Chores...are never fun (Jarethir)

[nemix]

Could dirt actually seep in through your skin? It was a question Tiael often posed to herself when she was out weeding and watering the fields surrounding the prison. The work was tiring, but not without a point. It meant they got to eat, so this was good, it was just also boring, which was bad. Tiael had certainly found the pace of life shifted a little when they were told they could Stand. Now there were lessons here and there, the Touching had been, interesting; however chores were and always would be, mind-numbing.

Gripping an offending weed in her hand, she gave it a steady tug and then raised an eyebrow. She'd already dug around it but the sharding thing seemed almost determined to live there for the rest of time. Picking up the fork, she stabbed it into the dirt yet again, dragging away a stone and then wiggling the prongs around the roots again.

As she chipped away at the weeds holding on the soil, she lifted her gaze and looked around, mildly curious about who was working today. A familiar shape ahead caused her to pause, watching the working back a short ways away thoughtfully. Her head tilted slightly to one side, she pursed her lips. Finally she shrugged and dropped her gaze to the weed again.
"Has anyone got one of the small baskets for collecting weeds?" She asked, aware she was surrounded by a green sea of plant carnage. They had to be gathered up and put on the big piles at the edges of the fields, silly Tiael for not bringing a basket she thought, a slight smirk on her lips.

[Spiffy]

After pulling out yet another stubborn weed Jareth paused, examining his fingernail. Somewhere he could feel a bit of sharp sand buried under a nail, and it hurt. Frowning, he found it and then dug under the nail with another, extracting the offending sand grain and flicking it carelessly back into the dirt. Bloody weeds, why couldn't they just be left alone? This was Southern, they were supposed to be able to feed themselves just off of the trees, to walk out of their doors and pick fresh ripe fruit all tear around. But nooo, because this was a prison they had to cut all the sharding trees down! No, no fruit for Warden's, they got gruel, grain and tuber. Yum!

He flicked a weed into the filling basket, frowning when he realised that he'd actually thrown it at the basket and succeeded only at knocking several more out of the basket. He sighed, wondering how on Pern he'd been reduced to taking it out on weeds. The food wasn't even that bad, and at least it was reliable, even if it did often taste like watered sawdust.

A voice behind him caused him to turn his head, looking around. Female. He squinted at the one he thought had spoken. Ah yes, she was one of the other candidates, the one he'd met at the touching. He looked back at his own basket. It could use emptying. Gathering up the scattered greenery he stood and made his way over to the big pile at the edge of the field, saying as he passed Tiael: "Hang on, I'll grab you one in a sec."

He reached the pile and dumped the weeds onto it, looking round and locating the small pile of baskets hiding, partly buried, behind the weed pile. He knocked a few leaves aside and drew one out. Reaching Tiael again he dropped down into a crouch in front of her, holding the basket out in her direction, but just slightly out of what he estimated to be her reach. "Hello again," he said by way of greeting, wondering if she remembered him.

[nemix]

A familiar voice caused her to look up from the dirt and weeds. "Thanks." She said, a brief smug smile flicking over her lips as her intended target headed over to help get her a basket. Mission one accomplished. It wasn't that she was stalking the guy, really, he was just a curious one. She really doubted many candidates had gotten almost the same reaction from an egg. It was mostly the fact that it seemed to like them both so much that had gotten her thinking. If it liked, certain aspects of her personality, and it liked him, were they similar?

So, Tiael had been pondering a way to try and strike up conversation. Nothing too obvious 'hi so about this excited egg that apparently loves people like me, and you, lets chat' just seemed well, dumb. Thus she'd been pondering, honestly she wasn't exactly sure what to say to him but if there was another person who thought like her in this place, that could be useful. Or, it could be dangerous, what if he was a threat? The only way to know would be to get to know him, somewhat anyway. Or at least try to. She picked up a weed, studying it thoughtfully. It would be hard though, if he was anything like her.

A voice jogged her from her thoughts, causing her to drop the weed in her hands. Her gaze flicked from Jareth to the basket in his hands and she chuckled a little. "Hello again to you too." She said, extending her hand and waiting. She could stretch more, but he didn't seem keen to relinquish it just yet. "You've not grown fond of that thing I hope." She said, gesturing to the basket a moment before meeting his gaze, smiling slightly. Her features were guarded but she forced her tones to keep polite, mildly curious, normal. This would be an interesting conversation if she wasn't mistaken.

