Monotony {Chores}

[subtlemystery]

Chop. Chop. Chop.

The dull thud of the knife slicing through the vegetable to hit the surface underneath was constant, almost soothing when it wasn't driving him completely insane. Kitchen chores. Well it was at least something he was used to, after all, what more did one want than the comfort of something they did well? Well... Something interesting might have been nice. General cleaning, or even dishes, the hot water, and you never knew what surprises would be in the water. That was interesting. The constant chopping? Not so much.

Kaerlin knew better than to complain though, he liked chores sometimes, he really did, he just liked interesting chores, like cleaning, that was moving. Or like... Well he didn't really know, but something that he could move about with, actually talk to people, instead of standing there listening to the dull chopping of the knife. Why complain? Some people had to do this every day, they were just his chores until rotation, and if he thought about it, he was saving someone else the tedious task of the chopping and it did need to be done, he doubted he would be asked to do something that was unneeded, that would be a waste of time... And resources. After all, he was just a candidate, he had to do whatever he was told...

The hatching had been a dissapointment, he supposed, but perhaps teh worst thing about it was now returning to the monotony of lessons and chores, it was always the same. Was this what people who'd been standing for turns felt like? Bored? He supposed it would be a relief for some to Impress then, those that were lucky. Like those two from the stands, one was a reImpression, he at least had gathered that much. He didn't know much about the gold weyrling, for all that he enjoyed gossip. Still, there wasn't much else to ponder about while chopping vegetables and tubers and whatever else they wanted chopped. No, the monotony continued.

[Requiem]

"S'las!"

He froze in his tracks. The woman herself was hardly intimidating - just a tiny older woman who seemed vaguely familiar in that general sort of way. No doubt she'd been in the kitchens for turns. No, it was the name that arrested him. He hadn't been S'las...for over twenty turns.

This gave the woman time enough to advance upon him, waving her ladle rather humorously beneath his nose. "The same old knave," and she put a definite emphasis on old that had S'rei wincing, "up to his usual tricks. You haven't changed one bit. I thought gray hairs were supposed to bring wisdom? Didn't you learn a thing when you were packed off to the north? Fool child, upsetting the Weyrwoman."

Despite the earlier surprise, the middle-aged bronzerider held the fruit well above her head when she made as if to snatch it back. "Surely you won't grudge me just one? No one ever complained before."

"When you were the Weyrwoman's pet?" Despairing of reaching the fruit, she settled for wacking him hard across the thigh with the ladle, drawing out a small yelp from the man. "No one wanted that one harping at us. Of course you had run of the kitchens. But no more. I'll have that fruit from you, one way or the other. It's meant for pies and not for slovenly stomachs!"

The tall dragonrider scrambled back and away from the spoon, darting around and putting the small, almost feminine candidate between him and the kitchen nazi. "One won't hurt. Will it lad?"

"Don't you be involving the child. Tsk. To think. A bronzerider hiding behind a candidate less than half his age."

[subtlemystery]

Well, so much for monotony. In a way, it was probably a good thing, though Kaerlin nearly dropped both knife and vegetable when he was suddenly the only thing between the rider and the angry woman. Kaerlin wasn't one to draw attention to himself during chores, and he'd never been used as a sheild before, thus he found himself staring wide eyed between said woman and the rider behind him. A bronze rider? Kaerlin had always thought that once they Impressed, all bronze riders were mature and sensible people... But he wasn't entirely sure that included hiding behind candidates that were doing their chores.

Wait, would he get in trouble for this? Kaerlin certainly hoped not, he wasn't against getting into trouble for things he did wrong, but for something he didn't do he wasn't sure he wanted to cop the backlash. Yet, the woman infront of him didn't seem angry at him more annoyed at the rider hiding behind him. And over a fruit? What was he supposed to say to that? To him, no, one piece of fruit wouldn't be all that bothersome to lose, but then, he didn't know one thing about cooking himself, so he didn't know what fruit could go into, other than bubbly pies. Yet, while one piece of fruit was only a small thing, Kaerlin wasn't about to say that when he was the person closest to the ladle and therefore the closest to being smacked.

"U-um..." Shame he couldn't think of anything else that could possibly come out of his mouth, that one stuttering syllable was the only thing that made it past his lips as he looked between the man and the woman. What the shards was he supposed to say? If he said the wrong thing, h'd get whacked, and if he said the right thing... He'd probably get whacked. So was it simply better for the boy to remain silent?
"I dunno?"

[Requiem]

Lot of help the young one was. S'rei pulled a face, though it was mostly for her benefit. "You're not going to protect me, are you? Not that I can blame you." The wingleader made a show of docilely shuffling out from behind Kaerlin and extending the redfruit back to the woman, who snatched it from him with a pretty hefty scowl still written on her face. And, yes, there went the ladle. He winced, but waited until she'd made her huffy exit before shaking out his smarting knuckles, blowing on them absently. His gaze shifted toward the boy for a moment.

"Don't you ever Impress a bronze. They stick you with wingleader and still take after you like a common weyrbrat...you'd think a few more perks would come with the job." He didn't know the kid, but S'rei tended to be an amiable sort. It wasn't in his nature to leave people standing around flabbergasted or otherwise uninvolved. A few more drudges hurried past, S'rei dropping a hand into the basket they bore aloft and coming up with two new redfruits, a satisfied grin on his face. Shards yes. Score.

He bounced one contemplatively in his hand, then flicked a grin at the kid. "Think fast." The fruit was lobbed through the air toward the kid, S'rei allowing his elbows to settle back against the counter as he began demolishing one of the fruits. He never really got tired of them. "So..." A gesture with the partially eaten redfruit. "Wher or dragon? And it does get better. Certainly more interesting. Believe me." Another friendly smile.

[ace]

Chores. Chores were boring. Chores were a waste of time. Chores were torture.

Mina grumbled as she walked aimlessly for the kichen. It was such a hassle, to stay in the kitchens, cutting, cooking, cleaning. Sighing, Mina took her position at the side of one of the drudges, and carefully extracted the vegtables that had been cut percicly into evenly chopped squares. Carrying them over to the sinks, Mina washed each one carefully, under the stern eye of the headwoman. The weyrling rider bit her tongue in annoyance- she would not be able to slack off under the woman's watchful eye.

She became absorbed in her task until she noticed another young man walk in, looking completely lost. She smiled, and pointed toward the pile of food she was currantly washing, and motioned him to come over.

~~~

Kevin walked into he kitchen's looking utterly confused. This was the first time that he had ever been in there, and the candidate had no idea what was in store for him. He looked for instruction from the drudges, but they completely ignored him. Instead, he caught the eyes, of one of the other people working there, and went over to help her sort out the vegetables. He quickly caught onto his task and, continued, never complaining once.
(Fail post, I'll edit later )