Now what...? (Open)

[Cansi]

Less than three candlemarks after meeting M'onk, Tekaine came back in with the work crew he'd been assigned to for the day. The others were sweating even harder than he was, having been working full shifts rather than joining partway through, and there was a lot of jostling to be first to grab a tray and get in line. It was meal time- assuming there was edible food here, which by the smells pervasive throughout the mess hall was rather doubtful. That not-entirely-pleasant odor was part of the reason why the diminutive inmate held back and let everyone else from the work crew go first. Also because he was thoroughly intimidated by the large, typically muscular, probably dangerous individuals shoving each other around and making coarse jokes.

"Settle down," the nearest kitchen worker warned. The boisterous ones subsided- shocking the shards out of Tekaine- and moved down the line in good order, receiving various globs of congealed... stuff... and what could have been hunks of bread in another lifetime. The young man kept his eyes on the tray, dismayed. Well, the healer in him decided adamantly that he'd just have to eat it. He recognized slivers of vegetables and tubers in there, which had to mean there was nutritional value. He needed sustenance to rebuild his wasted frame, hopefully soon; he'd already caught one inmate eying his rear end with less than chaste interest. Faranth save me, he thought to himself as he took a glass of water at the end of the line.

The little guy carried his tray nestled in the crook of one arm, and the water in the other hand, and carefully made his way to the end of a table. At the other end a group of men were gossiping about the recent breakout, but for once in his life the urge to join in an exciting conversation was completely nonexistent. Tekaine climbed onto the bench as quietly as his aches would permit. Took the fork in his hand, shut his eyes, and began to eat. At least it wasn't as bad as it smelled.

His mind circled through the events in his life that had led up to this moment, and he couldn't decide what he regretted more- taking the assistant healer position at the sea-hold, or putting the red candle in his window that was the near-universal signal for 'prostitute available.' In truth, he probably would have contracted the virus that had ruined his youthful vigor from one or another of the patients, eventually. It didn't stop him from looking for something else to blame besides himself. Deep down, he knew that it was his own fault, but on the surface of his thoughts Tekaine felt victimized by circumstance. He opened his bright green eyes as he chewed a crunchy bite of bread and glanced around, wondering uncomfortably how many of the other inmates felt the same way...

[maggie]

H'lak did not like supervising work groups. In fact, it was one of his least favourite things to do. It was highly boring, since all he had to do was stand around and look ominous, which he was good at, but also it was too damned hot. Drydenth had been in heaven, sunning himself and looking definitely un-scary as he played with his flitts and basked. Embarrassing dragon. There also was a distinct lack of klah, while supervising. He would have to take this up with M'onk. Lack of klah was not something he liked to experience.

He glared around the room as he filled the mug his daughter had painted for him and inhaled happily. This made most things better. Drydenth was eating, which made him relax since that need was also cared for. Lavina had hunted for herself, but he knew that Aeb would be along shortly, demanding to be fed. Lazy blue.

His eyes narrowed as he saw one of the smaller prisoners being pushed around by the larger ones. That wasn't fair in any way and if they were allowed to start bullying someone, he knew that it wouldn't stop. He approached quietly, looming behind him and giving the others warning looks. He sat down, putting his klah and a bowl of raw meat down on the table. He looked down at the boy. "If they give you any trouble, you need only point them out," he said, his voice growly from disuse and full of menace. He pushed the bowl of meat towards the center of the table. It was obvious why he did it in a moment, when a small, fat blue flitt appeared from between, shrieking angrily. He dove at the meat, gobbling it down quickly.

H'lak looked down at what the prisoner was eating. The boy was scrawny. Too scrawny. The man frowned. The prisoners that were here usually deserved to be, but if it was his son, turns down the road, who was in that state, he would be eternally grateful that someone looked out for the boy's health. He got up without a word, going to the kitchen to speak with the headwoman. It did not take long for him to emerge with a second plate of food, one that was slightly more appetizing and chosen for its nutritional value. He plopped it down in front of the boy. "Eat," he ordered. "And don't let Aeb con you into giving him any, he's fat enough as it is." He glared at the blue who was greedily eying the new plate of food.

[Cansi]

When the bench creaked as a new weight settled onto it, Tekaine squeaked. He tilted his head at the man beside him (but avoiding meeting those dark eyes), blushing furiously and hoping the guy hadn't heard his squawk. The man's words were completely at odds with the way he said them, which was as bewildering as his presence. He was definitely a guard, with that uniform. The guard put a bowl of raw meat in the middle of the table, making the petite inmate eye it wonderingly.

