Escape from Tuber mountain (Chores, Open)

[Rei]

Erilena moved gingerly into the kitchens and paused once at a loss for words. It was so busy. People dodging each other and moving with surprising quickness. What was she supposed to do now? As if in answer to her question a drudge bustled up and stared down at her knots. The candidate froze and offered shaky smile. She would much rather be able to help in the infirmary. Of all the stupid things she got stuck with kitchen duty? Erilena had helped her mother cook sure, but she was no expert. Nor was she used to having to cook for tons of people. Grabbing her hand without even a word the drudge hauled Erilena over to a table where there was a huge pile of tubers. “Peel and cube those and when your done holler and we will find something else for you to do.” Stuffing a knife into the girl’s hand the drudge quickly disappeared in the hustle and bustle of the kitchen.

“Uh ok.” Erilena said softly as she watched the woman’s retreating form. Looking at the huge pile of tubers the candidate couldn’t help but feel a bit defeated. The pile was HUGE. How was she supposed to peel and cube all these? With no help seemingly forthcoming the candidate got to work, all the while cursing her luck and the tubers as well. “Of all the things I could get stuck with, I get peeling tubers? I don’t even like tubers. You guys are horrible, you know that?” She asked, glaring at the offending starchy vegetable. “You are lumpy and ugly. No wonder you hide under the ground.” With a huff she started to peel the tuber with deft precise strokes.

[Lotty]

Ugly hmmmm? Well Mojo could take care of these tubers no problem. The big hatchling popped in from between and landed neatly on the top of the pile...instantly curling about and laying on the mountain as if he had been there the whole time. With a curious little glance, he looked down at the girl in the chair from his perch and flicked his tail oh-so casually before craning his head a little further for an even closer inspection. Pretty face and pretty pretty shinnies on her...he was of course looking at the girl's jewelry. This one was worth toying with, so with a chitter just loud enough to grab her attention, he plucked up a very small tuber in his foreclaws and winked between only to re-emerge again on top of the pile again empty handed.

See? Seeeee? Your workload is that much more manageable. He could do much more for her too. There were plenty of places to hide tubers...or maybe hide the knives and slicers. Yes, they could get out of lots and lots of work together. It would be fun. He nodded his head at her...come and join the dark side.

"Mojo," the voice cut through the room and the bronze firelizard snapped to alertness, though nearly sneering with disappointment. Did His really have to show up now? He was just getting started after all! Chitter chatter! The brownweyrling was less than impressed with the firelizard's handiwork though, and thanks to some detective work by blue Eyesore - who perched on K'sel's shoulder with uncharacteristic loyalty - he even had the contraband in his hand; playfully tossing it up and down with leisure before tossing it back into the pile gently.

The young man stalked forward...slightly apologetic. Nobody deserved to have Mojo interrupting their work, well except for maybe Nephele, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen and he was hopeful that this nameless face wouldn't be nearly as annoying as the greenweyrling. "Thanks to Eyesore here I caught Mojo before he became too much of a nuisance..." notice he didn't say sorry. The word just wasn't in his vernacular...and quickly enough he moved on abandoning the subject altogether. He slid over to the table and leaned on it, ironically probably distracting the girl even more than his bronze pet had.

[Ember]

The very same drudge that had given Erilena her task had gone to check on the dishwashers and was surprised to see Nephele there. The girl was known to be a decent cook in the kitchens to most of the kitchen staff but for some reason she'd been assigned to washing. Not what she'd expected to be doing when she picked kitchen chores. The drudge went to Nephele and snatched her wrist as she was reaching for another pot. "Tsk, you're much more useful elsewhere. Come girl, you can help the new kid."

Intigued, the greenweyrling let the older woman pull her though the bustling kitchens. "Tubers. Go make her useful too," she was told brusquely. Gotta love the kitchen staff. Always seemed so unfriendly because they were always in such a hurry. Nephele slowly made her way towards the mountain of tubers. She paused when she noticed a familiar bronze on top of the pile. Wasn't that..? Ah ha! It was indeed that funny little bronze. She sighed slightly as she glanced at his owner. Unfortunate pairing, that. She slipped an mask of civility before approaching.

