Bored With Nothing To Do

[heisokufire9]

Ashlyn sighed running a hand through her black hair as she sat down on her bunk. She'd kept the bottom one after Syrene moved out. Part of her was glad the girl was gone. Syrene had been more than a little intimidating to say the least and with things so screwed up as it was now that she had a place to escape to life was slightly better. Another part of her though missed Syrene's company hard as the girl had been to deal with. A sudden pop made her look up to see a bronze firelizard appear above her. She smiled at Loki.

"Are you actually going to give me some attention now or are you just going to demand food?" she teased the scary looking bronze. Loki landed on her shoulder giving her an indignant look as his tail curled around her kneck. Ash shook her head at the firelizard and gently reached up to stroke him. Loki bumped his head against her cheek in a rare show of affection before climbing off her shoulder and curling up on her pillow.

Ash watched Loki for a moment then sighed and lay back on her bunk. Ever since the weyr had been taken over life had changed drastically. She'd lost her foster parents in the attack and missed them sorely. More so she missed the freedom she'd had. She still had some freedoms yes but they were watched carefully and she had worked with Loki well enough for him to slip messages. She'd made sure to get him tagged so he would get killed though it had been sharding hard for her to get him to keep the tag on. Her quirky bronze had already gotten on the bad side of several drudges and riders due to his love of scaring them.

The teen stared up at the ceiling, blue eyes distant. She wondered if things would go back to normal. Idly slim fingers picked at the Wasteland knots on her shirt. The only reason she was still here was because of the possibility of impressing should the leading gold rise soon. Not that she wanted to be under Wasteland rule of course. One thing was for sure if she impressed she'd try to get transferred out asap. Of course that would probably be impossible if she impressed a Gold. It was a dream she'd entertained yes, what girl didn't? But she would be happy with whatever she got. With a sigh she closed her eyes. What she would give to have someone to talk to.

[Ruby]

The barracks looked pretty much empty - they often did these days, with half the Candidates gone with those who left (escaped?) and the rest far busier than the ever were before. Candidates were lucky if they got even an afternoon off, but somehow Caden had snagged one, and it looked like Ashlyn had too. A tiny smile turned up a corner of the Candidate's mouth; despite the awkwardness of their first meeting, Caden harbored a cautious dislike for Ashlyn. She seemed to be a girl of solid sense, and all the awkwardness had been Caden, last time. She'd been lonely, disappointed, and feeling Smath's loss twice as much as usual - surely Ashlyn could forgive her for that?

The candidate figured she'd find out, since everyone else seemed to be out, not to mention that the remaining Selenitas candidates needed to stick together. There certainly weren't enough of them left to Impress all the eggs Millieth was sure to lay, and nothing set Caden's teeth on edge more than the idea that the Benden traitors (yes, that's what the Wastelanders were to her) could manage to take over the Weyr more completely just by impressing most of the clutch and assimilating the Selenitas remainders. So she knocked on Ashlyn's bunk's leg, smiling a little before leaning up against the bunk across the way. "Excited for the clutch?" she asked, in an uncharacteristic show of both eloquence and friendliness. She needed someone on her side, after all.

Shifting the small bag hanging on her shoulder, she glanced toward her own bunk and waited for Ashlyn's answer. She had an idea (very rare for Caden), and it wasn't a GOOD idea - well, it was good if you were Selenitas and maybe especially M'ta, but it wasn't a good idea if you were a Candidate that could potentially be punished, or banned from standing. But she needed a partner in crime, and with Nabrik gone and Alex in class, Caden had to look for other options. Her plan had to be executed now - the target would be in wing drills for another two candlemarks at least. Hopefully Ashlyn could be trusted, but considering Caden had heard rumors that Ashlyn had lost her parents in the invasion, the Candidate figured she'd be on the right side of this conflict. "So... what're you doing today?" she asked once Ashlyn was done speaking, shifting the bag again. Bad idea. Such a bad idea.

[heisokufire9]

Unlike her bronze firelizard, Ashlyn was slightly startled by the knock on her bunk frame but was more surprised to see Caden standing there. Loki had heard the girl come up watching the other candidate as she spoke to his. Ash blinked taking in the harmless question.

"Yes I am but I'm also worried. There are so few candidates they're bound to bring in candidates of their own." she replied sitting up. Loki chirped inquisitively at Caden for a moment before going back to sleep apparently not interested in his usual scare tactics at the moment. Ash tilted her head at Caden's next question.