"Sir," the young prisoner ventured hesitantly, after swallowing his bite of course. "If I get a reputation for tattling, won't they go out of their way to make things worse...?" Then a furious blue firelizard shrilled out of nowhere (or so it seemed) to all but attack the bowl of meat. Well, Tekaine could appreciate hunger like that. He himself wasn't exactly starving, in spite of his appearance, and for a moment he wanted to say just that to the guard.

He hadn't looked for any kindness from anyone here, much less one of those whose job was to keep things in order here. Still, he wasn't about to argue as a second helping of food was set in front of him: in fact his green eyes looked near to popping. It seemed like an unbelievable turn of luck. The command to eat came the barest moment before he started shoveling in the rest of his first tray, chewing and swallowing with mechanical rapidity and keeping his eyes trained on H'lak in case it was some sort of trick. He coughed, nearly choked, and guzzled some water to wash down the rough spot of... whatever-it-was. (He really didn't want to think about it.) He realized that his manners were lacking, but then, in this place he seriously doubted it mattered. It was just too awkward to not say - "Thank you," he nearly whispered, much more slowly reaching for the second plate.

Should he introduce himself? Tekaine wasn't certain the muscular guard was actually interested in him, even slightly. More likely he was just under orders to maintain a non-hostile environment. It didn't explain the second serving of food though. Maybe because a sick prisoner would be an extra drain on the system, he thought, half-cynically.

[maggie]

H'lak looked down at him. The boy looked terrified. Terrified prisoners always made him angry because the whole point of a prison was to keep those undesirable elements contained and not terrifying people. Maybe the boy was just new and hadn't learned that he didn't need to be terrified yet. Or maybe H'lak had some people to hunt down and terrify. "No they won't," he said simply. "They are not allowed to make things bad, never mind worse. And if they do, I will see to it that they are properly dealt with." Solitary confinement was a good deterrent. As was an ornery blue flitt who liked to bite and got angry when he had to work stalking the offender. "If I am not there, speak to another guard. No one should bully you."

He sat back, sipping his klah in silence and watching Aebischer, although he kept watch on the boy from the corner of his eye. The poor little thing seemed spooked and wouldn't stop staring. It would be creepy, but H'lak knew that frightened people did that sometimes. He had to appear calm and disinterested, which wasn't that hard, and the other would quite probably calm down.

He looked slightly amused as the boy wolfed down his plate. "It will not disappear if you eat slowly," he said. "I will speak to the headwoman so that you get more food until you are healthy again." He looked slightly disapproving. "You are skin and bones." It was what he had been trained to do for most prisoners who were ill or too thin, sometimes from Dust addiction.

[Cansi]

It was hard to wrap his mind around the guard's statement, but Tekaine really really really hoped the man wasn't wrong- or worse, misleading him. He nodded, too busy stuffing another bite into his mouth to give any sort of reply. His luck held, because apparently one wasn't needed. The guard sat there, not exactly friendly, but not overtly threatening. Intimidating- indirectly- until he mentioned slowing down the eating a bit. The young man ducked his head a bit, staring down at the already half-empty plate. "You don't have to do that," he muttered. "I was a journeyman healer... out there, before..." His words trailed off, and he doggedly scooped another mouthful. It was a better-tasting mush than the first plate had been, slightly spicy and more pleasantly textured. Admittedly the extra ration would do his body good.

The splotchy blue firelizard was a much more comfortable subject for scrutiny, and Tekaine let himself give the critter a good once-over. Desire for one of the colorful little things had plagued him most of his life, and he still suffered from flit envy. He could understand why guards had flits - extra surveillance. Why some of the prisoners had them, though, was more of a mystery. He supposed that some of them already had some when they arrived. Too bad that egg didn't hatch when I had it, he thought with the smallest of sighs. Then heaved an even bigger sigh, irritated with himself for even entertaining the thought. He was a big boy now, and he mostly knew better than to take things that weren't his- more so than when he was a child at any rate. A fleck of some food particle or other blew out of his mouth with the second heavy exhalation, landing near the firelizard's back foot. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Strange, how being here made him feel like an awkward teen all over again. In some ways this was really not that much different than being in the healer crafthall, except that the people here were murderers, rapists, and other unsavory sorts.

Like himself. I am NOT one of them! he told himself vehemently. Still in denial. He realized his fork was scraping against the tray, and set it down to use his finger instead, running it around the surface where bits of food was clinging. After popping his finger in his mouth and licking it clean, Tekaine let out a third sigh, softer, one of utter repletion. He was plumb full, if not exactly on Gather-quality fare. If nothing else he at least knew he wouldn't starve here!

