Yo-Ho, and a Cup of Klah [Open]

[Esko]

She had to say, for a woman she could hold her alcohol very well.

Karolinna sat at a table in the Dining Cavern, forking down her second plate of food. On The Bronzer, one of the necessary skills she was taught was drinking something really fast. She did well at that task, and it also trained her to hold more and more ale as time went on. Her father never liked her when she was drunk, mostly because she absolutely refused to do any work and would sit like a pitifully overfed wherry. She actually quite resembled the Weyrleader's bronze when she was off her rocker, according to a few boys she'd met the first day at the Weyrhold. Well, they'd told her about this dumb bronze who likely should've hatched a green instead, they never actually saw her drunk. She just connected those dots herself. Beside her was a cup of klah, which she spiked with some wine. Wine seemed to be far easier to find than ale, since it was considered the 'proper man's drink'. The flavor was absolutely horrendous, but Karolinna needed her alcohol and she'd probably get the boot if she was found directly drinking. Nobody wanted to see a drunk Candidate, though that's where she wanted to be right now.

In her pocket was an envelope. Taking it out again, she rubbed her thumb against the spot where the name Karolinna had been written. She could recognize the handwriting from several dragonlengths away; it was unmistakably Kalahan's scrabble. Why did her father send her a letter, especially after sailing away without making any effort to get her back? Was he just glad to get rid of her? Was this his final words to her, was he officially disowning her? The thought send pain riveting through Karolinna's body. He'd never cared about her, he was sure. Kalzen was his pride and joy, she was just an addon. So why was she getting a letter now?

(ooc: Feel free to just send anybody at her, as she angsts over the envelope ^.^)

[Alyx]

Candidate Joia

Joia was famished. She’d actually not had morning chores today, so in her brilliance, she’d stolen time from one of the resident Harpers and dove into some extra studies. She loved to learn, so why not nose around some old hides, right? Candlemarks later, her stomach reminded her that food was relevant, more so then more words on previous clutches, hatchings, trades, and so on. So she’d left the hides back when she had found them, reluctantly, and headed for the kitchens and dining hall.

She didn’t have chores till later in the afternoon, so she actually had time to sit and enjoy the wide variety of food open to her. Many of the residents of the Weyr spoke of how slim things were sometimes here, but to her, things were stocked better than at her home with the wide mix of fruits and loaves of bread. She piled her plate with a bit of everything, but not too much, and headed to grab a seat. She spied one of her …. What would you call them, classmates? She would expect that was the best word for it. She’d met the girl, but not much past that; Joia spent most of her time with Mizao or Aleni really.

Something about her look though. Joia snagged utensils, tucked them in her belt, and caught a mug of Klah before moving to claim a seat at the table with Karolinna. “Hey.” She wasn’t sure what to say right from the start, mostly just wanting to say something so the other girl knew she was there and Joia didn’t scare her into spilling something. Dropping into the seat, Joia pulled the fork and knife from her belt and dug into the meal. After a couple bites thought, she paused and looked at Karolinna again. “You okay?”

[Esko]

Eh? She was being approached? Karolinna looked up to find one of her fellow Candidates approaching her with a plate. With a mouthful of meat, she quickly swallowed before opening her mouth to respond. Luckily she was slowly picking up on proper manners, but likely it'd be a long time before she would really get it. "Oh, hey." Well, that was a bit pathetic. But then again, there wasn't much else to respond to. "You're...Joia, right?" They'd been in Candidacy long enough for her to at least hear the other girl's name, even if she never talked to her. She was pretty, Karolinna thought. A harmless thought, hopefully.

Shards, she saw the envelope. Immediately alarmed, Karolinna quickly shoved it back into her pocket. "It's nothing." She lied, the words spilling off her tongue without much thought. "Jus' a letter from my dad. Nothin' much. Not sure why he sent it, but he did. So...I dunno." She shrugged, stuffing another tuber into her mouth. After swallowing it, she took a swig of her klah-wine monstrosity and tried not to grimace. "So, how's it been with ya? Been avoiding Shintagoi? Same 'ere." That seemed like a good starting point; complaining about Shintagoi. Karolinna honestly never thought she'd find a guy worse than Kalzen, but she did. Sweet Faranth in a sweetroll, she did. She eyed the boy a few tables over, swigging klah and laughing with a few other boys. Bragging about something he did, she was sure. She wanted to get drunk and punch the boy square in his entitled-bronzerider-kin nose. It was common knowledge that he was the son of Telgar's prominent Wingleader, probably the next deadbeat to become its Weyrleader. Oh, if his dad became Telgar's Weyrleader, his ego would float to unimaginable heights. Karolinna almost groaned at the thought.