She caught K'sel's last words and used them as a way to enter the conversation. "There's always a risk when bringing firelizards into the kitchen. Some of them are okay, but most of them are a distraction." Nephele plucked one of the tubers from the pile and smiled at the girl. "The drudges tell me you're new here? I certainly haven't seen you around before." Nephele glanced at the pile of tubers again and grimaced lsightly. "They sure gave you big job right away."

[Rei]

Erilena’s mouth opened in a surprised “o” as the little bronze landed on her pile of tubers. She hadn’t ever seen a fire lizard this close before. Oh sure the Lord and Lady of Selenitas each had a flitter of their own but to the common people they where still a huge rarity. The candidate longed to touch it but she held very still instead, watching the little creature with undisguised delight. Erilena smiled as the bronze chirped. It was surely talking to her. How darling! If it wasn’t obvious by now, Mojo had her undivided attention. The disappearing tuber act had the candidate dissolving onto a fit of giggles. “Oh dear. Thank you so much for helping me by taking that thing away, but I’m afraid Tuber mountain is still pretty huge.”

A sharp voice cut through the air and Erilena snapped her head back to peer around the mountain of tubers, afraid that a drudge had caught her goofing off. But no it was just a boy, probably around her age. Smiling as he approached, she glanced up at the bronze flit still perched on the mountain of lumpy vegetables. Mojo. It was sure a fitting name. He had a almost magnetic aura about him. The candidate reluctantly returned her attention to K’sel and the offensive vegetable he was tossing about.

Erilena grimaced as the weyrling tossed it back onto the mountain. Blah. Did he have to bring it back? As the K’sel made his way to the table she examined him briefly. Not bad looking, her eyes then went to his knots. Brown weyrling…which meant he had a dragon! Erilena smiled at him as he leaned on the table. “Oh really it’s ok. I was thankful for the distraction. Anything to escape from Tuber mountain.” She was game to continue in the welcome distraction but before she could begin again, another voice trailed in. Turning her head she caught sight of Nephele and smiled warmly. Perfect, yet another distraction. Her lucky day. Eat that tubers.

Erilena gave a sideways glance at K’sel before replying to Nephele, her voice bright and friendly. “Yeah I just came in on search a few days ago. Unfortunately I got assigned kitchen duty.” She returned her attention to the rightfully named tuber mountain and grimaced. “Do they always give the newbies impossible tasks or am I just special?” The new candidate joked with a slight smile. Two weyrlings! It was rather exciting, even if she did have this veritable mountain of vegetables to peel and chop. To think they had real life living breathing dragons of their own! It was hard to imagine herself in their place at least at the moment.

[Lotty]

Yes, yes, do pay attention to meee. The firelizard was more than happy to be looked upon and even thanked for what was obviously a great deed on his part. It was just a shame that K'sel didn't think of it the same way. Bringing back that tuber was an awful thing to so, and as a result Mojo would be sure to enact revenge. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but he would not forget this little trespass. The bronze slid down the mountain causing an avalanche of tubers. Yes he could have just gone between but then he wouldn't have caused quite the mess. Reaching the table he leapt for his owner's unoccupied shoulder and gave Eyesore a smug look that went unappreciated by the blue. Those two just had conflicting personalities.

If K'sel was already sighing as the two pets exchanged glares, then he was even worse off when Nephele entered the room. Was that a vein bulging on his forehead. Why yes, it might just be. He decided to deflect the greenweyrling's comment by mostly ignoring it and adressing the candidate before him. After all, it's not like Nephy ever did the same in favor of talking to a certain boy, he could play the same games, "Nah, they were just setting you up for failure...it's not a one woman job..." he assured the girl with a certain kindness in his voice that just sounded obtuse coming from him, before turning to look at Nephele and adding, "good thing I didn't bring the firelizards...it seems that they led me here..." Wink wink. Time to turn on the charm.

He pulled up a chair and took a seat riiiight next to the new girl, "here let me help you..." and he pulled out his cherished heirloom knife - one better suited for surviving the wilderness than kitchen tasks - and grabbed the first tuber he saw. Another glance over at Erilena and he was back to work digging a sprout out of the side of one of the specimens and then got to work on peeling off the skin. He wasn't in a rush...no he was going to draw this out in an attempt to annoy Nephele as much as possible. He flicked her a challenging look over his shoulder. Na-na-na-nahhh.