[maggie]

H'lak gave him a look. "If you were a healer, then you should know that you are too skinny." He paused. He had noticed that Tekaine gave Aeb almost envious looks. "Besides, if you Impress, you will not be a good weyrling if you are too skinny and weak to keep up. Non-violent offenders may stand and you do not seem violent." Not if he had been cringing away from the larger, stronger prisoners.

Aebischer pounced on the fleck of food, then started creeling piteously for more. H'lak gave him a dirty look. "Don't let him fool you," he muttered. "He eats more than enough. Drydenth spoils him."

"Do not![/color] H'lak actually smiled at his dragon's lazy protests. He took another sip of klah.

"Flits are more trouble than anything," he told Tekaine as he saw the boy sighing wistfully at Aebischer. "I have two and they're both annoying. Drydenth likes them, but they listen to him." He rolled his eyes as Aeb pounced on the empty plate, hunting for scraps and screeching indignantly when he didn't find any.

He frowned a bit, thinking of something. "If you have healer training and if you weren't arrested for Dust-related charges, you should ask about doing some shifts helping the healers in the infirmary. They can always use trained volunteers." Besides the fact that it would keep Tekaine away from the more unsavoury types until he had managed to figure out a good defense against him. Maybe he should have a flitt follow the boy for a while.

[Cansi]

If he'd been back home and someone stated the obvious, Tekaine probably would have burst out into inane giggling. As it was he snorked helplessly and covered his mouth with a hand. After controlling his amusement (even more unexpected than the kindness from this brick wall of a guard) he managed a mostly level - if earnest - reply. "I do know I'm too skinny. It was sickness... nothing related to drugs. I promise." The idea that he might actually Impress anything here set him off snorking again, and he shook his head in self disparagement. "It'd have to be a pretty desperate critter."

The blue's creeling made Tekaine feel a little guilty for eating all the food, in spite of what the guard said. "Drydenth is your dragon," he guessed. "May I..." He paused, wondering if he was being too talkative, but figured he might as well indulge his curiosity. "May I ask what color?" Carefully, he didn't attach a gender to the dragon. He really couldn't see this big hulking guy riding a green, but figured diplomacy was best. Better not to assume too much.

"As to flits..." He shook his head, the lack of swaying hair making the movement self conscious. (A hand snuck up to feel at the shaven scalp, as though he still couldn't quite accept that his hair was really gone. Imagine, missing hair!) "That's the only sort of trouble I think I'd enjoy. It was wanting a firelizard so badly that landed me in this mess in the first place." He smiled, the expression coming almost naturally now as he watched the flit's antics.

Then, the suggestion of a lighter duty. Admittedly, it sounded promising; healing was what he'd been trained to do, something he was good at. Aside from whoring himself out, the only thing he was actually good at. "It was theft," he confessed absently, pondering the possibility of healer work here. "If they would let me do it, I'd like that. As long as I could still do some physical things too. I need to build myself back up, the way I was. I mean..." Here he ducked his head, thinking maybe what he intended to say would sound like a come-on. Definitely not the way he wanted it taken. "You're a lot more muscular than I ever was," he finally finished, fidgeting with his fork and keeping his eyes trained on the tabletop as he said it.

[maggie]

"Dragons here have impressed prisoners. There are quite a few. Since your crime was nonviolent, you should be allowed to stand. A few left, during the breakout, so they might be a little more selective, but if you are well-behaved, you should be allowed." He let himself believe what the boy said about the drgs. After all, he wasn't in detox and H'lak could see none of the usual signs of withdrawal or long-time addiction.

He gave Aeb another glare, but his expression softened slightly at the mention of his dragon. "Brown," he answered. He tapped his shoulderknot. "You'll learn to read these. One colour's the Weyr colour, the other's a rider's colour. So Black for Warden's, brown is for Drydenth." The knot itself only indicated that he was a full rider, so he didn't bother elaborating. He could have kept a strand of red for his smithcraft, but it had been so long since he had truly worked on his craft that he didn't bother. His rank as a rider was more than enough.

"I should hope so,"[/color] Drydenth muttered. H'lak didn't add that Drydenth had been the lazy brown who had been half dozing as they supervised the work crew. Drydenth was always more alert than he appeared, but most of the dragons took advantage of the time out in the sun to simply bask while they watched the prisoners.

H'lak smiled a bit. "They aren't worth the trouble, flitts," he said. "Although you might be able to get one here, a few prisoners have them. But they screech, they get into things, they throw temper tantrums worse than children, sometimes..." he glared at the very obviously sulking Aebischer. "And Lavina tends to moon after dragons or riders she finds appealing. It's embarrassing."