"Nothing actually. I managed to finish all my chores early." she answered noticing the girl shift the bag on her shoulder. An eyebrow quirked up in interest.

"You need me to help you with something?" she asked. Some excitement would be welcome. Her life despite the takeover was rather dull. Yes she was worried she'd get in trouble over something little but that had lessened over the past few days. Also she wanted to do something. Maybe whatever Caden had in mind would be up her alley of interest.

[Ruby]

"Mmm," Caden agreed. On any other subject she would have left it at that, but this WAS something she'd spent some serious time thinking about. "Few already. Hinsero's one, might be more," she added, then laughed a little. "Maybe we'll get lucky, clutch'll be tiny?" That, of course, was a totally silly idea, and she hoped Ashlyn would catch her very dry joke. Caden didn't have much of a sense of humor, but occasionally she'd slip a joke in there. Sure, a tiny clutch might impress only to Selenitas candidates, but less eggs also meant less chances that Ashlyn would impress. Caden? She wasn't sure she would ever re-impress at this point, so she wasn't particularly worried about her chances. She was resigned to failure either way.

That was really just an opener, though. Test the waters, all that. Ashlyn had passed muster, openly admitting that she was anti-Wasteland. Very good. Caden nodded, indicating that she, too, had finished her chores early, then tilted her head in the bag's direction. "Wastelander got on my bad side, day they invaded. Name of Z'ves. I, uh..." Here she smiled a little, and cocked her hip out so the bag sloshed. "I 'borrowed' some dye from the Tanners. Pink. Figured I'd get his straps and all his shirts while he's at drills. Just need a lookout and a big bowl... unless..." She let herself trail off, lifting an eyebrow in Ashlyn's direction. If Ashlyn wanted to help, Caden wouldn't consign her to watch duty, but if both of them got caught in Z'ves' weyr, she wouldn't be able to take the fall unless Ashlyn was outside. Up to her.

Of course, she hadn't explained what Z'ves had done - it really didn't have to do with Caden at all, it just made her fume. That certainly came across in her tone, but if Ashlyn wanted an explanation, she'd have to ask. Caden wasn't exactly loquacious.

[heisokufire9]

Ashlyn blinked then grinned. "That sounds like fun. Loki and I'll play lookout for you." she offered and added, "cause I'm not good with mixing dyes." She slipped off her bunk and whistled sharply glancing up at Loki. The bronze chittered as he got up and stretched before hopping down to perch on Ash's shoulder. Blue eyes flickered to Caden full of mischief.

"I've been itching for something fun to do. And I can get you a bowl from the kitchens." she commented. Ash was surprised that Caden was actually including her. Their first encounter had been awkward but Ash blamed it on the fact that there had been so many other people there at the time. She was glad for something to do though and she wasn't going to let this opportunity pass her up.

[Ruby]

Another nod, this time matched with a very dangerous smile, and Caden started for the door. Then she stopped short, glancing back to scan Ashlyn's clothes. "Might wanna put on some green," she warned, tugging self-consciously on the green ribbon she used to lace up her shirt's neck in place of a more standard leather thong. "Sel's coming, and she bites, if you're not wearing green." Yes, that was one of her firelizard's more difficult traits, but Sel really was lovely. Just... demanding, sometimes.

Once Ashlyn had taken care of her wardrobe, Caden nodded again, then headed out. "Kitchens first," she said, starting off that direction, and hoping Ash came along. In the meantime, Caden sent a pulse along her bond with her firelizard, calling her back from whatever mischief she was up to now. Lifting her forearm arm like she'd seen falconers do, she felt she Green's familiar weight before the little creature skittered up her sleeve and out of sight. Couldn't be spotted!

As they approached the kitchens, though, she peered out from behind Caden's neck, trilling gently to Loki. Did he want to play hide and seek? She was hidden already, he'd have to find her if he wanted to play! Shaking her head, Caden slowed, then stopped by the entrance to the dining hall. "Can you?" she asked, gesturing towards the kitchens. Ashlyn might not know, but Caden had been banned - after ruining one too many dishes and chopping her vegetables wrong every time, she was relegated to serving and dishes if she ever got assigned kitchens duty. "Biggest one you can find," she added, leaning casually against the wall outside the door. "I can distract them, if you need it."

[heisokufire9]

Ashlyn had tied a green ribbon around her wrist before they headed to the kitchens. Loki chirped back at Sel, telling her he'd play later. He'd caught onto his' emotions and only his tail was visible as it was curled around Ash's neck. Ash smirked at Caden's offer.

