Mud Pies [ Rwen ]

[mierce]

Cerdic let Rulven lead him away from the wood pile, not realizing where they were headed. Not like he could really get away considering how much stronger and… imposing… the smith was. He tilted his head back to look up at the taller boy. “Eat?!” The word fell out of his mouth in a spluttering rush. “But they’re HEALERS! Not CANNIBALS!” A frown creased across his boyish features. Well this makes no sense. None at all. “That’s like… like…” He gestured aimlessly with his left hand. “A contradiction!”

His grey eyes grew somewhat distant as he mulled over Rulven’s comments on the infirmary staff. Really? Were they that bad? Good Farnarth, he had better get his butt in action getting on their good side! Preoccupied, he didn’t realize that they had intercepted Sarah until he felt Rulven reached over his head (hardly a feat) to take the tray from her. Cerdic quickly lowered his head and found himself staring at the girl who was between surprised and downright irritated. At the moment, she was looking up meeting Rulven’s muddy face. Following the trail of mud from his chin down his shirt, the surprise promptly melted from her expression as soon as she recognized Cerdic.

“You.”

The single word seethed through her nice white teeth, past her deep pink lips. It was enough to send Cerdic backpedaling directly into the smith’s damp and muddy shirt. “Oh, your name is Sarah.” He straightened up, inadvertently using Rulven as something like a wall for support, and favored her with a nervous smile. “H… H… how do you do?”

Sarah planted fits on her curvy hips and tersely turned her head to the side with a dismissive, “Hrmph.”

Oh boy, Cerdic thought as he pressed back against the wal—-er, Rulven, some more. At least she didn’t grab the nearest thing to hurl at him before storming away. Even without her tray, there were still plenty of knick-knacks about that she could quickly reach.

After a moment, the girl faced him again, her expression none the less fierce. “Well? What have you to say? I’m very busy as you can well see.”

“Ah that…” A mud-stained hand lifted to scratch some freshly mud-caked hair. “About the other day…” Cerdic let the word trail off as his leg muscled tensed. This was usually about as far as he got before she went into offensive mode and he was going to make a run for it at the first sign on attack. Much to his surprise though, Sarah only shifted her arms to cross in front of her chest and lifted an eyebrow ever so slightly; he might not have noticed had he not been fixatedly staring at her forehead. “I’m sorry. About the soup I mean…”

He paused again, hoping for the girl to say something. Instead, she kept a steady eye on him, as if expecting more. Cerdic scratched his head again, wondering if he did something else. “If it makes you feel better, you can throw soup in my face?”

“Feh.” Sarah rolled her eyes as she stepped up to him and jabbed a finger in his shoulder—the one that hurt. Ouch. “You. You just stay out of my way, you useless grub.” Her eyes narrowed and she jabbed again before turning and walking away. She only got a few steps before she stopped and looked over her shoulder to Rulven. “Maybe you should go get cleaned up before the head chef has serves you for dinner.” It was a simple suggestion-—maybe a statement, but the lack of hostility in her tone was quite obvious.

Cerdic watched her retreating back for a few moments, a sheepish smile hanging from the corner of his lips. He supposed that it could have gone worse… Suddenly, he realized that he was still leaning on the smith and quickly jumped away while spinning around. The back of his head, clothes, and pants were all muddy. It would look like he fell into a mud puddle himself. “Ahahahasorry!”

[rii]

Rulven kept his smile strong. Although as he looked down at Cedric, he also looked upon the slight muddy mess. Casually, trying to dissuade any attention to himself while Cedric attempted to apologize, Rulven glanced back and mentally grimaced at their trail. They probably shouldn't linger about too long–

Blink. Rulven looked down at the youth trying to press into him to the point of disappearing on the spot. His eyes automatically shifted to Sarah to ensure she wasn't wielding anything at the lad aside from a stern look. After all, he had promised not to let the girl throw objects at Cedric.

After the exchange, seemingly odd in word choice but Rulven's mind translated the ordeal into something more pleasant and understandable, the former smith smiled politely at the departing drudge. "If she asks, tell her I'll be back later to clean it up." He appreciated the warning though, and quickly began to steer Cedric and himself out of the kitchens–only to have the younger candidate leap away from him in.. alarm?

Rulven calmly put his hands back at his sides, afraid he had somehow stepped his bounds with Cedric. Rulven obviously didn't have any qualms with physical contact, and he really didn't notice if he was forcing people around against their will. Normally he labeled his own actions as a firm guidance than actual force.