[Ember]

Nephele smiled back at the girl before laughing slightly. "I'd say you were lucky. There are far worse chores than kitchen duty. Chamber pots are a lot less fun and not nearly as good smelling," she told Erilena with a wink. The joke wasn't commented on by her. She let K'sel take care of that while she plucked a tuber from the aptly named mountain and gave it a once over. The offer to help from the boy made her look at him almost questioningly. She frowned for a moment before wiping the expression off her face. Just what was he doing dragging the girl into their...whatever went on between them?

Nephele turned her attention to Erilena and smiled again. "This looks like a three person job really. Between the three of us I'm sure it'll take no time at all." The greenweyrling snatched a proper peeling knife from the kitchen supplies and began to deftly peel the tuber she'd been holding. A long strip began to form as she went around and around the tuber. After a moment she looked up again, working mostly by feel. It was one of those tasks best done while thinking about something or talking. The latter seemed the best option.

"It must be quite a bit different here then where you came from..." The girl trailed off and grinned sheepishly. "Oops, forgot to introduce myself. I'm Nephele. Shorten that as you want. What is your name?" She kept her attention on the girl but she was forced to glance down as she felt a bump on the tuber and dug it out. It was always a bit odd that tubers looked so nasty but tasted so good. Probably one of her favourite foods, odd as that was.

[Rei]

Erilena gave K’sel a smile as he pulled up a chair and began to dig at a tuber. Huh if she didn’t know any better she would say the two weyrlings had something of a issue going on between them. Even if it wasn’t really her place to interfere, the candidate was curious about the situation to say the least. Maybe they where scorned lovers or maybe they just rubbed each other the wrong way. In either case it made for an interesting situation since both parties seemed determined to stay. Oh well she relished the help and maybe if she was lucky she would get the chance to figure out what was going on between them.

Erilena smiled at K’sel even as he shot Nephele a taunting glance. Hmmm. Pehaps it was a challenge ot maybe he was trying to get the other girl to leave? The candidate studied K’sel’s knife for a moment before giving Nephele a warm smile. Deciding not to mention to K’sel that his knife was a bit ill suited to it’s task, Erilena settled for responding to the green weyrling. “Ewww. I’d rather take kitchen chores over chamber pots any day. Sounds completely horrible.” She fell silent for a moment to concentrate on a particularly nasty looking soft spot on her tuber. After digging out the offensive part Erilena looked up and continued on with the conversation. “Yeah it is a bit different. I’m form Selenitas hold. My name is Erilena. It’s nice to meet you Nephele.” She smiled and then tilted her head to regard K’sel. “What’s your name? I’m afraid I only got Mojo’s.”

Erilena looked up at the bronze flit gracing the brown weyrling’s shoulder. He was completely adorable. A regular miniature dragon. He looked young too. They must have just had a hatching. What a shame that she had missed it. Deciding to take the conversation away for the moment she cubed her tuber deftly and regarded Nephele and K’sel with a curious look. “So you guys already impressed right? What’s it like having a dragon in your mind?” The candidate was beyond curious about the mechanics of being a dragon rider. Part of her wondered if it was as wonderful as it looked. Most things that looked too good to be true where. Fact of life.

[Lotty]

Oh if only K'sel knew what the candidate was thinking about Nephele and himself. He would laugh and laugh and laugh at the scorned lover comment and titter again at the fact that they do rub each other the wrong way, but then again, the reason they did rub each other the wrong was probably because they were meant to. They were supposed despise each other because really they both liked each other and were both too stubborn and shielded to admit it. A horrible situation really, and it was a shame that now their battles had begun to spill into the public domain, each encounter could potentially get worse, but then K'sel didn't know if anything could get much worse than him punching someone.

He continued peeling the tubers, nevermind the fact that he wasn't exactly the kitchen worker type. He was treating the veggies more like they were a stick he was whittling than a simple peeling job, and so with all the skin that came off, so did chunks of the pulp. Oops. Well, surely the work of the two girls would make up for his undesireable peeling skills...really he should have been left to cube the things. As he worked Eyesore and Mojo were busy eyeing each other with contempt from opposite shoulders, the blue was such a recluse sometimes the weyrling was starting to wonder if it was a little unfair to have Impressed Mojo...but somewhere he was holding out some kind of hope that the two would get a long.

