Candidate Kaiator

Was he really cleared for taking a break in the barracks now? Kaiator had to admit that he wasn't completely sure--he didn't think he'd missed anything, no, although that didn't mean something wasn't going to crop up when he least expected it. Maybe not anything official, but with how his luck's been running lately, who knew. He wasn't completely convinced he'd manage to get through the rest of the night without being bothered somehow, really. Currently, his money was on a small-scale tunnelsnake invasion.

Kaiator takes a quick glance around to make sure he's as close to alone as he can get before breathing a sigh of exhaustion, settling into the nearest chair without even the slightest consideration for whether or not it's been unofficially claimed by someone else. He just needed a minute to rest, is all--this candidate thing was rough, and he's actually somewhat glad for the experience the family craft's given him. Otherwise, he'd likely be faring even worse by now.

He's had a bit of time to sit and relax, enough to where he might almost be convinced that things might be going alright for the remainder of the evening. It's a faint hope, but one that he allows himself to indulge in for the moment--
--until a quick shape appears on the arm of his chosen chair, delicately alighting on the wood with careful precision. Kaiator, flopped back with his eyes closed and his face turned toward the ceiling, would never know what hit him until the flit made its move, tugging on his sash with just enough force to slip the knot free, and--there it goes, into the air with its stolen prize.

Needless to say, he jumps to his feet as quickly as he's able, swearing loudly as he does his best to chase after the damned reptile. Surely these things were cuter if they were yours, right?



Candidate Chayrel

Chayrel had been heading into the Barracks after a long day. He'd just finished his remedial writing and reading lessons, after struggling once again with silent letters, and homonyms. Still, his writing was at least improving, and his reading comprehension was now better--he didn't need to have one of the assistants or other Candidates help him with the hidework lessons to quite the extent he'd had a Turn ago. He made his way through the seemingly quiet corridors when a loud cuss, and the sound of someone scrambling caught his ear.

It took but a moment to reach the room, and sure enough, he caught sight of a fellow Candidate and what appeared to be a case of stolen property. He didn't know Kaiator well enough to know if that was his flit or another Candidates, but all Chayrel knew was it wasn't his. "Don't spook it Between!" He immediately warned, the only thing he could think of saying given the situation.

His surprise at the situation was enough to summon a second fire-lizard, this one a pale green. She circled Chayrel once, eyes whirling a distressed yellow, cheaping in surprise before she took note of the scene. With a scolding chitter, and a flash of red, she immediately took off after the other flit, giving the stranger a piece of her mind! "Charm! Get back here!" He tried to summon the little green, unsure if her scolding would do the very thing he'd warned the other about.



Candidate Kaiator

"Well, I'm--sharding trying not to, I promise you!"
If the flit decided to duck between, his sash was as good as gone, and Kaiator didn't fancy the thought of trying to replace it, let alone entertaining the notion of hunting it down from there. There's a sudden blur of green appearing from quite literally nowhere, and Kaiator almost loses his balance completely in an attempt to avoid this new firelizard as she blazes by him.

"Hey, who knows! She might be able to catch the blasted thing, seeing as I apparently can't."
He at least has the good sense to slow down, letting Charm take the lead in following after the airborne thief. Did it take a flit to catch a flit or something? Kaia had to admit, he didn't have much experience with this sort of thing.
"Figures! Try to relax for fifteen minutes, and this happens. Isn't that just lovely."



Candidate Chayrel
For Faranth's sake...
Chayrel didn't know what to do when it came to fire-lizard thieves. He could feel Charm's ire as she continued to scold and heckle the other. This was where a dragon would come in handy, but of course, there were no assistants nearby -- and he certainly did't want to catch V'mel's ire. They were supposed to keep their pets in line and well trained, and while this strange flit wasn't his, he didn't want to risk catching trouble.

"She might," he added with a frown, his usual expression. Sure enough, the little green made a direct dive for the sash, hoping to tug on an end and pull it back from the thief. Like a flock of wherries stealing over food, Charm wasn't about to let this stranger off the hook so easily. She might not have been a gold, but she wasn't ready to let this other off the hook.

"We're all gon' hear about it if V'mel hears 'bout a thief in the Barracks." He didn't recognize the other flit, and it well could have been anyone's in the Weyr, but he knew the Weyrlingmaster wasn't one for excuses -- just results. If Charm couldn't get the scarf back, maybe there was another way? Bribery was a Nabol way of life. "Got somethin' to tempt it down with?" He glanced around the room, hoping to find a bit of food, or maybe something shinier.