[Spiffy]

The corner of his mouth twitched up in a grin as she dropped her weed. He'd surprised her. Excellent. He liked surprising people like that, and the fact that he could still do it hopefully meant that he wasn't getting dull after a year out of the business. It was a good skill to have in a prison, even if there wasn't really much sneaking to be done, sometimes you just didn't want to be seen by the other inmates... or guards, but they were easy enough to fool. It was the whers that were difficult, but they generally only guarded the perimeter, and for the time being at least he had no intentions of attempting an escape.

"If we're going to be bumping into each other this often we should really be on first name terms by now, you know," he said with a grin. Names could do no harm. He already knew the names of many of the prisoners, mostly the male ones, and almost as many knew his. He noticed her outstretched hand, but as he'd guessed she didn't quite reach the basket. He was a little disappointed. Oh come on, you're not even trying.

He looked up at her again as she spoke, then down at the basket, again. He considered for a second. "Well, I thought it was only fair that you put a little effort into it too. I did just walk all he way over there to get it for you." Not that he was lazy or anything. "Can't be too generous. People might think I'm getting soft," he said, eyes twinkling in mirth. "And I can't have that."

He kept the basket where it was.

[nemix]

Tiael considered his point, names wouldn't hurt, she had rarely bothered to learn anyone's name thus far but he was someone that was probably worth the effort. Plus, he was cheerful, making him the second cheerful person she'd met in a sevenday. Perhaps being Candidates was having a wider effect than she realised? Or perhaps he was simply resilient to this place as well. "I suppose it would make things a little easier." She finally conceded, meeting his grin with a warm smile. "Tiael." She said simply, watching him expectantly with raised eyebrows.

He didn't seem about to let go of the basket, in fact he seemed to want to make a point about just how much trouble he'd gone to. There was something of a point behind it, though she couldn't quite make out what he was trying to get out of her. A rise? Annoyance? He'd be getting none of that. Instead, she rolled her eyes and sighed. "Men and their bravado." She said, smiling slightly as she spoke. Steadying her weight across her knees, she leaned forward quickly and snatched at the basket in his hands. "Do you feel better now?" She shot back, easing herself back again and watching him thoughtfully.

Quite what sort of a reputation he was trying to protect she wasn't sure of. She doubted anything he said didn't have some kind of meaning to it, but he was hard to read, something of a puzzle. Still, her features stayed politely curious, though there was a light in her eyes that clearly stated she was onto him. He wasn't entirely what he seemed. To be fair neither was she, but neither of them was about to say that out loud now were they? "You seem rather cheerful for someone whose main task for the day is tending to a field, something going on the rest of us don't know about?" Curiosity could be bad, if it wasn't kept in check, still, a little playful banter couldn't hurt.

Her hand was toying in the dirt, brushing over pebbles until it came across the familiar feeling of a weed. She glanced at it, picking it up by the stem and twirling it around in her fingertips. Tempting, so tempting, but she should behave. He might not and probably was not, as friendly as he seemed. After a few moments, she merely let her hand drop to her lap, gripping the stem lightly, but ensuring she didn't do anything stupid with it.

[Spiffy]

Aha, so she did have a name. Now he had something to call her rather than 'that girl at the hatching'. She returned his smile warmly, eyebrows raised expectantly. "Jareth" he replied, simply. He could continue with formalities, but he sensed that they wouldn't be needed here, she did't seem the type to open up to a polite face. Or even a friendly one, it seemed, though he had got her name.

If she thought he wanted her to get angry at him withholding the basket, she was wrong. Or, well, mostly wrong. Anger could be interesting and, in some people, really quite endearing. No, he didn't mind what reaction she gave, for it was the reaction he was watching for. Was she easily riled up, was she well controlled like him, or was she just easy going. He doubted the latter.

Reaction: An eye roll, a sigh, and a quip. Ah, so he had got to her then, she just wasn't letting on. Smart girl. He'd have to work harder. He gave a wry grin at her quip. "What can we have if not our own pride," he replied, vaguely quoting something he heard a while ago, back at the camp. He didn't quite know what it meant, or how she'd take it, but there wasn't much he could say in response to that. He shrugged nonchalantly. He'd seen many men with more bravado than sense, more than a few here; he'd grown up with cowards, liars and thieves, he'd have to have gone a long way not to have met his fair share in the life he was raised to.

She leaned forward and snatched the basket from his hands. He made no move to stop her or to hold the basked tighter, letting her pull it from his grasp. Well, at least she'd moved, he'd got some kind of reaction out of her. It was a good start, though now he had nothing to bargain with. "Very," he said in reply, chuckling as he leaned back, making himself more comfortable in his crouch - his legs were starting to complain. He sat down instead.

