Make You Feel Like a Man [Tavis]

[Shiny]

J'ash straightened his back and brought his shoulders up in a stretch, inhaling deeply. The air rushed out of his lungs as his eyes fell on a toddler, a kind smile morphing his lips. The young child of about three turns was bawling her eyes out. The other Creche workers were all busy conducting, supervising, and taking care of other kids - it was his job to cheer her up.

Kneeling down, J'ash smiled wider and gently picked up the child. "There there, it'll be okay." He bounced her up and down carefully, looking around for something that might aid him. Ah - there. Stick legs carried the both of them to a table, on which sat a vase with simple flowers bathing in it. Making sure he had a secure hold on the wailing child, J'ash reached out with a free hand and plucked one. "For you, my lady!" he said cheerily, offering the flower to the child.

The child simmered down after a moment, blinking big blubbery eyes at J'ash and then the flower. A tiny hand pulled it from his grasp and twirled it around before her eyes. Once again, J'ash had used his child powers to calm this one. "There, all better!" He let the child down, who promptly sat on her tush and began to preoccupy herself with her new gift.

J'ash smiled to himself, always pleased to make others happy. He began to walk around the premises of the Creche, having no other immediate task to do. He gathered his long, straight, blonde hair to flow over his left shoulder, and blew at the curtain of bangs that fell into his eyes. Indeed it was rather confusing to tell from first glance if J'ash was actually a man. His face was very pretty (despite scars decorating it), he was skinny enough to make other real women jealous, and his hair showed that he obviously put a lot of care into it.

J'ash came to a stop near the entrance of the Creche, blinking as he came within close range of someone he had never seen before. It was uncommon to not recognize someone's face around here, as it was rare that new babies / children arrived. He blinked with molten silver eyes at the slightly shorter dark-haired male, forcing a welcoming smile on his face. "Can I help you?"

[Ivy]

Tavis cringed. He may have even died a little inside. Elisabeta sure knew how to put the hurt on someone - both physically and mentally apparently. As if she knew that he'd had a rather sheltered, boring, non-loving childhood in Lighttower... that harpy of a woman had decided his chore for the day (yes the entire day) would be to spend time in the Creche. Doing what?, he had asked her - honestly having no clue what she expected him to do there. Babysitting. She had replied in that tone of voice that said she just wanted to spit on people rather than speak to them. Babysitting just like she did on a daily basis with the Candidates, she'd added.

So now Tavis was stuck down below stuck with a bunch of bratty children, as if he didn't hate the Weyr enough already.

He'd gotten lost on his way, truth be told. He should have showed up a half candlemark earlier. Still, the fact he had come at all should be celebrated. He'd considered letting the Candidatemaster's dragon rip him to shreds instead of heading to the Creche. His boot clad feet landed heavily on the stone floors as he walked through empty hallways. He could hear the kids. Laughing. Crying. Screaming. The noises got louder the closer he got. Finally there he stopped in the entryway and ran his fingers through his curly dark hair. This was no place for a sixteen turn old boy. No place for him at all.

A woman was tending to the children, and slowly approached him - though she hadn't actually been coming to him specifically. Tavis' mood lightened a little bit - at least he had pretty company down here. But as she got closer he realized his mistake. She was a he. Just a very feminine looking he. So the grouchiness was back, and it bled through into his voice as he spoke, "Sure. Tell Elisabeta I was here all day so I can go do something less soul crushing. Like manual labor." Nice Tavis. Real nice.

[Shiny]

J'ash crossed his arms in a subconsciously defensive manner as he sensed the younger male's grouchy attitude. This is no place for nasty children, he thought, still fighting to keep a relatively welcoming face on. "Elisabeta, hm?" The name caught his attention - she was the Candidate master. "So I suppose she sent you here to do chores? Like the rest of the Candidates?" Tavis' harsh comment earned a light laugh from the feminine rider. "Oh, you're so silly. Children aren't soul-crushing. They're soul-enhancing. I wasn't exactly fond of them before but you grow to like them when you're around them a lot."

He took a few steps towards the Candidate and smiled, reaching out to grab his arm. "Come in! It won't be as bad as you think it will. You just need to loosen up a little. We could certainly use a hand on busy days like this." He paused with his fingers wrapped around Tavis' bicep and a malignant glint in his eye. "And if you don't, I'll tell Elisabeta that you just skipped out~ You wouldn't want that, now would you? Imagine what kind of torture she'd put you through then."

He'd been a Candidate once, a couple turns or so ago. Chores weren't fun. But they really helped to give experience with the Weyr, to learn it better; and it made the person stronger as a whole. Not to mention it got them accustomed to the other people in the Weyr.