Candidate Kaiator

The thief gives a sharp creen of outrage as Charm attempts to take the sash back--tail thrashing, the flit tries to go a little higher, hoping to keep the upper ground on Charm. Going between now was out of the question, at least if they wanted to remain unbothered. Bringing another flit, especially one so nosy, to their lair sounded like a horrible idea.

Meanwhile, Kaiator grimaced, almost tempted to try throwing something up at the swirling mess of flits battling for ownership of his sash overhead. He's already bracing himself for all manner of new rips and tears to repair, if it's even in decent enough shape by the time he gets his hands back on it again.

"I'm really not looking forward to dealing with anyone in charge over this." he grumbles, running a hand through his hair. Chayrel has an excellent idea, however--the moment it connects, Kaiator jolts back into motion, trying to get his hands on something that wouldn't be too terribly missed. There had to be a few snacks around here somewhere; he scoops up a shiny lost button as another potential offering, having long since made the note to put it back on the jacket it fell off of days ago.
"You think this might catch its attention, by any chance?"



Candidate Chayrel

The pale green flit wasn't going to be so easily deterred. Through grit teeth, her eyes whirled a bright red, and she refused to let the little thief get away! She might be nosy but she wasn't going to let this stand. The scarf was clearly Not Theirs and she was going to keep it Right Here. Huff huff huff.

The firelizards were too far up for Chayrel to be of much use -- honestly, without a dragon commanding the thing, or its owner, there wasn't a lot to be done. Thankfully, his suggestion proved useful to one of them. Where Chayrel had nothing on hand to use, the other Candidate seemed to have something more immediate. When the other asked about the button, he arched a brow but gave a grunt. "Might well be! Maybe... Hold it up?" If that didn't work, he could get Charm to make much of it, but he didn't want her to let go of the scarf lest risk the other dragging it Between. "Hey! Flit!" He gave a whistle, hoping to catch the other’s attention just long enough for Kaiator to show the prize. Whistling usually worked with Charm, so he hoped the other might be at least be partially trained. Not that he had much hope given the thief's current attitude.




Candidate Kaiator

The whistle is enough to secure the flit's attention for a few precious moments--Kaiator takes the opportunity without a second thought, hoisting the button high enough to hopefully catch a little bit of the light. The flit seems torn, eyes whirling through a melange of colors as it glances back and forth between both the prize it has and this new offering it so desperately wants--

With an overdramatic almost-sigh, the flit releases the sash, making a rapid divebomb for Kaiator's hand instead. He manages to breathe yet another curse before it collides with him, sharp claws scrabbling for the button with little concern for what's holding it; Kaiator himself needs no more convincing to let the damn thing go, hissing in pain at the barrage. The flit, now suitably appeased, winks between, leaving the two candidates (and Charm) alone in the barracks.
The first thing Kaiator does in the silence is bite back several unpleasant comments, instead settling for prodding at his fingers for a moment--figures that he'd get his hand mauled twice, as he quietly grumbles to himself. Good thing that pinky was already gone!

Exhaling sharply, he straightens up, turning to face Chayrel with a very, very carefully composed smile. He'd been quite helpful, after all, and even if Kaiator is sure some of those nicks are going to start bleeding if he moves too much, there's a certain order to these things that must be observed.
"Thank you for the-- Well, for everything, really. I can't imagine that flit would've stuck around much longer without yours deciding to intervene."




Candidate Chayrel

When the flit popped between with his prize, Chayrel gave a short and a frown. "Shaffing thing ... Dunno what that was all about." He groused. Someone out there clearly needed to better train their flit. Charm, for her part, gave a muffled noise before circling Kaiator once and hovering so he might take back the scarf. Her eyes were a bright jeweled green in pleasure though, and she for one felt good about everything.

At the smile and gratitude, Chayrel gave a dismissive shrug and snort. "S'fine. Glad it worked out a'ight." Cuts and tears of fabric aside. "Haven't seen so bold a flit in a while." He was already paranoid about all the other Candidates taking his fee possessions. He didn't want to have to worry about flits too.



Candidate Kaiator

"On one hand, I can't say it had bad taste, but on the other--I'm starting to run low on things I don't need to patch up in one way or another."
He takes the sash back from Charm with a small smile, although that doesn't last long; it quickly sours into a grimace when he sees the shredded portion, and he pinches the bridge of his nose with his free hand to try and stave off what felt like a rising headache. Looks like he'd be spending another night sewing, as he laments. This sash had had the nice embroidery on it, for Faranth's sake. That would take hours to match.
"I haven't either, really. Is there something in the air out there, or is it just my bad luck coming back around again?" Would it be better or worse if that was a particularly adventurous wild flit? Kaiator had already written off that button, so he supposed it didn't matter much at the end of the day. Maybe he'd whittle a replacement, or try to scrounge one up from...somewhere. Where did one even find a button in a weyr? "Either way, I don't suppose it matters too much now."

