Logs:Bros, Before Hatching
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| RL Date: 15 March, 2013 |
| Who: Nicky, Wakizian |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Insomniac Nicky runs into sleep-deprived Wakizian a couple days before hatching. They have a bro-chat. |
| Where: In a tunnel, somewhere off the Inner Caverns, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 27, Month 3, Turn 31 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Azaylia/Mentions, Mave/Mentions, Ceawlin/Mentions, Jo/Mentions, Sabella/Mentions, Barnabas/Mentions |
| OOC Notes: This was done on google docs, started just before the hatching and finally finished today. |
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| Somewhere deep, deep, deep in the inner caverns.
Another midnight wanderer is Nicky, though it's far more common to see him up and about afterhours than it is to see, say, his best buddy. He's wearing his casual clothes, loose pants, loose shirt, both considerably cleaner than Waki's, and has slippers on his feet that make each lazy, half-slide step he takes more of a 'shush-shush' sound, rather than an actual footfall. His glow basket is on its way out, phosphorescence fading, and so he's walking with one hand trailing along the side of the tunnel's wall, feeling his way along as much as seeing. Does he know where he's going? Probably not - but he can always turn around and head out, if he has to. When the sound of approaching footsteps rings through the echoing passage, the coltish candidate looks up and pauses, standing stock still and looking in the direction of the sound - the direction in which he's headed, as it happens. "H-hello?" Despite calling out softly, the word still has an echo, bouncing off the walls to become a distant 'o'. This would be the perfect moment for a spooky 'Muwahahaha!' If there hadn't been a noose... If Ceawlin's word-painting hadn't made the idea of a murderer out to get the candidates seem so real to Waki... well, he might! But there was, and he did, so instead, Wakizian's familiar baritone calls softly, "It's Waki, Nicky." The other man's voice is easily identified from just a hello; probably not a feat Wakizian could achieve with anyone else, but Nicky's his best friend. Boot falls continue, echoing quietly, like Waki's voice, as the Smith draws nearer to where Nicky stands. His glow basket heralds his coming. It's uncovered only enough to let there be light at his feet, which casts a glow up to leave parts of his face in shadow. "Dancing lesson?" "Nope." Nicky hefts his glowbasket up to illuminate his friend's face - not that it does much good, with the faint, petering out light that it's only just throwing out. "E-exploring. Can't sleep." He shrugs his shoulders, canting his head to one side. "Why are you up, Waki? You're normally sleeping like a baby by now." Which means there's something suspicious going on! The curly-haired teen's eyes narrow slightly as he thinks of the possible reasons for bumping into his friend, then he smiles, and exhales a deep breath. "I can't sleep even more than usual. I'm nervous." "Looking for traitorous best friends that don't believe I know how to dance well." Waki quips, pursing his lips in annoyance. "Can't believe you asked Kaeden, dude." He huffs, setting his glow basket to the floor so he can lean down and adjust his boot. This takes him out of the light of Nicky's raised glowbasket. "Can't sleep either." The way in which both excuses are delivered, Nicky would easily be able to tell that there's something more that Wakizian isn't telling. There is the ring of truth to the can't sleep explanation though. "Ceawlin says there's a murderer on the loose and we're all going to be killed in our beds, us or the goldriders, and I asked Azaylia if I could come sleep with her," His words have gone from conversational to the helpless babble of one whose worries keep them up at night, "Not, like, sleep with her, but like, just with her." Hopefully that makes sense outside his head, "You know, 'cause I'm worried something will happen. But she said because hatching's so near, I'd best stay at the barracks. So I'm doubly worried. Us and her. Murdered." Wait. What? Waki's pissed with him for that? Nicky frowns, digging his hand into his pocket and slouching over. The murderer story doesn't go down overly well - or as well as Wakizian might hope it to, anyway, as Nicky looks at him with a 'don't believe you' expression on his face. "Um. Waki. There aren't going to be any murders... it'll be ok." He pauses, breathes deep, then reaches out to comfortingly pat his friend's shoulder. "No-one's gonna come down here, right? And Azaylia's on the sands with Hraedhyth, and so's Brieli, and it'll all be ok... ok?" Sighing softly, he leans back against the cavern's wall, stifling a yawn with his hand. "I didn't go to Kaeden because I didn't want to come to you. I went to Kaeden because he knows Hana, and I was learning to dance for her. You could still teach me, if you like. I'm not very good." "Nope. That ship has sailed, my friend." The use of 'my friend' here is not particularly warm, though not cold either. It's suggestive that this isn't a major friendship-ending thing. Just an annoyance Wakizian needed to air. "And