((I have a truly evil plan for this plot, and I would love it if someone had a female cadidate running around, preferably about 15-18 turns. I have a 17 turn-old male who needs an object of affection.... Mwhahahaha! I suppose I can always make another candidate, but we really do have too many girls...))

Eonki lay prone on his cot, restlesly tossing and catching a good sized rock. His hazel eyes tracked it as it arched up, seemed to hover at its zenith, then swooped back down to his waiting palm. The boy was not ofter givin to bouts of nervous energy, but today the whole weyr fairly radiated with it. Iolath was laying, and the stone of the weyr whispered with echoes. "...gold egg?... So many, and she's... how many... Bronzes, but what about... no, not yet, but soon..." The myriad of voices seemed to trickle in from everywhere, and Eonki did his best to ignore it. Better to let the tension just melt away and accept life as it came, rather than work oneself into a tizzy when there was absolutely nothing abyone could do to affect the situation.

His sister, Nirva, and Marowa played cards on the floor, but even their play had a desperate, nervous quality. Eonki looked on them with an almost paternal affection, as he had come to view his sister's friend as almost a sister as well. Certainly she was around all the time, and with the constant bickering between the two "friends", it was very like being around siblings. Doubtless the two would rather have been out swapping gossip with the best of them, had it not been for a few stern words and a scowl from Eonki, who felt it was his duty to watch over them. Nirva seemed particularly affected, alternately blushing then paling, her rosebud mouth tightly pressed. Her hands flitted wildly from task to task, seeming to never stop, but above all she was wanly silent. Marowa was likewise uncharacteristicly quite, but for the occasional outburst.

As if on cue, the black-haired tempest tossed her cards down. "Shard it all! You would think they would tell us something!" Her outburst took Eonki by surprise, and his normally deft hands missed the falling stone. "Shells!" He clapped a hand over his forehead where the rock had grazed his brow, leaving a small nick that dripped blood. It was not a serious cut, and he stood slowly, looking for a rag to clean himself with. He seized one of Nirva's handkercheifs and dabbed at it. Marowa lept to her feet, aghast. "Eonki, shards, I am so sorry! Here, let me help you!" She took a swatch of cloth from her pocket and reached for his head, her arms fouling with his as he tried to cleanse the cut and fend her off. He grunted and gently grasped her wrists, lowering them to her sides. "Marowa," he said calmly. "I am fine. I just need to get cleaned up. It's not your fault, ok? Im not mad, I just dont want you to get your shirt dirty. I'll be right back." He gave her a quick hug and dropped a kiss on her forehead to show her he truly wasn't mad, then strode out of the room to find some washwater, and perhaps something to eat and drink for the girls.

Marowa stood stunned, a blush creeping up from her neckline to her brow. She whirled around to watch Eonki's retreating back. He had kissed her! It seemed like an eternity since she had realized how much she liked him, all without a single response from him. She would stare at him when he wasn't looking, admiring his strong profile, his velvety voice, his powerful yet quiet assuredness, his sensual lips... Shells, how many times had she thought about kisses from those lips! She had pictured it to the last detail; the way he would look into her eyes, the soft brush of his lips against hers, the way the stray hairs on his lip would tickle... And he had KISSED her!!! She heaved a sigh, one of both content and heartache. Would he tell her how he felt, or would he want to keep it a secret? Were fellow Candidates even allowed to date? Did he think she was pretty? Should she start wearing makeup now that she was getting a boyfriend? What would Nirva think?!!

Marowa flicked a glance to the girl, who was staring at her, her head cocked quizzicly. Nirva had seen the interaction, but most of all seen Marowa's reaction. Things began slipping into place... The way Marowa would often stare into space... especially if it was the space her brother was in. The frequent questions about him, the heavy sighs, the blushing... She leapt to her feet. "You LIKE my brother!!!" she yelled. Marowa went deathly pale. "Now Nirva, plesae don't--" Nirva cut her off. "You LIKE my brother!" She cried again. and utterly dissolved into a fit of laughter. "Oh! Oh, it really is to gross! How could you like him? He's such a freak!!!" She laughed again, tears streaming down her face.