He nodded at the mention of the young man wanting to do some lighter work. "I will put in a word for you with M'onk." The overseer was a reasonable man and it made sense to use any and all resources available to them, especially after the breakout. He could offer to have Lavina keep an eye on the boy as well as the healers, just to make sure he didn't steal anything. He smiled a bit at the mention of being built. "I was a smith before I was a rider," he said by way of explanation. It was illogical for someone who worked in such a gentle profession to be as built up as someone whose main job description was lifting heavy things all day. "You will not be exempt from all physical exercise, but it will be a good position for you." He was completely oblivious to the potential implications both of the young mans' words and his own.

[Cansi]

Tekaine nodded at the knot, idly rubbing his left hand with his right atop the table. He had never been much good with knots; he'd barely passed the class on them at the healer crafthall, and that was more because the answers had been multiple choice than because he remembered many. He knew he'd remember this particular knot and its meaning, and as long as other riders' knots mimicked it almost exactly (with only a variation for the color they rode) he figured he'd be able to tell from now on. His life might not depend on it, but it would make things a little less foreign.

Maybe.

In spite of the guard's grumbling about firelizards, Tekaine kept the hope to himself that they weren't all like that here. They weren't all like that elsewhere, but then, it was entirely possible that the grim surroundings influenced their personalities even from the egg. Then again, this Lavina didn't sound like a source of actual trouble- more of embarrassment. The young inmate was no stranger to embarrassment. It was an everyday emotion for him. Not one he relished; but one he had long since learned to tolerate. Starting with the rumors about him and Russik. (Had their fellow apprentices known the truth, things would have been much worse for the both of them, but Tekaine avoided thinking about that.)

Tekaine could definitely see this guy working as a smith, and nodded slowly as he pictured it. Abruptly as he realized what exact phrasing H'lak had used, and his stomach made its characteristic jump as unwanted thoughts of his crude secondary profession invaded his mind. His mouth gaped open as he wondered frantically how to reply, but in spite of several attempts nothing coherent came out. Surely the man hadn't meant it the way it'd sounded...! But then, the man had brought him an extra ration. His green eyes dropped to his hands- now unmoving on the table- and he licked his lips nervously, aware that his mouth had gone completely dry while it hung open.

Would he continue to whore himself out, even here...? He stole a glance up at the purely masculine guy, and grudgingly admitted to himself that he would. Cheaply.

Sweet Faranth... the stirring in his body screamed silently that he'd do it for free.

One good thing about being skin and bones beneath the jumpsuit- it hid very well what Tekaine did not want to be seen.

[maggie]

((Will post once I have more time and brain. It's been a long day, what with it being first day of shows and first teardown...))

[maggie]

H'lak smiled. "Don't worry about learning them all, it will come with time. The colour is most important, in my opinion. And if the knot is fancier, treat the person with more respect." Fancier knots usually meant higher rank, but the word-conscious H'lak didn't bother to elaborate. He took a sip of his klah, his whole body relaxing in pleasure at the taste. He eyed the boy, pleased that he had finished his plate. At least he would be a little less skin and bones, if someone kept an eye on him. He would speak to those in the kitchens. The prisoners really did need to be in good shape, not starving like the boy in front of him.

You're getting better at this making friends thing, mine![/i] Drydenth proclaimed gleefully. Now you have to learn to talk to your fellow guards and riders, not just boys that you want to guard like an egg.[/i] H'lak rolled his eyes at that. He paused, realising how odd that must look. Many riders never quite noticed how strange it was to non-riders to have someone go through the entire range of facial expressions required for conversation while sitting in front of him. He had only ever noticed because his son's mother had made a comment about it, one day when Drydenth had been particularly whiny about something and H'lak had been giving him a lecture about interrupting his seduction attempts. That must be why the boy seemed nervous all of a sudden. He stopped trying to converse, feeding Aeb a tiny bit, then lavishing a bit of attention on Lavina, who cooed and beat her wings prettily. He got up. "If you have any problems, you may ask for me, I will do what I can for you," he said awkwardly.

[Cansi]

((Almost - okay, kind of did forget about this thread. I guess it'd be good to wrap it up though.))

Tekaine put a hand on his stomach, feeling it rumble at the abuse he'd recently given it by wolfing down the food that way. The advice on knots was good, and he nodded. Don't draw attention, he thought fiercely to himself, barely even noticing the eyeroll. Sitting quietly was about as worse as trying to keep attention away from elsewhere, but the guard's final words gave him such a moment of relief that he automatically stood up too. Where certain... things... were visible, but for a moment he didn't notice. He smiled at the guard. "Thank you. I actually have a problem right now but you can't help me." He meant his stomach, but it could so-easily be misconstrued as something else. His face flamed brightly when he realized that, and he blurted out, "Bye!" before hastily evacuating.

So very pathetic.