you'll be sorry once you see my moves." He does a silly little shoulder and hip shift, with a little bit of a wobbly head thrown in. "To think, that you'd think that I'd teach you to dance after you made Sabs thing I'm underdeveloped? And saying that you're stronger than me?" There's where Nicky really stepped in the figurative poo-pie. "To think," He begins again, "That I asked Bones if he was flirting with you like I told you I would. Do you know what he could have done to my face?" A hand is gripped into a fist and he mimes a strike to his own eye. Not that after the conversation they had that Bones would do such a thing. He huffs again, and turns to lean against the wall of the tunnel, hands tucking behind his back. "I know you can dance. I know I can't dance." Nicky pulls a face when Sabella's brought into it, looking confused - what's he talking about? "Sabs? 'Underdeveloped'? What the shell are you talking about, Waki?" His hand comes up to run through his curls, in that habit he's got when he's particularly at a loss. "I did say I was stronger, but I was only trying to... to show off, I guess. What does it matter?" Then into the conversation comes Bones, and Nicky shifts uncomfortably, his expression shifting to one of worry. "Y-you asked Bones wh-what?" That worry turns up a notch to verging on panic, and his fingers knot more tightly into his hair. "Wh-why?! Why, Waki? Why?" He sinks back against the tunnel's wall, long legs folding in on themselves until his butt his the floor and his knees are by his chin. "Next time. pick a different Smith to be stronger than. I'll thrash you, and you know it." Okay, he won't really and Nicky knows that, but the threat has to be made to preserve some manly dignity. "It's fine if I'm there to play along and just being a wingman, but don't go spreading rumors to pretty girls that I'm a weakling. It's mean." That last is said matter-of-factly, "Makes me think you never want me to get on with a girl, which would be one way to make sure I can't one-up your last exploit, but pretty darn cruel if you're my friend. And you are my friend, right? Or are you just mad about the kissing Mave thing?" Then there's the topic of Bones. "You asked me to ask him." Wakizian responds, surprised. Technically, what Nicky said while they were having cider the night Waki got a black eye was "would you ask him?" and he may have meant would Waki have the stones to make such an inquiry, but Waki did tell his friend he would. "You remember? That night at Snowaisis? When you were eying up my sketchbook and Mave'd just given me the shiner?" He slides down the wall, too, his brown eyes blinking with real innocence and confusion. "I told you I'd ask, so I asked. What's wrong?" Waki's tirade leaves Nicky speechless, peering up at him through the gaps between fingers that cover his face. "I'm not mad at you. I'm not anything with you... o-other than surprised - I c-can't believe you asked him, Waki... a-and kinda mortified." He groans again, sinking his face back into his hands and shaking his head. "Um, l-last night, I went to s-see him, just 'cos I was awake and I thought m-maybe he would be, too, and... a-and he..." Hands come down from hiding his bright-blushed cheeks, and Nicky winces as he holds out his hands, as if gripping someone by the hips. He gives a little squeeze of the fake-person, then drops his face down to his knees and wraps his long arms over the back of his head. Perhaps there's hope that the position will muffle what he has to say next. "H-he k-k-kissed me." Brown brows knit in confusion, "I don't know why you'd be surprised, Nicky. I always do what I say I will." Whenever he gets around to it. Then the rest sinks in. Surprise after surprise. Wakizian is silent for a long moment. "Well, he said he would. If you wanted to. Have sex, that is. But he also said he wasn't for beginners. And that he generally likes girls. So, really, take it as a big compliment that he's interested." Beat. "And that means that it's normal-" If you can use Bones as a marking for what normal is, "-to like mostly girls but occasionally be interested in a guy." He reaches out a hand to touch Nicky's shoulder lightly, "Sorry I ended up embarrassing you. I just hadn't had a chance to tell you. Things've been busy." He sighs. "So did you-- like it? The kiss? Did his hair, like, tickle?" As soon as the 'S' word comes up, Nicky tries to shrink even lower. Chances are his cheeks are burning brighter, too, because he's hugging his arms even closer to the top of his head, trying to both block out what's being said and to hide, too. There's a tiny, tiny shaking of his head, noticeable only really by the gentle shaking of his wild curls. The last questions, though? They get a little groan of dismay - does he really have to answer them? But this is Waki asking, and Waki had the guts to speak to Bones, of all people, to find out what he really didn't (but secretly did) want to know so very, very badly... so, his friend gets a monumental shrug, followed by a nod. A much more noticeable one than the last, but nothing too enthusiastic. Distress becomes plain on Wakizian's face as he watches Nicky try to hide from the conversation. He looks awkward a moment, and then moves to kneel in front of his