Marowa took one look at her friend-- her supposed friend, and burst into tears fleeing the room. How could Nirva be so mean, and why was she making fun of her?!!


((And by the by... if anyone feels like this post is too melodramatic, too angsty, too adjective-laden... GET OVER IT!!! This is teen love at its finest, in all of its sacrine-coated splendor! LOL, honestly, I was laughing the whole time I wrote it!))

OOC: ::delighted cackle:: I think I have just the one!

***

After what seemed like hours of hauling, Ollyriale had managed to finally make her way to the Candidates' Barracks. She'd spent a good part of the afternoon sorting out her trunks in the Lower Caverns, because apparently Candidates were not expected to have more than six trunks full of clothes... **Wish they'd told me that when I was Searched!** she thought with a humph. But never mind that. Her shoes and gowns and extraneous flouncy things would be kept in the Lower Caverns until she reached the appropriate rank, and she just had to hope for a dragonrider's weyr with appropriate closet space.

So it was that that afternoon found Olly hauling just one trunk (albeit bursting with as many skirts and blouses as she could fit) around the Candidates' Barracks, looking for an empty room. She was fairly late as far as Candidate arrivals went, and most of the rooms had already been taken by large groups of the strangest collection of people she had ever seen. There were short ones, loud ones, pretty ones, smelly ones, and one boy that she could have sworn was at least six and a half feet tall... and they were all her age! Olly was used to being the only one in her age group that she ever saw at Izvand Hold, since her father wouldn't have permitted the Lord Holder's daughter to play with anyone in a lower rank... and that meant that Olly was alone. But here, suddenly, was the opportunity for friendship! Laughter! Romance!

Her thoughts were interrupted by an outburst from the room to her left. Suddenly, a boy exited the room, clutching what looked like a bloody rag to his forehead. He was momentarily followed by a girl who was weeping for all the world, and blinded by tears, she barely avoided Olly and her trunk. Olly was pressed up against the wall in near-horror to avoid the scene.

And as much as she didn't want to ask, she was nearing the end of the hall, and her trunk was feeling awfully heavy... So Olly poked her dazzlingly red head in, eyes falling upon the only girl who remained in the room, and asked, "Um... hello... room for one more?"

((ewww... that little brat! Grossy gross!! lol. This is going to end up a love octagon eventually... hehehehe.))

((*sighs, pats charries affectionately*
I put them through so much really.... Mwhahahaha!!!
See, the best part about this is they are not quite adults, where a love triangle could turn into serious and permanent problems. They are kids, so the spirit is much more relaxed and fun, and even though they all think it is the end of the world now, they will probably get over it eventually... Probably...))


Nirva stopped laughing as Marowa fled the room. She hadn't meant to hurt the girl's feelings, but come on!!! She couldn't understand why the girl was wasting her time. As far as Nirva was concerned, her older brother was just a do-right know-it-all with a stick up his bum. He always had the right answer, even if it took him a while to come up with it, and adults always gave him these looks... The measuring kind, where they are sizing you up to fit with your future. Nirva tossed her brown hair over her sholder and crossed her arms. He was such a wet blanket! Besides, he was 17! Marowa was only 16 turns, they weren't even the same age!

As far as she was concerned, Nirva thought with a sniff, being a teenager was awful. At twelve, she only had one more year to go, and she looked to the future with a kind of disdainful dread. She began gathering up the scattered cards, and sighed. She really should go talk to Marowa... But honestly, could she do it and keep a straight face? Blah!!!

Footsteps made her ears prick, and she turned thinking maybe it was her brother. A head popped in, and Nirva saw perhaps the prettiest girl she had ever seen. She had amazing hair, all red and gold, and her clothes! Nirva had never seen such clothes! The girl's turquiose eyes locked with hers, and she spoke to Nirva directly. Nirva crossed her arms, hugging her elbows. As pretty as the girl was, she was a bit off gaurd, and her usual apprehension of strangers had kicked in full gear. "Uh, yeah, um... Sure. Are you looking for a room, or um, my brother? Uh..."

Olly couldn't help but wrinkle her nose a little. There were three groups of people whom she considered to be below her: younger people, very poor people, and... well... everyone else, really. Everyone except handsome boys and authority figures, and Nirva seemed to be neither.