"I'm K'sel," and he had to force himself to add, "nice to meet you..." he wasn't accustomed to having to be so nice, but for the sake of proving a point to the greenweyrling he supposed he had to. Not that he had anything against Erilena - she was a pretty girl and all - but usually he just liked to let that winning personality of his always show, he wasn't one for putting up fronts, you could like him for who he was: a jerk. Obviously that meant that this little charade couldn't last long, and when it came to that generic question that all candidates (even him) have to ask at some point in their lives he had to let his sarcasm loose. Sorry Erilena.

"Oh no. I haven't Impressed, I just walk around saying my name is K'sel," a sly look at the girl to suggest to her that he was joking, though if she was naive enough to think he was telling the truth then that would just be too bad - he would just have to laugh at her. He knew that Pettahth didn't think it was so funny from that rumble in the back of his head, but having draconic creatures a little ticked at him was nothing new.

[Ember]

Nephele grimaced in genuine distaste at the memory of chamber pot duty. That's what she got for skipping out on chores just once. I'fael had been a rather strict weyrlingmaster at times. Though he was a bit odd, the greenweyrling really did prefer F'ur and his blue to the previous weyrlingmaster. At least lessons were always interesting! "It really is terrible. If you listen to no other advice, listen to this. Don't skip your chores. Emoyan is gauranteed to make you do something worse as punishment."

The conversation shifted onto K'sel so Nephele returned her focus to the tubers. She finished off the first one and reached for another carefully. No need to bring the mountain down on top of them. What was it like to have a dragon...The young woman reflected on that while K'sel beat her to answering. The response from the brownweyrling was funny to her. No way he could have pretended to be anything but what he was for much longer. She attempted to catch Erilena's gaze briefly, a spark of feminine amusement in her eyes. Men, it said clearly.

She also had to thank K'sel for the open invitation to mock him. Really, he was making it too easy. "You'll have to get used to personalities like Kasella's in the weyr, Erilena. Who knows, you may Impress a dragon as sarcastic as him," she told the candidate easily. She also waved her tuber towards the firelizard-adorned rider in case Erilena was confused about who she was referring to. She shot a quick mocking glance K'sel's way before going on to answer the girl's original question.

"In all honesty, sharing your mind can be so very confusing at first. You can feel a bit like you have a second personality, depending on the depth of your bond." A slight sigh slipped into the pause. Nuoth was really her everything, along with her two firelizards. "I also have two firelizards," she commented absently, "a pair of browns actually. They can be such trouble though, so I tend to send them elsewhere when I'm in the kitchens. Harder for the Headwoman to complain about your pets if you're not around."

[Rei]

Erilena did not notice K’sel’s butchering of the tubers. If she had, the candidate would not doubt have found it hilarious. She peeled her tubers with a dutiful expression before laying them to the side to cube later. Nephele’s warning was filed away for future reference. Never skip chores. Hmm probably good advice. Good thing she wasn’t lazy, or naturally forgetful. Emoyan seemed like the strict sort. Then again she had only met him once and hadn’t even got the chance to attend a proper lesson yet. The candidate master seemed either depressed or stressed, maybe both. She rather thought it would be stressful having to corral a bunch of less than obedient teenagers and young adults.

Erilena’s thoughts where interrupted as K’sel spoke. The brown weyrling’s rather sarcastic comment caused the girl to raise her eyebrows and smile despite herself. A bit bold of him to be employing sarcasm so early, but no matter. Erilena had never been one to grow angry easily and the weyrling’s comment wasn’t in the least scathing or insulting. It was easy for her to take it for what it was. A joke, of sorts, even if the wording was poor. K’sel was one of those easy going types maybe? The kind who didn’t ever take anything totally seriously? Maybe, the jury was still out.

Nephele’s comment cause Erilena to giggle with a mischievous glint in her eye. Oh this was really too good. Kasella? Shortened to K’sel after impression obviously. How delightful. Had she been more comfortable and friendly with her current company, she would have no doubt added to the green rider’s barb. As it was Nephele had handled it masterfully and there really was no reason to comment further. Instead the candidate gave K’sel a particularly dazzling smile. “Well K’sel I do hope your dragon is as charming as you are.” Winking she paid strict attention to her green weyrling companion. Confusing at first? It sure sounded like it. However would she react to another entity being privy to her private thoughts? It was an odd thing to contemplate. Especially now, when it seemed so foreign. Erilena nodded and smiled at the green rider. “Sounds like it is hard to explain? One of those things you just have to experience to truly get I bet.” Nephele she immediately liked. Funny, kind, and easy to talk to.