[Alyx]

Candidate Joia

Joia instantly felt a little bad; she hadn’t meant to take the girl by surprise. But at least she seemed welcome, so she simply claimed the seat near the girl. She gave a quick nod, confirming her name. “Yup. And you are Karolinna, right?” It was easier to remember the girls then the boys in the class got Joia, mostly because she had lessons and shared a dorm with the majority of them.

She watched the other girl shove the unopened letter into her pocket, wondering why she hadn’t read it yet. If Joia got word from home, she was on it almost as quick as a flit on free food. She missed home; while the weyr was very much the grand adventure she hoped it would be, she did miss a lot of the things she had thought she’d easily do without – her mother’s cookies, the smell of the dirt in spring planting. She was missing so much at home, but her family didn’t sound cross at her over her new spot in life.

“Why wouldn’t he write?” Joia questioned after swallowing a bite of food. “I mean, even if you left on bad terms, most parents are proud to have their children chosen for candidacy, aren’t they?” She had heard that, anyway? A lot of the candidates were seemingly forgiven almost anything when their families found out they were potential riders-in-waiting. Except for a few, that was. “You… haven’t read it?” She didn’t want to be nosy, but…

Topic change. The very mention of the loud-mouthed male candidate got a rough rush of laughter from Joia. “Not so much avoiding him as just... trying not to think about him. Reminds me too much of the boys back home I wanted to dunk in the muckbin.” She shook her head, tossing a quick look after Karolinna’s at the boy in question, then quickly back to her plate. “I wish he’d go back to Telgar, to be honest. My mama had a saying about boys like him, and it wasn’t anything nice.” She pushed her food around, getting another forkful as they chatted.

“So, what about you? He giving you trouble, or you just steering clear to avoid the wake of damage he’s gonna leave?” Joia grinned, popping the bite into her mouth and chewing quickly.

Esko

[Esko]

Candidate Karolinna

"Thas' me." She nodded, glad the girl cared enough to know her name. Or was she just really good at cramming lots of things into her brain? Not like she'd know. It was probably the latter, even though she wouldn't be surprised if she'd garnered a lot of attention. Apparently, on the mainland women were supposed to be dainty maidens that were to be guarded by men, a concept wildly foreign to her. It was the opposite for her on the boat; Kalahan was happy to send her into the fray to steal something. At least, it seemed that way. But apparently she was unwomanly enough to gather a few weird looks, at least.

Karolinna saw Joia's eyes follow the envelope that was now shoved firmly into her pocket, being crushed by her hand. Then she started asking questions. The pirate had long gotten over the shock of seeing parents that didn't encourage their children to fight each other, but it still seemed weird to her. Luckily, Karolinna didn't have to answer those questions since she'd changed the topic, and Joia seemed to go along with it. She even seemed to find it funny, which brought a giddy grin to Karolinna's face. So she made her laugh! That was great. "So, you mean you wanted to dump boys in the muckbin, but didn't? What was stoppin' ya?" She joked, not really expecting an answer. She almost asked what exactly this phrase was that her mother said, but instead Joia asked about her.

"Faranth's precious shells, he's given me trouble. Most of it's 'bout how I stand like a man, or somethin'. Some wherry shit like that, I guess. Made comments about table manners, reminded me 'bout how he has them, yadda yadda blow my head out." She drawled. She was a particular target for the boy, and she hoped Joia Impressed that gold on the sands just so she could give him some classy payback. She wasn't sure why she had that thought; probably every girl hated his guts, with his scornful attitude about women riders and stuff. "So what'd your ma say 'bout boys like him?"

