|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2018 6:09 pm
|
|
|
|
It was dumb. Absolutely. There was no reason to be out of the barracks this early in the morning, before everyone else was up, but she was anyway. Besides, if she had BEEN back in her cot before curfew and just gotten up it wasn't technically the same as being out past curfew. Right? Right.
Confident in her decision (and the story she would boldly spill if anyone dared to second guess her), Fidda slipped down the corridors on quick and graceful steps, certain of her path and where she was headed. She hadn't seen or heard anyone and for a wild moment she thought she might actually make it in time - only to be interrupted with a clatter and someone cursing under their breath. Without thinking, she stepped back and pressed her spine against the cold, stone wall like she might actually be able to blend in if she tried hard enough and began cursing herself for falling victim to her own curiosity. Again, she wondered, was this worth it?
A moment passed but no one rounded the corner. She could have just gone back to her barracks and counted herself lucky but instead she edged, very slowly, to the corner and peeked her bright head around just enough that she could get a glance with a pale eye -
Lorrox.
A mix of emotions flooded her system but brighter than all the rest was her absolute annoyance at being scared by him! She rounded the corner with a pointed finger, fixing him with her best wild-eyed stare even if she had to crane her neck up to look at him, and planted the opposite hand firmly on her narrow hip.
"What are you doing out here? You could get in so much trouble."
Pot and kettle.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2018 6:37 pm
|
|
|
|
The sound of a voice had Lorrox bobbling the basket again. As he got it under control, he whipped to face a girl he knew: Fidda. Oh, hey, so that hadn't been a dream when, drunk on wine, he had sloppily kissed a girl who reminded him of a young trader's daughter he had known as a kid a Sevenday ago or so. Good to know.
He smiled at her briefly, inexpertly staring at her lips for a moment, before narrowing his eyes. "Oh, Fi, fancy meeting you here," he said casually. "Now why don't you say it a little louder so the Weyrleader can hear?" There was a storage closet to his left. He swept back the curtain and gestured for her to follow him inside.
If she wanted to talk, probably best not to do it in plain sight.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2018 7:27 pm
|
|
|
|
Lorrox snorted quietly with a grin. "I make no promises," he said, but only once they were inside. It was a tight space, and the Candidate did not attempt to press himself back against the shelves. Luckily, the large basket he was holding was wedged between their chests and his hands occupied.
It vibrated with movement, and Lorrox clamped down harder on the lid. "So here's the thing," he began, watching her reaction at the sound of a hissing snarl from within. "Did you hear about that journeyman baker's son getting punched by a Candidate in the Great Hall yesterday? Well, that was me." He definitely sounded proud.
Lorrox launched into an explanation of how the fardling wherry of a weyrbrat had clumsily fell into him, on purpose to the candidate's mind, and knocked him clear into a bowl of mashed roots. "Have you cleaned a mashed root out of your ear before? Now I have," he explained. "And that dimglow smiled, Fi, he smiled while his father scolded me and had me sent to the stables to muck out the runnerbeasts' filth. When it was his fetid spawn that caused the issue in the first place. Why should the weyrbrat have the last laugh?"
He gestured widely to the shaking basket, an unmistakable twinkle in his eye. "Come on, tradergirl," he said quietly. "It'll be more interesting than listening to everyone snore in the barracks." Of course, he still hadn't said what was in the basket.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2018 7:44 pm
|
|
|
|
"No," Lorrox said, thinking perhaps a beat too long. Well, he didn't think it was, and he had been punished to clear out tunnelsnakes enough times to be pretty decent at telling the difference. "This is payback, not murder." He sounded more convinced this time. Sure, maybe his moral compass skewed left, but it wasn't broken.
A tiny clawed hand snaked out of the seam of the basket, and Lorrox poked it back in, causing a flurry of reaction. "Sounds like it's ready to be freed -- are you in, or do you need to scamper back to your safe little bed?" The idea of her bed was nice.
Without waiting for a response, he quickly explained that the baker and his son stayed in a room just a few curtains down. They were both up early to start the bread in the kitchen, and since he lived near mostly other kitchen staff, that would be the case for all the rooms in their hall. "We dump the basket and wing out the other way. It'll hide somewhere to comfort itself, and when they get back -- bam! A fair payback." His eyebrow practically waggled as he anticipated her seal of approval.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2018 8:03 pm
|
|
|
|
Given all the trouble he caused over the years, Lorrox should have been more concerned about getting caught. After all, he did get caught. All. The. Time. But like a herdbeast with a skull made of diamond he kept smashing into things. "Are you inviting me to hide under your sheets?" he said in a hushed whisper, letting her tiny frame steer his much large one out back into the hall.
The pair ducked back into the hall, checking it twice. He let Fidda lead the look-out portion. She paid more attention to detail than him, and he was busy making sure the package stayed secure. They crept along the wall as Lorrox counted doorways, finally stopped in front of a curtained enclosure that budded a few other sprawling halls. Soundlessly, save the hissing basket, he swept inside, checked to make sure it was empty and then gave Fidda a wordless signal to prepare to run.
In a swift motion -- hey, he was good at this part at least -- Lorrox flipped the lid, dumped the basket, and watched as the tunnelsnake flipped to right itself on its six twitching legs, lashing toward him aggressively. The Candidate jumped backwards out of its reach and swung a kick toward it, sending the creature scampering deeper into the room.
Lorrox darted out, colliding with Fidda and then scooping her off the ground with one arm to dart around the next three turns and corners until they were cleared of the scene of the crime. Only then did he put her down, grinning stupidly and breathing with far more proud than the stupid stunt deserved. "Oh, yes, tradergirl, having you here just keeps getting better!" he announced, a bit too loudly as he went for the high five.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2018 8:16 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|