Nephele’s comment about her fire lizards drew a longing sigh from Erilena. “Oh you have a pair of those charming creatures as well? It seems as if everyone I have met so far has at least one. Are they easy to obtain?” Really it was a honest question. Either she had been lucky with who she met, or they really where a bit common. At least at the weyr. “Really I’d like to meet your pets someday. I can see how the drudges would get annoyed though. The kitchen seems so busy. I have no idea how some of these workers manage. I’m afraid I would be crashing into everyone and creating a mess. Probably a good thing they stuck me with vegetables.” Erilena grimaced at the slimy tuber in her hand before turning to smile at K’sel. Yes most of her attention had been on Nephele but she had no desire to alienate K’sel. He was rather fascinating in a weird way. Plus the chemistry between the two weyrlings was rather engaging. Yes this pair was worth hanging with. Erilena had a feeling that they would make life rather interesting when they where around.

[Lotty]

Oh did she think she was being cute by using his pre-Impression name? Probably. He just rolled his eyes as he scraped his knife against another tuber skin and pretended to be unphased by it all...it was just so irksome though. She called him what his mother called him still and there was something sort of...creepy and unsettling about that. If she was anyone else in the weyr uttering the name Kasella wouldn't be such a trespass, it was just coming from her. He couldn't give her the privilege of knowing that she alone bothered him so much though and figured if he ignored it all, that maybe it would go away. Easy for anyone but K'sel....

Swipe, swipe, swink. His skinning and cubing was growing fiercer with every moment that went by; don't put your hand anywhere near him, you would be more than likely to lose a finger. He even had a furrowed brow and something of a stormy cast to his dark brown eyes to match the slightly...aggressive, style of cutting he had taken up. This was broken only by something of a goofy comment made by Erilena. The thought of his dragon as being charming was enough to garner a chuckle, even if it was more of a indictment of his own sour personality than anything, "You should meet Pettahth then..." and he would leave it at that. Pettahth was a very "serious business" dragon in K'sel's words. How many other brown's threatened their riders with bodily harm for being late to a lesson?

Mojo agreed, the bronze thought his dragon was much too uptight. No wonder his K'sel was always so miserable all the time! Between Pettahth and Eyesore he must never have any fun, he should hang out with one of the girls more. He flitted over to a spot up high in the wood rafters where he could spy on the two girls; this was bad news, this meant that he was plotting. Not one to overlook such an obvious weight lifting off of his shoulder the weyrling looked up for the firelizard but the sharding thing was just too dark not to match the shadows. Even if Eyesore had the same penchant for hiding and high places, the bright blue of the hide still stuck out. Mojo however was very good at disappearing. Frightening.

"They are pretty easy to get I guess, sometimes you can snatch them up at a gather, but I got both of mine the old fashioned way...showing up at the right place at the right time," sometimes the young man was lucky in that way, he gave the candidate a good natured shrug. Meanwhile he had to filter out all the images the bronze firelizard decided to throw down at him. Cheeky fellow seemed to think he should ditch the kitchen work and walk away with a girl under each arm - at least according to those awfully creative little pictures he relayed. Not to let his imagination run wild with that, K'sel quickly shifted subjects again, "I'm not a big fan of kitchen work, usually if I must I'll bus tables..." so that he could sneak drinks of course, "but anything is welcome after months of the records room. Now that is something I would hate to ever be stuck with again..."

Ignoring him! How dare he! Mojo was very proud of his image work, and K'sel was just going to shrug it off? Well he would just have to share then. He sent over the scene to Eyesore, and just about every other firelizard that were hanging around in the hall. Isn't that just the best? Aren't the peoples just soooo cute together?

[Ember]

Nephele was not oblivious to K'sel's butchering of the tubers. Oh dear, had she disturbed him by calling him by his original name? She kept her amusement to herself though as she continued to peel and set aside tubers for cubing later. Cubing was more annoying, in her opinion, than peeling was. She was half hoping one of the other two would take up that task. Exmaining his work again, Nephele rather thought K'sel was more suited to cutting than peeling.

The brownweyrling's chuckle surprised her though she didn't show it. She made a thoughtful sound and addressed Erilena. "If he's actually willing to have you meet Pettahth, I'd really suggest it. Any experience with dragons is good for a candidate and while K'sel can be prickly, Pettahth is pleasant." She did actually mean what she said, too. Nephele was fond of the small brown. She hid a slightly awkward smile before either of them noticed, or so she hoped. Nuoth liked the brown too. He'd always been kind to her from what she could remember.

