If it ain't broke. ( Open )

[Zephyr]

Things weren’t going quite the way he had planned. After filling a large basin of water, Kaius had dragged the thing through the busy weyr, trying his hardest on to soak the front of his shirt. In the process, he had sloshed a lot of the water from the basin, causing a nice little trail to lead anyone wondering what was up right to the frustrated candidate. He had finally decided that it was time to wash his clothes. He could always tell when it was time to wash his clothing. No one came right out and told him, but from the looks he had been getting from other candidates, he knew it was high past time.

And Kaius had never been properly instructed on how to wash clothes. His father hadn’t taught him, believing it to be purely woman’s work. His mother hadn’t taught him. Perhaps she had wanted to, but she was too afraid of his father’s wrath to try and teach his boy child anything resembling something she should be thankful to have to do. And the boy didn’t have a death wish. Sometimes he wished he could help his mother with the multitude of things his father expected of her, but he valued his life, and his mother’s life.

So that was probably why Kaius wasn’t doing so well in keeping himself dry. He was in the corner, out of the way of most off the weyr and pulled a basket of his clothes over. He could probably be doing this in a less public place, but even he couldn’t stand the smell of his own dirty clothing, if he were to tell himself the complete truth.

Without hesitating anymore, Kaius upturned the basket and emptied his entire basket into the basin. He was fairly certain that this wasn’t the best way to do laundry, but he didn’t know any better. At least he could say they were clean now, no matter how well he cleaned them…they were wet, at least. Biting his tongue, the boy leaned over the basin and began to frantically scrub one item of clothing with soap, completely unprepared for what was to happen.

Without warning, a puppy and child ran past him from behind. Startled, the on edge boy whirled around, tripping on the basin and falling rear first into the tub full of water and dirty clothes. Water fell out the sides of the tub, splashing the ground and pooling in great quantities around him. Cursing to himself, Kaius struggled to get out of the water, soaking wet. Even his hair was sopping. Hopefully no one saw that…

[Requiem]

"And that's why you should never announce what you're going to do before you do it," Armind stated aloud, to no one in particular. He was a forgettable sort of boy in appearance. All the usual averages brought together to make one completely average child of twelve turns, at least outwardly. Even the random talking to himself wasn't so unusual from children his age. Yes, the type to disappear easily into any crowd. But Armind had enough attitude to more than compensate for that.

As point of fact, though, he was without any current plans for mayhem. The room of pink thing had been done and done again, and he thought that a tired project. Those dragons with hoards were a bit too good at noticing a small child so close, and he wasn't so sure one wouldn't eat him, so stealing shinies was out. Stealing food from the kitchens was neither necessary nor much of a challenge, with how little attention the drudges paid anyone his size wandering in.

He could always collect more creepy crawlies with which to terrorize the girls, he supposed, but there weren't many left. Not after the dragon and wher hatchings. Girls. Not creepy crawlies. Still, even if he couldn't terrorize anyone with them, Armind thought it might be fun to hunt tunnelsnakes. At the very least he could get a reaction out of the kitchen drudges when he presented it to them to cook. Now it was just a matter of figuring out how one went about capturing tunnelsnakes. This was not exactly part of the beastcraft training he'd begun to receive, after all.

Traps needed a trip of some sort. The nooses would not work, because it was a snake. No convenient legs or necks to ensnare. Snakes would not be heavy enough to fall into pits. No, a trap was probably out. He'd have to hunt them directly, wouldn't he? Thus it was that the child emerged into the light of day with an empty pillowcase and a long, pointed stick. His hunt took him along the bank of the river, then up into the forest a ways, poking gingerly between any rocks he could find.

Another child speeding along was hardly spared a glance...that was until the loud splash. Armind blinked. Had the child just jumped into the river? But no, there was a soap monster flailing about in a tub there by the river, a soap monster that looked a whole lot like 'that stinky one.' All the boys in the barracks knew that he had a stench about him that could turn the stomachs of even the most active boys. Well, at least he was doing his laundry now.

The child couldn't resist. He bounced down and, just as the other candidate emerged, poked him in the stomach with the blunt end of his stick so that the unbalanced candidate would land with a splash right back in that soapy water. "Stay there for a bit, won't you?" He commented with a snicker, wrinkling his nose. "Might do you some good."

[Zephyr]

The soap and water clung to his body and clothes and weighed him down, even as he tried raising himself out of the basin, the water weighed him down and he fell back into the water. It took him a second to realize that it wasn't the water weighing him down anymore, but a stick right in his stomach. " Hey!" He demanded, flailing a bit before realizing who was holding down ( or trying to ). Kaius was usually a quiet boy by nature, but he hated being embarrassed, and the fact that this little...kid viewed his massive fail.

It wasn't cool.

" Why you little!" The boy all but growled, bursting forth from the basin. Water splashed in every direction as the older candidate righted himself, water dripping from his thoroughly soaked clothing. Dark hair plastered his face, and he pushed it out of his eyes, breathing heavily from the exertion.

Anger filled his eyes as he regarded the other boy. Kai hadn't yet met the younger candidate, but he knew that he hadn't been the only one who had been left standing at the last hatching. He felt bad for yelling now, but he was still embarrassed that this kid had seen him fall. Grumbling quietly, he rubbed his stomach.

" Do you go around prodding everyone you meet with sticks?"

[Requiem]

Success. The older boy was spending a few extra moments in that soapy water, a few extra moments of stench abolishment. Armind counted that as a definite success. Even if it didn't last very long once Kaius realized just why he was still in the soapy water. The child backed up as the wet teenager practically exploded from the water basin, though it didn't prevent him from getting a bit wet...not to mention a few suds.

"Armind. Why you little Armind. Scoundrel works too." Apparently even tall older boys growling at him did not phase the child. Of course, he also wasn't terribly terrifying when he looked like a floppy drowned rat. With bits of cloud stuck to him. "No. Only if it looks like fun," he answered, with a self-satisfied smile. Armind set the butt of the stick on the ground and leaned on it.

"Shouldn't complain so much. You needed a bath. Badly. Unless your goal is to clear a room just by walking through the door?" Yeah, he was a snot, but what was new? Anyone who'd had any real contact with the child had to be aware of that. It was decidedly rare for the candidate to behave himself or be even remotely polite. "I suppose you have a name?"