But then she remembered what the Weyrwoman had said upon her arrival... the blood of dragonmen, and all that... and she figured she might as well be nice. What had she got to lose, right?

"I'm actually looking for a room," she explained. "All the others seem to be full." She looked at Nirva hopefully, wondering if this was how people went about making friends. Olly hadn't really had much practice in that department.

Nirva stifled a giggle, then flushed deeply. "These are the boys barracks! The girls rooms are on the other wing. This isn't my room, it's my brother's. There is some extra room in our room-- Me and Marowa, that is. She just left... I should ask her, but I really don't think she'll mind!" Her initial anxiety gone, Nirva was warming quickly to the pretty stranger. "My name's Nirva," she said, extending her hand. "Marowa is my roommate, and my brother is-- Eonki!" She shrieked happily, spotting her brother over the girl's shoulder. "Come see who I met!"

***

Eonki smiled thankfully at the cute drudge who had brought him a tray for his bread and klah. She blushed and tried to hide a grin that twisted the right side of her mouth before scampering back to the kitchens. He chuckled, then made his way back to the barracks. The neatly-tied bandage around his forehead stood starkly against his dark hair, but at least he had stopped bleeding. He hoped it wouldn't put the girls too much in a tizzy. Especially Marowa... Sometimes that girl was just plain goofy. He felt bad for grabbing her the way he had, but in his experiance there was nothing a cup of klah couldn't fix. He knew the girls were also especially found of the corse, dark bread the kitchens occasionally baked. He had also managed to find some honey, and the bread fairly dripped with it.
((Note to self: No more posting from the kitchens while hungry... Oy!))

As he neared his room he blinked in confusion: Where had that trunk come from? Had that been there when he had left? He began to wonder how hard he really had brained himself with that rock. He crossed the threshold cautiously. Nirva looked up to him excitedly. "Eonki! Come see who I met!"

Eonki's eyes widened very slightly in suprise, but he remembered his manners quickly. He set the tray on the bed next to his sister and offered the woman a calloused palm and a toothy grin. "I see you've met my sister, Nirva. My name's Eonki. And you are...?" "Yeah!" Nirva piped up. "Who are you? And do you wear makeup?"

There were times Eonki really wished younger sisters came with a muzzle.

"Oh!" Olly exclaimed in surprise, looking around the room and seeing that it, indeed, bore none of that feminine flair which girls so often covered their rooms. No wonder she'd gotten such strange looks hauling her trunk all the way down here. She blushed and shook the girl's hand. "Nice to meet you, Nirva."

She brushed out a crease in her skirt as the mention of a boy came into the conversation--it was an old habit, born from Turns of being alone in Izvand Hold punctuated with the visit of a boy her age. She flashed a smile as Eonki entered the room, shaking the boy's hand warmly. Lessons in diplomacy and public relations had prepared her quite nicely for this sort of thing. "A pleasure to meet you, too. I'm Ollyriale, but you can call me Olly."

She was a bit thrown at Nirva's question, but she had been twelve once too, and she remembered the way she had wondered how the teenage girls in the Hold manged to look so pretty. Olly took the question as a compliment, and gave Nirva a small wink. "Only sometimes," she replied, and it was true--she didn't wear any to sleep!

***

OOC: Olly's such a snob... I love her. ;P

((OMG!!! I LOVE that she doesn't "wear any to sleep"!!! Oh, ah, I've got to stop laughing, I will give myself a stitch! Anyway, I have many things to do tonight, but I wil post ASAP. I just couldn't NOT comment on that last bit!!! :D :D :D :D :D ))

((Blech, sorry hon, about the lack of posties... I am now working two jobs, going to college, writing a butload of papers, and dealing with drama at home. (!) So, I promise, when I find time to breathe I will type a response to this, but if you need to time it so we can have charries many places dont hesitate!))

OOC: Hey, no problem... I totally understand. I'm going to college as well and working two jobs, and trying to get a hold of a typewriter for my boyfriend for our anniversary. ^ ^ Don't stress yourself out; worst case scenario, we can pick up roleplaying with these three when the Hatching is over.