She was looking at him again with that curious look in her eyes. It made them light up, like Semith's hide, and the whole effect wasn't wholly unpleasant. Now just bring back that smile and you may have something, he thought idly. He was slightly puzzled by her next question, not that you'd know it. Was there something going on? He certainly didn't know of anything, other than the looming hatching, and she knew as much about that as he did. So what if he was being cheerful, that was what he did, he could be cheerful in a thunderstorm if the situation called for it, not that he really wanted to. Having been camped outside in more than his fair share of storms had done little to aid their glamour for him.

Then he grinned, leaning back and gesturing widely at the landscape. "Why would I not be cheerful? I'm outside on a glorious summer's day with a lovely woman for company." He grinned for a second or two longer, then leaned forward suddenly, leaning his elbows on his knees. "Or would you prefer 'interesting'?" he asked, smile replaced by an inquisitively raised eyebrow.

[nemix]

Jareth. Simple, easy to remember, she rolled the name through her head a few times. Almost like a dragon she noted, though outwardly she merely nodded to confirm she'd heard him. Well now, that would make talking a little easier. Not that she was about to relax around him, far from it, but at least conversation would be less awkward.

Tiael considered his response, weighing it carefully in her head. Did he really put that much stock in what she thought of him? Probably not. She rather pegged him for someone who cared that the impression of himself that he wanted to present, had sunk in. At least, if he was anything like her; which she was still trying to figure out. So was he really concerned with pride and bravado? Most likely not, but it wasn't something she could simply drop into the conversation to test out. She let the comment slide, though she knew that pride in this place wasn't something encouraged unless you were a Guard, or could afford to put a few people down and thus keep any form of stature among the other prisoners.

She seemed to amuse him, her reactions, her comments. Well that was a good thing, possibly. It meant he wasn't about to walk off disinterested, but was someone trying to get to know her really a good thing? If they were similar, they'd both be an asset to one another if they were intent on the same goal. However, if they were working at odds? Well that wouldn't be pretty now would it. Of course, if he were simply being friendly, if the egg had noticed something entirely different in him, his confidence perhaps, then it would seem rude and possibly suspicious if she simply rejected his attempts at conversation for no reason. After all, she'd practically invited him over to talk. "Well, I'm so glad I could help." She said, words dripping with sarcasm before she laughed.

As he settled himself down on the soil, she sat down too and folded her legs. The basket resting in her lap, she began to tidy up the mess about her, listening to him curiously. Flattery, it seemed, was a skill of his; though not something that would really get him far with her. It was, nice, considering the usual company she had in here but it wasn't about to make her swoon. As he leant forward, she grew thoughtful, biting her lip slightly as she appeared to puzzle deeply over which compliment she'd rather have. Without warning, she flicked a weed from the basket towards his face. It wasn't particularly well aimed, but she still looked a little smug as she chuckled. "You're still in a field, wearing a red jumpsuit, weeding." She said, clearly amused. "I still feel my question is fair. I mean, take.....him," She said pointing to yet another red jumpsuit, the occupier of which seemed to be moving at snails pace and looking miserable. "That's, how most people around here tend to look. Especially out doing chores. Someone looking cheerful is a little, out of place." She said, sliding her gaze back to Jareth and that almost feline smile curving her lips again. "Not that it isn't, refreshing, to find someone who is actually animated. Most here seem so..." She gestured vaguely, trying to pick out the right word. "Switched off." It was curious, for her to find two people in the last sevenday that had some kind of spark to them. Completely different sparks mind, but still, both were interesting in different ways. One seemingly innocent, perhaps even naive on some levels, Jareth on the other hand seemed more like playing with fire. Interesting, useful, fire.

There was still the matter of that compliment to handle, though giving him any kind of adjective would indicate what sort of person she was. All right then, she had better come up with something that was both believable and either completely off the mark, or would leave him with more questions than answers. Lovely, she could be, if it suited her. Interesting, could also fit, though that would also hint she was proud and determined to prove that she was an individual. People like that could be easily twisted and used. "As for what I'd prefer....I'll settle for driven. Though really, its your opinion so why should I be trying to influence it?" Driven was good, it also wasn't a total lie. She was determined, she was simply not about to expand much more on that. She wasn't able to tell just how good he was at reading lies yet, so an outright one would be stupid. Vague truths weren't bad. He could theorise all he liked about what she was driving towards.