"I have the distraction around my neck." she replied grinning. She sent a pulse to Loki for once giving him permission to use his scare tactics on the poor drudges. The bronze sat on her shoulder for a moment surprised then gave an evil chortle before launching off Ash's shoulder and disappearing into the kitchens. Ash grinned and slipped over to the entrance of the kitchens.

Suddenly a loud shriek was heard followed by screams and banging around. Ash put her hand to her mouth to smother a giggle before slipping into the kitchens. Loki was racing around keeping the kitchen workers busy. She grabbed the largest bowl she could see and slipped back out to Caden.

"Here you are, curtousy of Loki." Ash said grinning as she sent a pulse to Loki calling him back. He appeared above them with a pop and landed on her shoulder chittering happily as he (mostly) hid under Ash's hair.

"Let's get going before they come out." Ash suggested glancing at the door to the kitchens and the angry voices. She didn't really care if she got banned from the kitchens. She hated washing dishes anyway.

[Ruby]

Sel made a sad little sound when Loki rejected her offer to play, but almost immediately brightened again. That was ok - she was just hidden really well! He certainly wouldn't be able to find her quickly, so he could take care of His, first. That she understood. Burrowing deeper into Caden's shirt, the Green started mentally going through her stock of shiny things with Caden, trying to figure out what to hide of Loki later. He certainly deserved one of her best shinies. Perhaps the ring?

Caden blinked, trying to clear her head of rings and beads and shells long enough to respond to Ashlyn. All she really needed was a nod (and she didn't even really need that), so Caden gave it, tying not to shiver at the Bronze's laugh. Shards, that thing was terrifying, and Caden wasn't exactly one to be easily scared. To cover, she grinned back at Ash as the girl disappeared, then leaned up against the wall outside the dining hall, nodding vaguely to the person or two who passed by, raising their eyebrows at the chaos coming from the kitchen. Let them think she was waiting for someone. She was, after all.

Before she knew it, Ashlyn was back, with a huge bowl in tow. "Perfect," Caden said, then gestured and started off down the hall. No reason to hang around - who knew when Z'ves would be back? Maybe he'd end wing drills early. Oh, how Caden hoped he didn't end wing drills early. Sel, meanwhile, sent the pulses of thanks to Loki that Caden had neglected - thanks for helping Hers, for making Hers happy!

Despite her desire to rush, Caden kept their pace steady, walking partially in front of Ash and murmuring, "Keep your head down.". This turned out to be a good idea when what seemed like half the kitchen staff stampeeded down the hall, totally ignoring the two Candidates going about their business in their search for the Bronze menace (safely out of sight under Ash's hair, of course). Once they hit the correct corridor, though, Caden glanced both ways, then hurried down it, practically running as she counted doors. "One, two, three - here," she said, pausing in front of a nondescript door that looked like any other on the hallway. "Loki at one end, Sel at the other, you at the door. Knock if anyone comes, then go. Unless there is a good reason for you to be looking for Z'ves?"

[heisokufire9]

Ash nodded and followed Caden as the girl headed down the hall. She kept her head down and Loki sent Sel a happy pulse to let her know he'd gotten her thanks. Ash trotted behind Caden as they went down another hall and when they reached the door and she heard Caden's suggestion nodded. Loki popped to one end of the hall at her command and Ash leaned against the wall beside the door.

"I have no reason to stick around. I'll knock twice if someone's coming." she answered and added, "So get to it before we're caught." She would stand watch and let her partner in crime know if anyone would show up while she was still in there. Here's to hoping no one showed up. Ash wouldn't leave before Caden came out unless someone came along. The faster it was done the faster they could get gone. Ash had to admit this was a good prank if they could pull it off.

[Requiem]

This was just awesome. Oh his aunt and uncle had a huge place, but it couldn't possibly compare to the vast communal kitchens. Armind practically bounced with delight, the dirt-smeared little twelve-turn-old - he'd spent the better part of the morning exploring the dank and dirty abandoned parts of his new home and getting delightfully lost - flitting from one counter to the next and keeping just a couple steps ahead of the evil jaoler drudges. A snatched piece of bread was hastily disappearing down his gullet as he stuffed a fork into a pocket rather sneakily when the kitchens suddenly erupted in more chaos. (This was fortunate for him, considering his theft of the kitchen utensil had been noticed and the net was slowly closing in on the boy.)