friend. Strong fingers latch onto Nicky's hands and try to pry them away. "Nick, we don't have to talk about this, if you don't want to. Everything's fine. You don't need to hide. It's just me." His tone is patient and comforting. "Here, let's talk about something else. The eggs are going to hatch soon. Alida-" He begins then bites his lip, then shakes his head, then finally says: "Alida's really worried about Hatching. Don't tell her I told you, or she'll make it so I can't attend Hatching." It takes some doing, but the prying works eventually and Nicky raises his head, showing off just how deep his blushing is. "Sh-she'll stand with us, Waki, I asked her to s-stand with us. Um... I'm worried, too." Not that that's been much of a secret. He hides his face again, exhaling heavily, then drawing in a sharp breath before looking back up; this time he crosses his arms on his knees, and rests his chin on them. While he may be looking in Waki's direction, he's not necessarily looking at the lad. "He k-kissed me here." He angles his head to the side, reaching forward enough to be able to tap at his neck with one work-calloused finger. "That's it." He looks off to the side, sighing. "It's wrong, Waki. All my life I've been told it's wrong, and then I come here and it's right, and I don't know how I feel - b-but I felt something enough to," Nicky's voice drops low, and he hides his face again, "to k-kiss his cheek before I ran off." "I know she will, unless it turns out that you tell her I said something about her worrying, and she breaks my leg. In which case, she'll stand with you." Waki keeps his baritone light and cheerful as he makes this not-so-unrealistic joke. He reaches out to nudge Nicky's arms as they rest on his knees, trying to pull him from his funk with his usual humor. He rocks back onto his butt then, sitting cross-legged in front of the ferrier-turned candidate. "To clarify, what I said was that it's alright which is different than being right. Being right or not being right depends on who you are and what you want and are comfortable with. What I said is that in the Weyr, you have the right to chose because it is neither wrong nor right by nature, it simply is. You know how morals are different in a Hold than in a Weyr? Well, it's because morals don't exist without man. Something is right or wrong because we choose it to be so. An act is not inherently good or evil. It just is, until someone decides in context if it's right or wrong." There's a pause. "My dad told me that. When I was young. Before he stopped speaking to me." There's a sad sort of amused smile, "Which is pretty funny considering how wrong he told me joining Smith was." The man's runner's tail slides back and forth as he shakes his head. "At any rate, it's alright to feel something and alright to act on it, if you like, and it's alright not to, or not to act on it." "I won't say anything." Why would he want to rock Alida's boat, when he wants her alongside him as much as he does Waki? Nicky huffs out a soft breath, turning his brown eyes up to meet his best friend's gaze. It's fleeting though, as he then looks away, to the fading light of his glow basket. "I'm embarrassed. I'm not used to feeling like this. I like girls - I like Mave. And Hana. And Jo's kinda hot, too, so why," there's a little heat to his tone now, confusion and a hint of anger, directed at himself, "am I suddenly feeling all hot when a man who's as far removed from any of them grabs me by the hips and makes me want to will him to kiss me, even while I'm hating myself for wanting to do it because it's so wrong? It confuses me, Waki, the whole Weyr confuses me. I don't get any of it." "Well, Nick, I've placed marks on you to Impress, also. So, you're just going to have to get used to being confused, or figure out how to figure it out." Wakizian's grin to his friend is impish. "The Weyr is pretty great, you know. All kinds of freedom. I can, for example..." He leans forward, as though getting ready to impart some secret, "Do this!" A hand whips around Nicky's protective posture, and aims a tickle for his side. It doesn't stay long, just long enough to get him laughing, which sets Waki to laughing, too. "Don't take it all so seriously. Just live life the way you want to. If you don't want to want Bones to kiss you, then don't want it. Or if you do want it, let yourself and don't hate yourself over it." Tickling! Not the tickling! Nicky lets out what might have been a squeal, a few years back - the lower voice now though turns it into something very different, and yet that conveys exactly the same message. He does laugh, but he also kicks and throws a flailing punch to try and get his friend off him. It's worked, though; he's smiling, and once he's stopped laughing he aims a kick at Waki's thigh. "Hey," he scolds, kicking again for good measure. Neither is intended to hurt, of course, but they are hard enough to be felt. "Would you kiss Bones?" Waki was thankfully prepared for resistance, and Alida's self-defense lessons pay off as he dodges the punch swung, though not the thigh kick. He grunts, "Now you're just asking to get tickled for real." He lets the threat hang in the air, but doesn't seem particularly moved to do anything about it. He actually