"Er.. " Rulven's mind stumbled at the apology directed his way. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." Why Cedric was apologizing to him, the smith could only guess. Surely it was nothing of real importance. "At least that's a start – with Sarah. She's tough with words, but she means well."

With his head he gestured to the stairs. "Let's get washed up before trouble finds us. Hope you're okay with cold water.. I don't think they'd appreciate mud in the communal baths. It's hot out anyway.." Then, to lead with example, Rulven took a few large strides to make good their escape from the mud flecks littering the floor.

[mierce]

Of course, Rulven’s hesitation was somewhat lost on Cerdic. After all, he was the one who had been using the smith as a wall. As far as Cerdic was aware, he was the one to have overstepped into the other’s personal space. Letting out one more uncertain laugh, he took to following Rulven’s lead. “Are we jumping in the river?” he asked. The idea sounded grand.

They—-or Cerdic, rather—-skipped down the stairs leading to the bottom of the canyon, stopping every now and then to wait for Rulven to catch up. Considering how clumsy he has been since arriving at the Weyr, it was something of a miracle that he didn’t trip and plummet to a nasty death below. When he was at a safe height from the canyon floor, Cerdic jumped off the side of the stairs and landed first on the balls of his feet before tumbling forward from the momentum. He rolled a few yards before stopping in a sitting position while facing the stairs. His injured shoulder issued a complaint about the treatment it was getting, but he disregarded.

As the smith drew closer, Cerdic kicked off his boots and pulled off his socks, and leaving them scattered as they landed, he rolled onto his knees then rose to his bare feet. Whether the smith had any suggestions or warnings about how to go about cleaning up oneself in the river, the boy didn’t delay to find out. With a little more enthusiasm than normal, he took a running start into the water clothes and all…. Only to slip on some algae-covered rocks and fall flat on his back. Again. At least they were smooth rocks rather than jagged.

Somewhat dazed, Cerdic remained prone on the ground staring up at the bright sky for a moment before flailing to sit up. Rulven wasn’t kidding, the water was cold!

[rii]

Rulven took the steps one at a time, smiling almost awkwardly at the energy that Cedric exhibited by skipping. Did the kid ever slow down – or was he the type to run around until completely exhausted and end up sprawled in the oddest places fast asleep. The smith was more than half tempted to clasp a hand over the lad's shoulder just to make him stop flittering around like damn.. well, flitter.

"What are–" too late. Cedric was already throwing himself over the side of the stairs. "–for the love of little green dragons, Cedric. Slow down."

Shards, he sounded like some coddling mother. Rulven closed his eyes as he finished off the stairs and walked out toward the river, fingers rubbing irritable at his right temple. Splash. The smith blinked out toward the fallen figure. Exhaling slowly, Rulven stepped out of his sandals before moving onto one of the larger rocks jutting from the water.

"You're accident prone." He stated while stripping out of his muddy shirt. With a wet sound he flipped it over his shoulder and turn his attention to his pant legs – rolling the material up to his knees. "Please don't make me feel like a nagging woman and warn you about not going out too far. You're seriously starting to make me worry about your well-being. Were you born under a set of unlucky stars.. ?"

Chuckling to himself, Rulven sat down on the boulder and splashed his legs down into the water to let the eddy's current take care of the caked muck. He flicked out his foot, sending a cold splash in Cedric's direction. "How old are you.. ?"

[mierce]

Cerdic finally managed to sit up and turned around to smile unabashedly at Rulven. "Oh, the water isn't too strong here," he chirped carelessly as he flopped towards deeper water on all fours. When the water was about a foot deep, he let his body float up while using his hands to grope along the rocks towards the smith. Yes the water was cold, but with the sun bearing down on them and the hot air temperature, it didn't take long for the boy to get used to it.

"Haha! Maybe your nagging is why the kitchen drudges like you!" He reflexively flinched back at the spray of water from Rulven's foot, but a teasing smile quickly returned in full force. He pulled himself closer until his fingertips could barely cling onto the slippery rocks. "Besides, I was born in the middle of the day so there were no stars to be seen," he said matter of factly before giving himself a push so that he splashed into the little whirlpool under the smith's rock. He surfaced a moment later, spinning a turn in the mild current before letting it swirl him into a wall.

Cerdic bumped into the wall with an exaggerated oof. His floppy black hair was presently slathered all over his face, so he ducked his head underwater, running a hand under his bangs to push them back as he broke the surface again before settling into a nook. "I'm fifteen," he answered with a puff of the chest--or maybe that was his just his shirt billowing up from bubbles rising up from the water. Frowning, he tried to force the air out from under his tunic with little success. In fact, the air bubble was starting to expand so as to invade his head space. "Ack!" He poked at the light grey fabric. "Boobs!" Then burst out laughing at the word.