[Alyx]

Candidate Joia

The other girl didn’t seem to object to her being there, so Joia settled a little more into her seat and her meal. If Karolinna didn’t want to talk about the letter, Joia couldn’t make her, right? Still, the little weaver turned candidate hoped it wasn’t a rude or mean letter. She’d heard about that happening – parents that didn’t approve of the reputation of Mavros Weyr or the lifestyle dragonriders lived. It had taken a bit for her to realize how lucky she was, to have her father and mother’s approvals for this new direction in her life.

When Karolinna asked about what had stopped her from ditching the boys in the muckbin, Joia grinned at her. “Well, since at least one of those boys was my brother, it was normally my Da stopping me. By the scruff of the shirt on a few occasions.” She wasn’t going to own up to the fact that she had at least a few time pushed her brother and his friends into the animal’s water troughs.

Sadly, she wasn’t shocked to hear that Shintagoi was being a wherry-butt to her. Joia herself had given the idiot boy-child a wide berth, not wanting to get close enough to draw his attention to her. If she did, she might do something to him and wreak her chances of standing for the clutch on the sand. Karolinna listed off his rain of insults at her and Joia snorted softly, shaking her head. “He’s such a wherry brain. The way he goes on and on, you’d think the only reason any of his family are ranking is that he’s blessed them with breathing near them.”

Joia wasn’t quick to hate, and she wouldn’t even say she hated Shintagoi. She just didn’t like him very much, or at all. Very much Dislike… like you disliked tunnelsnakes and soggy socks. Karolinna’s voice pulled her back, What? Or right. Joia grinned. “Mama said bad boys are like bad habits, best steered clear of before you get stuck with them.” She laughed, popping a forkful of food into her mouth. She guessed that Karolinna would make a good target for him; just like Mizao would. Joia didn’t like that thought at all.

Swallowing the mouthful, she gave a wary glance at the room, then back to Karolinna. “So.. this your first time as a candidate? I mean totally?”

[Esko]

Candidate Karolinna

Karolinna chortled a bit. "Ya, brothers. Totally get it, they're the worst." She could recall a number of times she'd nearly thrown Kalzen off the boat. Of course, if she'd cast off her precious brother, her father would send her right after him. The heir of the boat couldn't be lost, right? And there was no way he'd ever let her have The Bronzer. Not like she wanted it, anyhow. She tried to fight the scowl off her face. No, she wouldn't ruin this conversation with the thought of her brother. She was actually talking to someone, a pretty someone, in both personality and appearance. Karolinna could feel a warmth spread in her gut when she looked at Joia, a twinge of something spark in her. She tried to brush off the feeling, but it nagged at her.

She'd honestly hoped Joia's ma's phrase would include swears, but it still described the male Candidate perfectly. "Feel like that perfectly describes Shin. Don't get stuck with him, ey? Need dragon dung to chuck right at his smug face, I'm tellin' ya. But then he might as well claim that the dung's been blessed, eh? Hah!" It honestly seemed reasonable at this point, as if anything crazy was normalized with Shintagoi. Of course, a lot of crazy things happened on the mainland. But she could tell Shintagoi wasn't normal, even for mainlanders.

Her next question seemed relatively easy to answer. "Yep, first time ever. It's pretty weird for me, I gotta tell ya that. Have ya Stood before? Or is it yer first time as well?"

[Alyx]

Candidate Joia

Bonding over annoying brothers was something both girls seemed to agree on. Joia laughed softly, taking a drink of her water, then popping another fork of food into her mouth and chewed happily. The food here was good, no matter what the haters would say. Granted, she wasn’t going to doubt that the weyr should have more – from the lessons and the chatter, it was almost like Mavros was getting shafted for tithes and support even though they were the ones that kicked more thread butt than anyone else the last time; it didn’t make sense.

Joia swallowed the bite, coughing a little. “You are probably right. He’d think it was some great sign he was going to get a big, flashy dragon or something.” Joia just didn’t understand Shintago, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to. That meant getting close to him, and after the touching lesson, she was pretty sure his kind of ego and crazy might be contagious. “Might be a waste of Dragon dung though.” She gave a shrug. “He’s just a boy, nothing fancy no matter what he wants to say. Just as long as he stays away from me, I’ll be thrilled.”