He of course took advantage of the further distraction to snatch a bowl and slip it under his shirt. He was so the master of thie-! Oh, ew! There was something thick and slimy sliding down his stomach now and oozing around the lower edges of the bowl. Apparently Armind had forgotten the fundamental rule of making sure it was empty before giving himself a rather curious-looking pot belly. The child pulled a face and scurried out of the kitchens on the heels of most of the darting drudges. His curiosity led him to follow in their wake, but it quickly turned aside at the new curiosity of hunched figures making sneaky movements ahead of him. Armind immediately slowed to trail these new people. They must be up to no good, skulking like that. He wanted in!

Oh, bother. A corridor. Armind hung back, hugging one hand to his suspicious belly bulge much like a pregnant woman might place a palm over the mound that hid her unborn child. He peeked at the boy and girl. When the boy disappeared into that room, though, he could no longer contain himself and bounced out into the corridor, waving to Ashlyn vigorously with his free hand. (A steady stream of goopy drips from the cereal mash he'd unwittingly smeared all over himself splattered with the energetic movement.) Armind darted down the hall, hissing a whispered, "Wait!" at a decibel that (hopefully) only the girl could hear.

His voice dipped excitedly when he got near the door. "What are you doing? What is he doing? Whose door is this? Can I help? I'm very good at...whatever this is." Yeah that ending was kind of poor, but he recovered himself swiftly in a show of exuberance. "Come on, come on, tell me!" He even forgot the girls have cooties rule for a moment.

[heisokufire9]

Ash jumped at the sound of a young voice and looked over in time to see a boy of about twelve running toward her. She frowned and was about to send him on his way when a sudden pop alerted her to Loki's arrival. She managed to grab the firelizard as he dove hissing and screeching at the boy.

"Loki, manners." she said sharply and the bronze sulked in her arms as he tried to wiggle free. Ash glanced at the boy. He sure was energetic for someone so small. Then again boys seemed to be more rambunctious at that age.

"We're playing a prank on someone. I'm standing watch...." she answered trying to think of a task to give the boy. Loki squirmed in her arms trying to get out to go after the boy. He didn't like that his had been scared! Ash glared down at the bronze.

"Loki, that's enough." she said and something in her voice must have given away her irritation with him cause he paused for a moment then with a hiss at the boy popped between to return to his post. Ash ran a hand through her hair.

"Sorry about him. He doesn't like boys." she muttered and added, "I'll tell you what, why don't you go make sure none of the kitchen staff followed us okay?" That should keep him busy long enough for her to think of another task for him to do. Hopefully he wouldn't put up too much of a fuss about it. She really didn't feel like yelling at a kid today. Boy was this turning into an adventure.

[Ruby]

Bowl, dye, water. Surely Z'ves had a pitcher for washing his face in the morning - ah, there it was. Emptying the dye and water into the bowl, she swirled the large container to mix it up, accidentally sloshing a little on her shirt. "Shards!" she snapped, examining the spreading pink stain. Well, she'd handle that later. First things first...

Z'ves' extra set of riding straps were the first things she submerged, poking at the hot pink mess for a few seconds before reaching in to pull them out. Without letting them soak for a long time, the color would fade the first time he washed them, but they'd certainly be embarassing hanging on his wall until he noticed. Oddly careful not to stain the plaster, she returned the straps to their peg, doing her best to arrange them as they had been. Then she turned towards the sleeping chambers - certainly that was where he kept his clothing. One step, two steps... and she heard voices in the hall.

Freezing as if she'd been grabbed, the Candidate listened as hard as she could, waiting for those two knocks. But no, she didn't hear them, and she heard Ash's lowered voice, although she couldn't understand what was said through the door. Shards and shells, it was time to be out of here. Almost. Abandoning her slow sneaking, Caden gave up and ran into Z'ves' room, pulling open every drawer she could find and slamming it closed until she found the shirts. Those she snatched up en masse, regardless of color, and rushed into the main room where she'd left the dye. These would most likely stain permanently - unless he wanted to bleach or re-dye all of them, he'd be stuck wearing pink or pink-tinged shirts for quite some time. Not to mention that washing them with anything else he owned would certainly cause the unset dye to bleed, and it would likely rub off onto his skin, as well. Excellent.

Then she ran into two problems. First, the shirts were all wet now, and she didn't want to leave them out. Let it be a surprise early tomorrow morning. Second, she'd stuck her own hands in the dye multiple times. They were all pink - no matter what happened now, she'd be caught almost literally red handed. The first problem she solved by squeezing out as much of the moisture as she could, before re-folding the shirts and returning them to their drawer. The second... well. She'd never been one to shirk punishment.