Pushing away from the wall, he eased himself into the middle of the pool where he treaded just enough to keep his head bobbing on the surface. He studied Rulven with some curiosity and mostly intrigue. Wow, he looks even bigger without his shirt!

"What about you?" the boy inquired, suddenly launching forward to grab a hold of the smith's rather thick and solid calf. Whoa, this guy must be built like ... a rock or some kind of herdbeast or something. Without really thinking, Cerdic planted his feet against the wall while still clinging onto Rulven's leg and started to tug. If he wasn't being so half-hearted about the gesture (and if Rulven weren't so bulky), one might fancy that the boy had some sort of chance in dragging the smith down into the water as well. At the moment though, the tugs could easily have been dismissed as the byproduct of the water's buoyancy.

"Where are you from?" Yes, carrying on the conversation as if he wasn't trying any funny business.

[rii]

Rulven sent another splash in Cedric's direction for the nagging comment. Hmph. He never minded the role of a protective older brother - but that role entailed guarding someone from things he could see. Not cluck like a mother hen. Slow down. Tie your shoes. Close your mouth when you chew. Stand up straight. No, Rulven expected people to be responsible for themselves.

Rulven couldn't help but let the corner of his lips twitch briefly into a smirk. At the same time a single eyebrow arched, but as usual when something distasteful crossed the smith's mind, the young man didn't immediately speak. He didn't have anything mean to say. It boiled down to simply not knowing Cedric well enough.

The shirt came down as Rulven dunked it beneath the water to wash away the mud. It then served as a rag to wash his face and neck. "Wha–hey!" Rulven found himself dislodged from his seat by the sudden jerk. Arms flung wide and his back arched as he tried to keep from meeting a watery fate. His fingers dug into rock as he growled. Earth and fire did not mix well with water. He didn't swim he sank.

"That's it!" Cedric had asked for it. With a stretching grin Rulven pushed off the rock and made a grab for the youth latched to his leg. His intention to put Cedric in a head lock. "I'm an old nagging woman, am I? Then I better make sure you wash behind your ears!"

[mierce]

Cerdic first started laughing as Rulven seemingly fell into the water. Except, he didn't fall-- the smith had nearly flung (from the boy's point-of-view that is) himself in! Her had barely enough time to react before he found himself entangled in Rulven's arms. Despite his situation, he squealed half in outright surprise and half in amusement at the treatment.

Flailing didn't do much to free him from Rulven's hold, so he started kicking as well. The water went up about chest-high for Cerdic so it wasn't too deep, but his kicking managed to spin them around in place. He swallowed a few gulps of water but this wasn't really anything new to him, having survived whatever Dicerra dished out when he went a leeeeetttllleee bit too far. After some time, he felt his foot hit the solid rock of a wall. It stung at first, but then reflexes took over.

He wrapped his arms around Rulven's waist, tightened his back muscles, and gave a hard kick against the rock. Although he may not have had much of a chance to throw Rulven off balance on land, but with the water's buoyancy his push was enough to toppled the smith somewhat off balance, sending them both underwater.

Glug glug glug...

Hrm... on second thought, maybe this wasn't a good idea. Considering his situation for a moment, Cerdic went for Plan B: tickling his captor!

[rii]

Rulven's eyes narrowed against the sudden dousing of splashes from Cedric's frantic flailings. He wasn't going to get away that easy. With a tightening of his arm, R'ven readjusted his slippery hold and dunked the young candidate under the water's surface. Just a brief moment. After all, his intention wasn't to drown Cedric – the guy wasn't that annoying, nor was Rulven that irritable.

"Clean yet?" He shouted the question to be heard over the sudden chaos (a flurry of motions that seemed to all come from Cedric). All the while Rulven shifted around against the odd force the youth possessed in the water. The slick rocks beneath his feet were not the sturdiest of holds, but he managed. "No?" Another dunk with a quick scrubbing of Cedric's hair. "How about now–"

Oh–Rulven smirked at Cedric's attempt to use the rock and double his force–if that's how he wanted to play things. The smith didn't fight the force, merely shifted his grip around the candidate's waist to pull him down as well. Once they both were under he quickly released – or maybe it was a bit of a shove to escape tickling fingers.

Rulven broke the surface and swept a hand through his hair to make sure that during their little activity the mud had come off. Thoroughly soaked; that had not been Rulven's plan but eh.. it worked. As for where his shirt when during all that, he had no clue.. oh well. The smith gave a mental shrug as he looked for Cedric. Bugger, don't tell him the lightweight had floated out to the river or something. Such an accident prone git!