He pauses for a moment, glancing back at Charm before returning his gaze to Chayrel.
"Might I ask her name so I can thank her properly? And yours as well, considering the fact that I don't think we've been introduced." Kaiator musters up another smile, this one far more secure. His hands are itching for a bit of preening, and he quickly folds the sash to tuck it into his pocket before doing his best to get his hair back in order. "I'm Kaiator, by the way. Lovely to meet you, even if it took a bit of a mess to get there."


Candidate Chayrel
Chayrel gave a small shake of his head in sympathy. Charm, for her part, came to settle on his shoulder, and gave a gentle, reassuring chirp at Kaiator. With a little toss of her head, she remained vigilant--just in case a particular thief might reappear. "It's gone now, but... Don't much like the idea of our stuff gettin' snatched." He doubted it was wild, as a wild flit likely would want to get so close to all the people. But whose firelizard was so badly behaved? Chayrel was only grateful that Charm was on the better-behaved side of things.

Glancing back at the other Candidate, he did arch a brow at the man's mention of bad luck. As far as Chayrel was concerned, his luck had changed ever since he'd been Searched. "You an unlucky sort?" He asked with slight suspicion. While he wasn't superstitious, he didn't want his own good fortune cast into ruins.
He was desperate to stay in the Weyrs good graces, and if Kaiator was trouble, Chayrel would want to keep his distance. Ironic, really, given his own penchant for trouble. "Won't matter too much so long as it stays away," he added with a snort. "Better a lost button than a scarf though, I s'pose."

When Kaiator asked about Charm, the frown on his face did lesson. He brightened up considerably, and with a small shrug of his shoulder to dislodge the green, he held out his arm so she might walk down it. Charm did as she was bade, knowing full well that she was being discussed. If she crooned up at Kaiator, and turned her neck this way and that, it couldn't be helped--she was a good girl, after all. "Her name's Charm," he spoke, pride immediately entering his words. "I'm Chayrel. Good to know you." That was reasonably friendly, wasn't it? He'd come a long way since he'd first been Searched, though being sociable was new. As far as he was concerned, everyone had an angle, and no one did anything without some sort of self-centered motive. "You been at the Weyr long?" He asked bluntly. He didn't recognize him, so wasn't sure if he was new, or if he was just some weyrbrat he'd overlooked until now.

Candidate Kaiator
Shards, this one wasn't very expressive, was he? Just a lot of--frowning. Kaiator was having some trouble telling whether or not his charm was making any headway, but that wasn't going to stop him.
"I'm hardly a fan, myself. I thought you had to train flits, but I suppose one or two is bound to slip through the cracks every so often."

When asked about his luck, Kaiator at least has the sense to look at little less enthusiastic. While yes, he'd been having a tough time of it lately, he wasn't entirely sure if it was completely bad luck and not just his own blunders coming back around to bite him. Would he admit to such, however? Absolutely not.
"Oh, not usually, but I haven't been enjoying a particularly pleasant string of it as of late." He sighs, giving a grimace. That brow raise didn't escape his notice, however, and he quickly decides to gloss things over instead, drawing himself back up to what he hopes is relatively indicative of his full glory. Never mind the general state of wear he was in--he was certainly majestic, wasn't he? Oh, how he wishes. He didn't look anywhere near as nice as he'd like with all the patches and rough areas on his outfit. "I'll have to agree with you there, though. I can find a replacement button easily enough, I think, but I've grown quite fond of that particular scarf. Picked it up back home a few Turns back, and I haven't seen anything like it here yet."
Ah, there it was. Note to self: Compliment the firelizard, and the man will follow. That made perfect, sense, and Kaiator couldn't help but chide himself for not thinking of it sooner. He'd blame feeling a bit off his game long before he entertained the thought of losing his edge entirely.
"Quite a lovely name, but the flit herself is far more captivating." He can at least say he's being genuine here--Charm really was a lovely flit, and he definitely owed her some praise after her earlier heroics. Plus, that little croon was adorable. "As for me, I--well. I'm a fairly recent acquisition. Is it that obvious?"
He looked back up at Chayrel with a somewhat rueful expression, already wondering if that was a good thing or not. Would it be better in the long run if he tried to blend in, or should he strive to do otherwise? Decisions, decisions.