scoots back, letting his back lean on the opposite tunnel wall. Thankfully, its a narrow passage, so their feet are not far off from touching. "I'm not sure Bones is my type, or that I'm his. Like I said, he prefers women, but makes exceptions for certain guys. Plus, he seems awfully set on me letting Azaylia stick her tongue down my throat." He pauses, and then the blush gives the game away: "She kissed me, Nick. In the galleries." With legs as long as Nicky's, it's not hard to be far from touching distance in any normal-sized corridor. "No. N-no you didn't." It's disbelief over the kiss confession, and the long-legged teen kicks at his friend's foot, going sole to sole and shunting him hard. "Bones said he thought we were a breath away from kissing, so why's he hooking you up with a weyrwoman?!" The teen groans, leaning back and clunking his head off the wall, accidentally. "Weywoman Azaylia really kissed you?!" Whatever the answer is, Waki gets another foot-shunting. Wakizian laughs, stretching out a foot to nudge Nicky's slippered foot with his own booted toe. "Well, probably because I started the conversation with Bones asking him not to punch me if I messed up with Azaylia. K'del said he probably would, if I messed up. And K'del said that he, K'del would brawl me if I messed up with Azaylia and hurt her. So I was trying not to get another shiner. Then I asked him about you." He snort-giggles. "He really said he thought we were a breath away from kissing?" Snort-giggle-giggle-giggle-snort. "He didn't hook me up with Azaylia. I asked her for a date, remember? That's how all this started. I asked her for a date when candidacy was over, or weyrlinghood. And then I got nervous and scared that I wasn't grown up enough, which was really just proved by me kissing Mave, but now all that's over and I went to talk to Azaylia, like an adult-" Which he is. "And she kissed me. And... man, oh man..." He beams. "Best. Kiss. Ever. Can't believe I'm going to have to wait forever for another one! OH! But-" His eyes light up and he leans forward, "-she said it would only be a couple months -- maybe six at most -- until we're allowed to kiss and do stuff again. Not turns like we thought!" 'Isn't that great news?' his tone asks. There's a tiny frown on Nicky's forehead as he listens to his friend, lips pursed in thought as he runs over everything being said. "It's maybe your best kiss so far," he says softly, trying not to ruin the moment or the memory, "but I bet you'll have even better one." His teeth sink into his lip as he thinks, eyes turned up to the darkened ceiling above them, while his feet keep a gentle pressure against Waki's, pushing enough just to let the prolonged contact be known. "Bones' kiss here," he points to his neck, "was the best ever there. But, um, Julie... sh-she did these things with her tongue that... mmmph." Nicky closes his eyes, smiling at the memory. "But then when I kissed Mave, there was... something. I can't describe it. Like something hit me. I could kiss her again and again." When his eyes open again, he's looking down to where his hands rest across his thighs. "I was scared to kiss Bones because of that. What if I'd been 'hit' by something there? I wanted to, Waki. I did. I just... I couldn't." "I sure as runners shit hope so." Wakizian replies with a laugh to the quality of kisses in his lifetime. "But it sure beats the rest. Like you're saying you had with Mave. There was this moment of just wow and I felt like I could just stay right there forever. Well, there and you know, maybe-" His hands rise to cup invisible boobs and he winks at Nicky. He nods to what the other youth is saying, feet not moving from their balance point against the ferrier's. He shoves a little, but playfully, when Nicky starts talking about Julie and her tongue. "So what if you kissed Bones and something hit you? I don't see Bones as being interested in a traditional relationship. Mave might not take too kindly to you kissing boys if she wants something like that, but, I dunno, Nick, she told me she wanted to be friends with everyone before things got confusing." He shrugs slightly, "Though, I bet you could change her mind..." He grins impishly, "... you know, through some more of those amazing kisses you had with her." Shove. Nicky shoves right back, and harder. "I want to find Julie. I want to get some more of what she can do with her tongue before the hatching..." He grins crookedly, blushing and looking down into his lap. "If you think kissing is good, just wait 'til you get to try the other things tongues are good for." And speaking of, he runs his gently over his bottom lip, eyes closed as he - reminisces, perhaps? Then he blushes deeply, looking suddenly embarrassed... and he withdraws his feet from the pushing battle to drop his knees up towards his chest. Any guesses what's going on there? "Um. Y-yeah. So. I, um, never noticed Azaylia's, um..." He mimics Waki's invisible boob squeeze. Imagining them probably isn't helping his little... situation. "D-did you get to...?" Insert invisible boob squeeze number two. "You want to find Julie again? What about Mave? Or Bones?" Waki wrinkles his brow, looking perplexed. "I'm starting to think you're not to where you want a relationship yet. Just more shagging." That last is said in a gentle tease, expression showing that he wouldn't think less of his friend, were that truly the case, and still allowing for the possibility that it's not. Wakizian flicks out a foot to bat at Nicky's feet, "No." Maybe he's scolding him for suggesting he'd do such a thing with Azaylia? "Don't you think I'd've told you if I had?" No, there's the more likely reason. He pulls his leg back and wraps an arm around a single knee. "Just a kiss. Well, two kisses. I couldn't help but want a second. But after that she left. It's good that she did, though. 