the cooks here either, she’d probably really annoyed all of them at one time or another, possibly enough for them to take revenge now.

Darya rolled her eyes as if she was really exasperated by T’san’s choice of pets. ‘Well no wonder you got caught then. What did you go around getting a pet that wants to cling to you for? You need something super loud and outgoing to help out in your pilfering pursuits.’

T’san didn’t like salamandyrs? Darya couldn’t really blame him for that. Imp was one of the most pleasant ones, and he was quite often a pain in the butt to be bonded to, although Darya had a feeling his firelizard chasing days were over now that he’d caught a gold salamandyr. Harmony definitely seemed like the jealous type. Besides it wasn’t like T’san was alone in his dislike of salamandyrs, they weren’t exactly the most popular of beasts. ‘In fact you could get a canine, or just bring one along with you. I used to do that sometimes as a weyrbrat, nothing like a loose canine stealing and drooling on things to give everyone a nervous breakdown.’

It was rather strange that during this whole conversation no one had paid the two riders any mind at all. Perhaps no one cared as long as they were still washing up, but Darya had just relised no one was paying attention to them any more, and whatever the reason she was going to take advantage of it. The bluerider’s eyes darted around warily. ‘No one’s watching us anymore, I guess they’ve run out things to dirty. Let’s sneak off before they remember us.’ She suggested, exactly like a work shy weyrbrat. She didn’t see anything wrong with that, all she’d wanted was a pie or three, or even four, and for her troubles she now had major dishpan hands. Cooks were evil.