Nephele grinend slightly at the candidate's comment. "Yeah, it really is hard to describe. If you do Impress a firelizard you would have a better idea of what it is like. Oh, but make sure you avoid those salamandyrs. Troublesome little critters." She was doing the girl a favour, warning her before hand. Even if she was a candidate and technically not allowed anywhere near a salamandyr hatching sometimes you just happened to be near one anyways. She'd gotten lucky when she got Misfit. A trickster of a firelizard was better than a little menace.

As K'sel picked up the conversation again Nephele considered the girl's desire. Meet her pets? Well..maybe it was possible. Her mental call was almost instantly answered by Charming since she'd informed him that Eyesore was around. Misfit was a little less willing to come. He'd been busy causing trouble in the creche, of all places. Evidentally the kids' snack today was crackers and cheese. Well she had crackers too!

Charming arrived first, of course, and chirped merrily to Eyesore as he settled on K'sel's vacant shoulder. Nephele smirked slightly and shook her head. "That one's Charming. He's fond of K'sel's blue. And," The girl paused as Misfit popped out of the air above her and she held up a cracker that he snatched away. "That one is Misfit. My boys." She'd have been smiling slightly if not for the image passed to her by an amused Misfit. She pulled out another cracker and waved it at him. "You. Don't be a pest." Who could argue with crackers?

Nephele idly petted Misfit once the cracker was duly handed over and wondered where he'd gotten the image. It wasn't completely against his character to do such a thing but he hadn't been in the kitchen long enough to think of livening things up. What an odd idea too. Her, Erilena, and K'sel? As if. She'd kill to know why it annoyed her so much though. Normally she'd probably find it amusing. Was it because of Erilena, or worse...because of K'sel?

[Rei]

If there was one thing Erilena prided herself on it was her observatory skills. Nephele’s use of his original name seemed to rankle K’sel just a bit. Interesting. Hmm. Before she could make a decision about the two she would have to see more. Casually peeling a tuber she listened to the brown weyrling’s remark about his dragon. Pettahth was not in his riders good book at the moment it seemed, or rather K’sel was trying to be cutely sarcastic again. Either way, the candidate was now dead set on actually meeting the brown. Wheels where starting to turn in her head and perhaps she could find a sort of accomplice in K’sel’s brown. She hoped as much anyway. Plans where always more fun when you had an accomplice.

Thrusting the peeled tubers at K’sel as he turned to keep track of his bronze pet, Erilena smiled. “Why don’t you cube them. Your peeling skills leave much to be desired.” She giggled and winked at Nephele before adding the green weyrlings peeled tubers to the pile as well. The girls peeled much faster than K’sel anyway. Teamwork was the way to go. “Oh I would most definitely love to meet your Pettahth. Once we get this job done we will go see him.” There done, she had purposefully left no room for argument. Pettahth she would meet, one way or another.

Suddenly the girl’s attention was stolen by Nephele’s charming brown flits. They really where darling and Charming was a name that sure seemed to fit the one now happily perched on K’sel’s recently vacated shoulder. If they where as easy to get as K’sel said they where, she was defiantly going to try to acquire one. Erilena watched as Nephele provided a cracker for the other brown who seemed to relish the “treat”. Interesting she was under the impression that flitters where strictly carnivorous. Before Erilena could say as much an expression from the green weyrling caught her attention. What was bothering her new companion? Deciding to be tactful about it she cleared her throat. “Your pets are just darling. I can’t wait to try for one. You mention a Salamandyr? I have heard about them since coming here and even caught a small glimpse of one but I heard candidates are forbidden from owning one. Are they really that horrible?”

A change of topic was perfect in her opinion. There was something going on between her weyrling companions. Perhaps something not either of them had addressed yet, but it was obvious from their easy banter that there where unresolved things. Hmm perhaps she could get more if she was able to get one of the two alone. Not by outright asking of course, but by leading questions. Oh this was going to be fun! Erilena had come to impress of course, but it was just too good that she had found things to interest her so easily. Weyr life was more amazing than Erilena had originally hoped.