'Cause the galleries were starting to get more visitors. I don't want her embarrassed about me." After all, he is just a lowly Senior Apprentice Smith. He chews his lower lip. "If she wanted to keep us a secret, I would. You know. Just to get to hang out with her." He blushes a bit for this admission. "I think--I think I really like her, Nick." "And I really like Mave, but she wants to keep things friendly, like you just said." Nicky shrugs. "And I don't fancy Bones. I like him, but I don't think I feel that about him." If he does, he's in some serious denial. Those long legs of his stretch out again and he slumps back against the wall, sighing heavily. "I want Mave, but I can't force her, and I can't push her to like me. And, um...I've kind of been avoiding her." Shoulders sink, and he exhales softly. "Not that it matters. We're still candidates. And we said none of that sort of thinking for now. Didn't we? Julie only makes me think one sort of thing, and it's not fluffy and fuzzy and warm and here," he touches his hand softly to his chest. "That's what Mave makes me feel. Julie's more..." A circling finger indicates his crotch, before he drops his hand down onto his thigh. "Does the weyrwoman give you that fuzzy feeling?" "So... if you can't find Julie before hatching... you gonna see if Bones can do that stuff with his tongue?" The tone in which this question is asked is clearly teasing, but there's a drop of genuine curiosity in it. "How can I help? With the Julie search, that is." Wakizian offers the next comment more quietly, "Maybe just give Mave time. I mean, you'll have time anyway, to work on her, if you want to. Once you have a dragon." The question of how Azaylia makes him feel is met with a pensive expression. "I'm-- I'm not sure if I'd call it fuzzy. Touching her makes me tingle in more places than just--" He glances to the obvious. "I guess I feel like I need to get to know her better to be sure. I know I want to protect her though. And kiss her again." His expression turns a touch dreamy at that. Nicky is all too happy to skip over the question about Bones; he's nowhere near ready to answer that! "I feel like that, too, but it seems silly to want to protect Mave. Whoever she might need protecting from would need protecting from her, not the other way around." He snorts, nose wrinkling in amusement. Beside him, his glowbasket is nearly out, the last remnants of light faded to near nothingness. A soft huff of breath, and he shrugs. "I don't really want to find anyone before the hatching, Waki. It would just complicate things. I'm just... my head's all sorta..." With words failing him, he resorts to gestures - a circling finger by his ear to suggest his mind's all awhirl. "You're telling me," Wakizian begins with a groan. "I was looking at her numbers for bets. She didn't put a cap on it this time so I'm just hoping nothing goes exceptionally poorly for anyone else, or we might find her moving up from runner feed bags to breaking knees. We'll be a regular Bitra, after that." Not that Waki's ever been to Bitra, he just supposes from the stories. "Wait, but you just said you wanted to find Julie?" The Smith is confused by the difference between find and find. "In any case, you won't hopefully have to wait long. Should be any moment now. Maybe we ought to stick closer to the barracks, you know... in case? Wouldn't do to miss our own dragons hatching, now would it?" With that, he begins to push himself up onto his feet, taking up his glow in one hand before offering the other down to help pull Nicky up, if he likes. Nicky takes the hand, pushing against the floor with his own for an extra boost. "I wouldn't turn Julie away, but I don't really want to go find her." He bends down to pick up his wasted glowbasket, looping it onto his belt so he doesn't have to carry it. Then he adds, wistfully, "She is pretty awesome with her tongue, though." Running his fingers through his hair, he shoulder-bumps his buddy and grins at him. "Do you think we'll be riders, this time next seven?" "Oh." Wakizian responds, pulling once his hand is gripped. "Alright. That clears that up then." The Smith turns his face towards the ferrier when he bumps shoulders with him, and there's a single decisive nod. "Yep. We were both so sure, we bet on it." Then he's heading down the tunnel, back in the direction of the candidate barracks. |
Comments
Barnabas (Barnabas (talk)) left a comment on Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:52:16 GMT.
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Awww poor Nicky. Sorry Bones is so confusing! He only means to help! =)
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