[mierce]

Cerdic started clawing away as soon as he felt the arm hold around his waist loosen. He was carefully to not kick Rulven though, as such an antic had earned him a downright beating from Dicerra and he didn't fancy finding out how he would fare after one from a guy like the former smith. How far the boy drifted with the current, he didn't know, though when he finally surfaced, he suddenly found himself breathing in... well, what he didn't know, but something wet was draped over his head and the material was forming something of a seal over his mouth. Well, the mystery of Rulven's shirt has been solved...

Unable to see through the opaque material nor able to easily untangle himself from the clingy fabric, Cerdic settled for dunking down below the surface again and letting the water pull the shirt free. When he surfaced again and cleared the water from his eyes, he had apparently drifted a little further out into the river. The current wasn't very strong though--in fact, one might say that the water was actually quite calm as he could see the rocky river bed.

"Yoohoo~~" he called to Rulven, waving the found shirt like a flag--or a prize--in the air. After capturing the other candidate's attention, he gestured towards one of the large rocks that protruded out from the river. This one appeared to be a boulder than had once been part of the canyon wall, a very long time ago. Cerdic paddled over to the rock and climbed up onto the warm surface.

His clothes clung to him, clearly outlining just how lean (or scrawny) he was. He didn't mind though, and happily plopped down with a squish. "It's not that deep," he shouted to the smith. "You could probably walk here!"

[rii]

Rulven spun around, relieved to see Cedric in one piece and not flailing as if a current was sweeping him away to be dashed on the rocks. Yet. The smith did his best not to frown went the youth went further out into the river to jutting rock. With his shirt, he might add, which suggested that Cedric expected Rulven to retrieve it.

Not that deep. Rulven grunted at the assertion and eyed the stretch of water with suspicion. Walk he probably could, and did. Rulven slowly waded, using his arms in a breast stroke motion to ease his form through the water. The depth lapped over his shoulders and Rulven took a step back, easing up on the balls of his feet as the sluggish current tugged naggingly at his frame. He was still a few feet from the dry rock, but he didn't seem to be making any attempts to close the distance.

"I'm from Hyphen," He finally answered, the questions long ago lost when Cedric had spurred out the rough housing. "Been here a bit over.. a turn.. I think." He had taken a few more steps back toward shallow waters. He lifted his hands, tilting his head up a bit as he regarded the sunning candidate. "Toss me my shirt?"

[mierce]

Cerdic giggled as he watched Rulven attempt to advance. Was the water really that deep? Surely the smith was just bending his knees and messing around with him. Eventually, the smith visible backed up, but spoke before Cerdic could try to tease him. Hyphen? The boy tilted his head in momentary confusion, having forgotten about the question after Rulven had “attacked” him.

“Oohh, you’re from a Hold as well!” Cerdic smiled broadly. No wonder the smith was so nice! Most of the people Cerdic has met thus far had been what they call weyrbred, and without fail, they’ve been a lot less playful or just outright cranky. He didn’t really understand why--even with the lessons Emoyan gave regarding Weyr life--and was just content for now to at least recognize a difference. On the other hand, he didn’t know just how different the various Holds were from each other and regarded this tidbit of information from the older boy without too much scrutiny. “I’m from Blossom. Came here…” He lifted a hand, then the other to count on his fingers, but only achieved wrinkles on his forehead. “Well, I came here only a few sevendays ago.” Amazing how easy it was to lose track of time.

He twirled the damp shirt in lazy arcs, sending water droplets spraying out in a circular pattern. “It would be easier for you to walk without giving more things for the water to tug on,” the boy called out. Instead, he pulled the shirt over his own. Although Rulven’s shirt was larger, the clingy material made the attempt somewhat clumsy and the final results hilariously sloppy. “Besides, didn’t you say you were going to jump in the river? Your pounce back there--“ He pointed to the rock Rulven had been sitting on earlier. “Is hardly a jump.”

As if to make a point, he stood up and stepped back along the rock before assuming a sprinter’s starting position. Bending forward and shaking his behind a bit like a feline preparing for an ambush, he eyed a section of water a little further upstream from Rulven. Then taking a deep breath, he took off with what could only be described as a battle cry!