Dumping the remaining pink dye down his toilet (thank Faranth all private weyrs had been outfitted with bathing rooms), she scanned the main room for anything left out of place, then scampered for the door, bowl and carrysac under her arm. Knocking once from the inside, she hissed, "Clear?"

[Requiem]

Armind ducked, staring wide-eyed at the lizardy thing. It had seemed quite small until it made that dive for his face. Now he decided those things were entirely too big to be swooping for his eyes. He had the sudden urge to get one of his own and see how many girls he could get to screech. (He'd almost shouted, after all, so no doubt it would be the perfect girl terrorizer.)

The child's eyes brightened at mention of a 'prank.' Oh, he loved pranks! His eyes drifted curiously toward the door. "On who?" But he forgot he'd even asked the question when the firelizard that apparently was a 'Loki' began putting up even more of a fuss and looked like it was going to squirm out of her arms to attack him. Silly small dragon thingy. What would he want to be attacking Armind for?

He scoffed. "Well, that's just silly. Isn't he a boy? Does he hate himself, too? I like the dragon thingies, but if they're all that silly, maybe I don't want to get one after all," he decided with a quite serious nod of his little head. Still mumbling things to himself about silly little dragons, the boy scampered back toward the center corridor. He almost forgot about his bowl and it began to slip. The child stumbled in an effort to catch the bowl before it slid out of his shirt entirely. Whoops.

A quick glance left and right determined the halls to still be empty. He ventured forth a short ways to just be sure. (It might have been a bad idea to send a guilty-looking child with a not-so-mysterious paunch out to play sentry, given he was bound to attract attention from anyone wandering about, but they were fortunate this time. There was no one around to notice Armind.)

In another instant he'd turned around and loped back toward Ashlyn, just in time to hear the knock. The boy placed his ear to the door curiously and rapped back at the boy on the other side. Then, just so everyone was certain, he shouted "Clear!" Armind bounced on his toes and glanced at Ashlyn excitedly. "So what are we doing next? Huh? And what prank did you play? I want to knoooow."

[heisokufire9]

Ashlyn shrugged at the boy's remark on her firelizard. "Loki's quirky. Not all of them are like that." she replied before he scampered off down the hall. She shook her head slightly at the boy. He was such a typical high energy child she felt sorry for him being stuck here. Well he seemed to be making the most of it any event. She heard the knock as the boy returned and was about to answer Caden when the boy shouted through the door. Ash cringed.

"There's no need to shout." she hissed and added, "The prank we're playing is on a rider who was involved in the take over. Now we're leaving before we get caught." She glanced at the grubby little boy. He needed a bath but they could let the headwoman deal with that.

"It's clear." Ashlyn said through the door to Caden before glancing at the boy. "Thanks for making sure the hallway was clear. Now get going before we're caught." she added. She didn't want the boy to get in trouble because of their prank. He wasn't exactly involved and the fewer people who knew the less likely it was that they would be found out.

[Ruby]

Caden actually jumped almost a foot in the air, expecting a quiet whisper and hearing a shout like that. It wasn't Ashlyn, either. What was she trying to do, give Caden a heart attack? The more people involved the more likely it was that they would... oh right. Caden had glanced down and caught sight of the angry pink stain on her shirt, and the red tinge on her hands. Well, as long as that second voice wasn't, in fact, Z'ves, she was as alright as she could be. In moments, Ashlyn confirmed her suspicions, and Caden slid out the door. Adjusting the sac over her shoulder and the bowl under her arm, she held an arm up for the returning Sel and looked Armind up and down.

"Why's he here?" she asked Ashlyn, more curious than angry. Her voice had unconsciously slid about half an octave lower as she took in every inch of the scrappy, unfamiliar child. Sel took one look at Armind, however, and swooped out from behind Caden as silent as a shadow, nipping him gently on the back of the elbow as she blasted a color: GREEN!Caden buried her face in her magenta palm, all her credibility lost. Way to go, Sel. Next time Caden was leaving the Green in the barracks.

Once Sel had returned to her sneaky hiding place down the neck of Caden's shirt, the Candidate cleared her throat and straightened, ignoring any outburst Armind might or might not have had. A hand came down on Ashlyn's shoulder and Caden's mouth turned up in what was, undoubtedly, a smile. It looked kind of wrong on Caden's normally brooding face, but it was what it was. "It's done, we should go."

The kid got another glance, and Caden spotted the bowl not so expertly concealed under his shirt. "You taking that back to the Kitchens? Mind returning this one, to?"