Happily she began to pile up the peeled tubers and a glance to the mountain made her beam wider. Oh ho~ it seemed as if Tuber mountain now had a sizeable dent. If they kept up the pace they would be done in no time. “Record duty huh? Does sound horrible.” Really it did. She detested records of anything. Not only was her handwriting horrible but figures gave her a headache. “Thanks for the warning.” The girl gave K’sel and smile and tilted her head. “So what do people do for fun around here?”

[Lotty]

Although he didn't even flinch when Charming took up his empty shoulder, he was a little shocked by the move the candidate pulled. What the shards? Half way through scraping away more skin, he felt a load of the potatoes thunk against his arms and drop into his lap, narrowly missing a particularly sensitive area that he didn't care to be crushed under the weight of tubers. He gave Erilena a very distinct look, one that said plainly you are so lucky... Lucky to be alive after such a close call...he needed that part after all. He could probably live without a leg...maybe lose an ear or an eye, but shards he needed that. The boy grumbled and picked up the pre-peeled pieces and began cubing them in his hands without too much more in the ways of complaints. He was better suited for this kind of task anyway.

He didn't even put up too much of a protest when the candidate wormed her way into a meeting with his dragon. He did bring it up after all, so he could only blame himself when she went ahead and set up an appointment for herself. Ah well, Pettahth could use the attention anyway, and it wasn't like it had any bearing on his day. Who said that he had to stick around?

He only looked up from his work to drop a handful of diced tuber into a pot that rested to his side by his feet. He honestly didn't remember when that had showed up there, or how it got there, but that wasn't what as important. As he plucked up another victim for the chopping block, he quirked a corner of his lip at the mention of salamandyrs. He hated those sharding things and he wouldn't step around the issue. In a plain concise answer he laid it flat out, "Salamandyrs suck," and that was that. Nephele could elaborate, but K'sel hardly thought that a man's opinion needed to be explained all the time...he was already back to work slicing and dicing, but...that one girl was still talking to him.

This must have been his punishment for his revenge flirting earlier. At very least she wasn't the easy to offend type like a certain person he knew - he looked right past Erilena at his intended target with a scowl - and he could be his usual self without too many repercussions, "For fun? I get horribly drunk and pass out on the floor in a pool of my own drool and..." he pretended to think on the subject and looked to the ceiling for answers, "and yep thats about all there is to do in this place... oh well unless you count screwing and dying. Those are popular pastimes around here too," at least he was being honest, "so if you don't like any of those things then I guess you are out of luck..." He shrugged mildly.

[Ember]

Nephele blinked mildly as her peeled tubers disappeared over to where K'sel was. She shot a grateful smile at Erilena as she casually pushed her latest tuber over to where K'sel was. The gloating look in her eyes clearly said 'neenerneener, I get to peel and you don't.' Childish? Very. She didn't mind though. The greenweyrling found Erilena's personality rather refreshing. She was an even match even for the surly K'sel. Misfit rubbed against her hand, silently asking for another cracker. The girl firmly refused. No more. What would Tiida think if Misfit got to be a chubby little brown?

With an affronted cheep Misfit took off and popped between. As if crackers would make him fat! Charming chittered with amusement before jumping off K'sel's shoulder to land on Erilena's. As the chocolate coloured brown proceeded to flirt with the girl Nephele grinned slightly. "They're a funny pair," she said with amusement. "K'sel is right about them sucking. They can talk, though they sound more like toddlers than anything. They also bond like dragons. The reason candidates and weyrlings aren't allowed salamandyrs is because they would disturb a young dragon when they run to mate. Generally firelizards and salamandyrs hate one another so most people go for one or the other."

Nephele shrugged and glanced at the mountain of tubers. Hmm. They were clearly making some head way. Erilena's question made her frown a bit, though the expression only appeared for a moment before it was gone. Fun? Generally Nephele couldn't say anything she did classified as fun, though it was pleasant. One of the few things she did find fun was bugging K'sel but there was no need to bring that up. She listened to K'sel's answer and a genuine look of mild disgust crossed her face.

She tsked and looked at Erilena. "There's more to do than that, though Emoyan would have you believe otherwise with all the chores and lessosn you have to do. A lot of people swim or ride runnerbeasts. There are betting games...Hmm. There are also plenty of Gathers. Plenty more to do than drinking, sex, or death. All depends on what kind of things you like to do." Nephele continued her peeling, though if her shorter strokes were anything to judge by the girl was annoyed.