Four long strides were enough to get him to the edge of the rock where he bent his knee slightly like a spring, then pushed up and out as far as he could. He twirled around twice in the air, water flying from his hair and all the clothes he wore, before striking the water with a dramatic splash. The flats of his feet hit the rocky bottom first--all planned, of course. Cerdic bent his knees into a squat and let the rest of his body come to a sort of rest before he straightened his legs and jumped up. The boy broke the surface of the water with a flurry of arm movements as if he trying to climb the air, then disappeared underwater again.

Although his movements appeared erratic, Cerdic was a good swimmer had a course of action in mind though its wisdom was debatable… particularly since he was wearing the very shirt he had told Rulven would be a hindrance. While in the air he had taken stock of Rulven’s position relative to his own; they weren’t too far apart, even with the current possibly working against him. Once underwater again, he opened one eye and kicked off a slippery rock in the direction of the smith. Undoubtedly, the smith would see his approach from the front so instead of surfacing to face Rulven, Cerdic made a sharp turn to loop around behind the older boy, circling a few times around Rulven’s legs -- much like a fish. Of course, he wasn’t a fish so Cerdic knew he eventually had to come up for air.

Finally he curled his feet under him so that he could use the rocky bottom to push off of, and broke the surface with a bit of an explosion of water -- “Yaarrgggh!!!” -- and latched onto Rulven’s shoulders from behind.

“Now that!” He gasped between deep breaths, “Is a jump!”

[rii]

Blossom. That had been Rulven's guess, honestly. The festive dolphineer types – a much more cheery bunch than Hyphen. But, obviously, the weyrbred took the cake for being the least lively bunch. It probably had something to do with the war. The Holds were left mostly untouched by it's effects. They had no reason to be involved in such foolishness. The war was such a pissing match that it irritated Rulven enough just thinking about the circumstances that had started it decades ago.

The smith's brow furrowed at Cedric's words, and he watched the youth with a hesitant eye. "I've worked around metal too long, tends to become part of a smith. We often sink, not float." He mused half-heartedly, still making no attempts to get to the rock. Better to make jokes than admit his inability to swim.

Rulven moved further back toward the shore as Cedric put on the aerial display. He snorted. If that was suppose to spur him to feel competitive, fat chance that happening. He just didn't do the whole water thing like the dolphin loving blossomites. With a faint sense of wonderment, Rulven watched as the shadow slipped through the water, circle him and ah– shower him with water.

Rulven curled a hand around one of the arms encircling his shoulders. "Learn those moves from the dolphins?" He turned and finished the walk back to dry land – Cedric hitching a ride on his back.

[mierce]

Cerdic grinned at Rulven’s remark about learning tricks from dolphins. “No, not really. It was more to get away from my brother.” Or to harass his sister, but of course that’s not how the situation played out in Cerdic’s memory. He was just doing what 5 year olds who’ve learned how to swim would do! Luckily for Rulven, he had no shirt on, and Cerdic had no tadpoles in his fist.

As Rulven treaded through shallower waters, Cerdic felt gravity start pulling his weight down with every inch of him that emerged from underwater. Rulven had a firm grip around his arm, but he still didn’t want to accidentally strangle or hurt the smith. So, he set about wrapping his legs around Rulven’s waist without the invitation to do so. He wasn’t that heavy anyway, and figured someone who’s worked with metalworking and the whole shebang probably wouldn’t think much of him clinging to their back anyway.

They sloshed onto dry land, but Cerdic didn’t let go just yet. He playfully rested a chin on Rulven’s shoulder and proceeded to carry on the conversation like normal. “So what’s Hyphen like?” he asked, genuinely curious.

[rii]

"It's home." Rulven shrugged even with Cedric's weight pulling on his frame. He didn't know how to describe his homehold. "Quiet, I would guess in comparison to Blossom. A lot of mining folk are from there. "Peaceful, none of this war nonsense."

He stepped into his sandals, slightly hunching forward to accommodate the younger candidate's weight. Purposely not grabbing Cedric's legs to see how long the youth could actually hold himself there – hopefully without choking arms around his neck. Wet, slapping footsteps enunciated each step up the stone stairs.

"You know, I think I've prolonged your break from the kitchens quite a bit, eh? I wonder if the Head Cook has noticed yet." And they had left a mess back up in the kitchens as well. Alas, his trek did not take them to the afore mention black hole of endless chores. No, Rulven steered off toward the Candidate barracks. By the the air sweeping down the canyon had dried his short hair and exposed skin. The shorts were quick to go, followed by a dry pair the the smith flopping face down on his bottom bunk.

"I think I've had enough excitement for one day." Cedrics hyper activity did wear on him a little. He usually took a short afternoon nap anyway – perferable after lunch with a full stomach.