Another first timer? Joia nodded, pushing some food around her plate with her fork. “Nope, first timer, same as you. There’s actually a lot of first time standers this time if you ask around. I think there are only a handful of people that have stood before – Shintago is one. So is Aleni, and Khavar I think. A couple more too, I don’t remember their names though.” Joia looked at her food for a moment, then at Karolinna. “So, what do you think of all this?” Joia moved her free hand, taking in the Weyr in general in a wave of her wiggling fingers, and grinned. “I mean, did you want to be a rider, or did they just pop up and go 'oh hey, you want to come to the weyr and play with the eggs'?”

[Esko]

Candidate Karolinna

Karolinna chugged down the last of the klah-wine mix, glad the horrendous mixture was done with. She liked the way alcohol made her feel; she usually felt way looser and in a better mood. Though, talking with Joia made her mood better anyway. It was able to put the letter at the back of her mind this way; she could worry about it later. She was curious to see what it said, but she had a feeling that whatever was in it wasn't good.

"Waste of dragon dung, yeah. But he's a waste of space." She commented. "I wish'd he would just stay away from me, but I guess that's too late, eh?" She shrugged, shoving another forkful of meat into her mouth. She chewed as she listened to Joia speak more, listing the few multiple-time Candidates. It was hard to keep track of all their names. Shintagoi (of course), Aleni, Khavar...the latter two she didn't really have any contact with. The names didn't mean much to her.

Another question for her? "What do I think?" She raised an eyebrow expressively before lowering it. "Well, I didn't think of it before, but I came 'ere and a blue told me I'd make a fine rider. So...I'm 'ere. It's pretty nice so far, but I don't think I'll Impress." How could she? Besides, she wasn't entirely sure if Kalahan wasn't coming back for her. It was possible that he'd be here the next day, pulling her out by the ear.

[Alyx]

Candidate Joia

Probably too late? Joia had to agree, nodding softly. “Yea, probably. If he got a rise out of you temper wise, I expect he’ll be back to pick at the wound to see if he can get another response. It’s how bully boys are, and that’s pretty much what he is.” She got a forkful of food, popped it into her mouth and chewed softly, giving the boy in question a few tables away from them a look. She really didn’t know what Shin’s problem was – or if he even realized WHY people didn’t like him. Maybe he didn’t care? Yea, probably didn’t care.

“You came here? You mean, before you were searched?” For some reason, Joia was surprised. Something about Karolinna didn’t exactly scream ‘weyrfolk’ you know? She gave a smile, tilting her head to focus her gaze solely on Karolinna. “Hey now, don’t think that. Blue wouldn’t have Searched you if he didn’t think you had potential, right? Might not be this time, but you never know.” She didn’t know what, but she gave a quick shrug. “I think you’d be a great rider – after all, if you can handle Shintagoi I think you are more than qualified for a dragon.”

[Esko]

Candidate Karolinna

"Aye, he did get a rise outta me. I wanted to punch 'im, but I woulda been kept off the Sands." And Faranth knew she didn't want to be barred from Standing. What would the point of being at Mavros be, then? She would have to resort to returning to the boat, something she realized she horribly disliked the thought of. But Da probably abandoned her. "Probably shoulda kept my mouth shut,
eh? Get 'im to bugger off of my ass." It made sense, but it would've been so much more satisfying to sock him right in his pretty nose. He looked like he didn't have much experience with getting a good beating, something she so wanted to change. Something she would change if she didn't Impress. Which she wouldn't, so at least that was something to look forward to.

"Did I come 'ere before? Sorta." Another swig of klah-wine, followed by a near-grimace. "I haven't been in Mavros,
but I've been at the port." That was safe enough to say. Hopefully, Joia would just assume that she was a Seacrafter's daughter- which, technically she was. Hopefully, she didn't pull a Shintagoi and guess pirate. Her next statement surprised her. Why did Joia want to lie to her, and coddle her with assuring words? But she did have a point. "I mean, I might have the potential, but that don't mean I will. 'Specially don't think it'll be this time, ya know?" She shrugged. She listened to Joia's next words, and something about them made her feel...giggly. Was giggly a good word? She felt her cheeks redden a bit. "I guess. But ya handle 'im well as well, that means you'll make a good rider too." Karolinna smirked as she turned the compliment into one for Joia. 

[Alyx]

Candidate Joia

Ah, Karolinna had been to the port. Fisher, maybe? Or related to someone on one of the many boats that put in at the docks? It wasn’t really polite to be nosy, but it was hard for Joia not to want to ask more questions. Her nature was really to want to know, to learn new things, and she knew very little about what it was like to live aboard a ship – or even ride one? No, small river rafts didn’t count. She wanted to ask… so badly, but bit her tongue, instead nodding softly.

“Might have done better to ignore him, yea – but with his ego, he probably would have kept nipping at your heels until he got a reaction or got bored.” She smiled, glancing at the other girl. “But you could always hope he has a short attention span and gets bored easy?” She wasn’t sure with Shintagoi, but it worked with her brother? She gave a glance at the table, still crowded with boys – not too long, but enough to make sure that the bully in question was still too absorbed in what he was doing to notice they were there.

Karolinna seemed surprised at Joia’s confidence that the other girl would Impress, why? The surprised look got a smile in return – how could they not? So many eggs on the Sand, and there was no reason for them not to, right? “Potential is enough; all that matters is that your match is on the Sands, and with luck, the first time will be the charm?” Joia, for one, was excited for the chance to shake off her Candidate lessons and kitchen chores for something more thrilling.

And although she knew, she knew from talking to Aleni that first times on the Sands didn’t always end in Impression, or even second or thirds, she couldn’t help but feel that this class had it made in the shade – after all, they were ready, right? She did like Karolinna’s comment about Shintagoi being a gauge for if you were ready to handle a dragon; she stabbed a bit of food with her fork and laughed. “Why thank you, I try my best.” She did a little proud smirk, which quickly devolved into another rush of giggles. “But you are right – if we can handle that swine-brained, arrogant scrap of wannabe Bronzer, I think we are more than ready to handle baby dragons.”

Joia leaned a little closer, her voice low. “Plus, the dragons would be cuter than him too.” Leaning back, she flashed a bright smile, and then popped the bite on her fork into her mouth.

[Esko]

Candidate Karolinna

Karolinna hoped Shintagoi had a short attention span too. Though, so far he'd proved to be particularly persistent as if his life depended on giving her grief. What had she done to him, anyway? Apparently, just existing was enough to offend Shintagoi into a fit of rage. She just hoped he stopped soon, or else she might really punch him a bit early. Every inch of her being itched to rise from the table and give him a good thunk on the head with her elbow; it really was frighteningly close to how she felt about Kalzen. Her thoughts became better again when Joia thanked her for the compliment, and the bubbly feeling was only stoked by her success at flattering the girl. She wanted to do something, but she couldn't quite place her finger on what.

"Aye, I agree. Shin's gotta be worse than workin' with a wee dragon." She nodded, taking another stab at her food. But she didn't get to place the morsel in her mouth when Joia leaned in a little more. A crackle in the air. She made a comment in a low voice, and something in that tickled Karolinna a certain way; she snorted before bursting out into laughter. Loud laughter. It took her a few seconds for her to realize that her chortling had caught the attention of Shin and whatever boys he was with; they stared at her curiously. She abruptly stopped, shooting a glare right at the Telgarian boy. Then it was Shintagoi's turn to laugh; he began to chuckle, along with the other boys. Karolinna's cheeks went from burning with that weird feeling to burning with embarrassment. Shards, did she really have to laugh that loud? Was the comment even that funny?

[Alyx]

Candidate Joia

She was happy Karolinna found the joke as funny as she did. The burst of laughter, the smile, make the bad sense of humor worth it. Chewing happily at her bit of food, she paused as the other girl’s laughter cut of – and another, more male one sounded – Joia looked over at the table of boys, and her eyes narrowed sharply at the ruckus of Shintagoi and his little group of fawning followers. Didn’t he have chores or something… oh, wait, ‘his highness’ probably skipped out on anything that counted as actual work.

“Ignore the wherry.” She didn’t even try to keep her voice down, her attention shifting back to Karolinna. “He’s just stirring the pot. It’s how he gets his kicks.” She caught her mug up, spilling the water to moisten her lips, and the shook her head. Her voice dropped low, her tone having a little growl to it. “Hopefully he’s get called back home to his parents’ Weyr and leave us the hell alone.” She stabbed another bit of food, watching the boys a little out of the corner of her eye as she ate. “I hope he gets a Blue.. or a Green. Would be a great blow to his stupid pride.”