Harper Classroom, High Reaches Weyr
Evening finds the Weyr on a slow-down pace, with most of its inhabitants already settled down for the night. At night, those like Jolie take that time to be out and about on the prowl, so it might not be much of a surprise that the stablehand is in the harper classroom. She's looking about the place - one would think casing the place - her hands roaming idly over the contents in some of the cubicles she passes. Her backpack is laying on one of the long benches as she peruses through scrap hides and paper, her attention not too much focused on the door and the possibility that someone should find her in here.
And find her someone does. What is Sho doing wandering the halls this late? Well it could be that he was following Jolie. Or that he was looking for someone...either is as likely as the other, knowing Sho. The youth opens the door and does seem genuinely surprised to see someone else there in the darkness. He doesn't say anything and in fact closes the door quietly behind him...curious to see exactly what she's doing. Of course he isn't the stealthiest by far, so it may be that he gets noticed anyways.
Hands trail over the music instruments now as Jolie reaches them, and it's only a matter of time before her steps stop at the sudden change in the air. Her head only moves a fraction to the left, not quite seeing who it is while her hand is idly straying to the hidden knife at her side. While the other hand remains calmly on the hand drum she was currently tracing, "Pretty late to be wandering the halls, baby," she states to the air, and it's quite possible that she knows it's him. Otherwise, this would be her usual type of greeting for anyone. Maybe. It's given calmly, a vague trace of a slur to her voice to suggest that she has been drinking earlier.
Sho tilts his head slightly as he's found out and actually grins a bit. He actually would've been a little disappointed otherwise. "Yer hands on yer knife. Afraid I'm gonna hurt ya?" He asks. Apparently his night vision isn't lacking any. "And I think I might be askin' you why yer wanderin' around places like this so late." He doesn't move from the door, but instead just watches her form in the darkness curiously.
Jolie's eyes return more firmly on the drum, the hidden wry smile probably missed with her back to the other stablehand. With her hand moving away from her knife at his familiar voice, "Got enemies," she admits, finally looking over her shoulder at him in the dim lighting. The look she gives him in such lighting is almost sinister with her head tilting at an angle, and those words spoken, but the smile offsets it somewhat. "Ya ain't going to hurt me," she says this with too much certainty, shaking her head at him. "Still getting use to this place." As for why /she/ was there? Her gaze strays back to the instruments at those words, not answering right away. "Curious about the Weyr, its people," she gives when she finally does, slow steps moving her away from the door. "Can only wander and see it properly at night. That way I don't have to answer questions," and there's a pointed look going over her shoulder at him again, but this time there's some amusement laced with it. "Isn't it passed yer bedtime?" Okay, that maybe a little push for the young man, but the woman's already back to studying the classroom at large with mild interest.
"I s'pose it might be a little late, but ya see, I was trying ta find someone and saw you coming in here a while ago. When I couldn't find my friend I decided ta see what you were up to." Seems innocent and possibly true enough. "Enemies, eh?" Is all he asks on that end, but doesn't push though he does crouch down as he notices something at his feet. Her backpack? He's not sure, so why not check. The sound of cloth moving would be the only hint as to what's going on there. "Would think if ya wanted a tour you could just ask someone."
"Who are ya looking for?" The sound of cloth has the dark-haired woman turning around fast enough to find Sho crouching on the ground in an area where she knew her stuff was. Brows coming together, Jolie steps quickly away from the musical instruments and is approaching Sho with his back to her. If it is indeed that poor backpack, the stablehand would find it unfastened with thickly folded sheets of hide being the first thing reached. Before any of it could get unfolded though, the stablehand woman's practically breathing down his back and putting in, "What's that yer looking at? About to get in trouble again?" It's said like he's gotten in trouble with her before, which is probably likely. His last does get a rather dry "Ain't /that/ friendly. Thought ya of all people would have figured that out by now. Us being friends and working the runners together and all."
"Still could've asked. And I was looking for Madilla." Sho says, hands reaching the hide and pulling one out before he feels her presence behind him. He pauses and grins without looking up. "Was just curious. Didn't know who's stuff this was. Could'a left it and I was gonna find it's owner." Pause as he looks in the darkness at the folded hide in his hand. "So...it's yers then?" He asks, offering her the folded hide over his shoulder.
Jolie bends over Sho, snatching up the hide offered and dropping it back into the backpack's protective embrace. "She's a healer, isn't she?" she notes on Madilla, actually recognizing her name. "Maybe check the infirmary? Or she's retired already for the night...and yer too curious for yer own good." Backpack then gets grabbed up before perhaps Sho could pull something else out, throwing the strap over one shoulder as she straightens up away from him. Dark eyes boring into him now, "Yer like taking things that don't belong to ya?" she levels down at him, her voice carefully neutral. It's probably not a good thing that she's so close to his back, and she's yet to step back as the young man gets her scrutiny.
The youth half turns from his crouched position to look up at Jolie's figure, some of her features actually visible this close. And he grins. "I wasn't taking anythin'. I was looking. I think there's a pretty big difference." He offers. "And I did check the infirmary and they said she wasn't there, so that's when I thought I'd stop and see what you were up to." Pause. "What do ya have in there that's so secret anyways?"
"Then ya like lookin' through things that don't belong to ya?" Jolie's tone is flat in her rephrasing of her question, the woman looking Sho up and down from her position. "Don't need ya following me about, either. Unless the healer is she, doncha got a girl yer wooing or something? Or a prank to pull?" The question given is likely put out there to test the waters and push buttons, for the stablehand takes to settling down on one of the close benches. His question gets silence, as if she didn't want to answer him on impulse. Then, "Show me yer secrets, and perhaps, I'll show ya mine?" she seems to offer, a brow lifting at him in open challenge. Nope, she was not going to make this easy for him, and she was content to play such games with him for now.
Sho stands and turns to face Jolie once she walks away and sits, leaning against the door for now and just watching her, crossing his arms over his chest. "Just call me curious." He responds to her first question easily enough. The second part gets a bit of a grin, although it may be hard to see in the dark. "Whether I got a girl I'm after or not doesn't mean I can't do other stuff, ya know? And I wasn't following you either, I just happened ta see you. And besides...I was curious when I saw ya sneaking around. And now I'm just more curious." He falls silent then at her last offer, the silence either meaning he's not going to tell her, or he's still mulling it over. Finally, he speaks again. "I do have someone here I...like." Beat. "Silarra. And I made her a gift, even if it ain't all the way finished yet." He says, reaching into the pouch at his side and pulling something out, offering it to Jolie to try and make out in the dark. It's a figure of Liniath atop Silarra while the green is in flight, in a rather majestic pose. It's carved out of wood and seems rather intricately and lovingly done. Certainly not perfect by any standards, but pretty good regardless.
Curious seems to be the word of the night. "Wasn't sneakin," Jolie corrects, hands coming together before her knees as she studies the young man in the dim light. "I'm taking a tour. At night." Nothing wrong with that, her tone seems to suggest. She's actually silent through Sho's confession, the woman's head tilting slightly to regard him anew as he speaks. When he offers her the figurine, she reaches to take it from him and bends to peer at its handiwork. "Ya don' say?" she drawls that out, a crooked smile slowly making its appearance onto her face when she looks up at him. "Got yerself someone ya fancy?" This was a safe subject as well, so Jo's latching onto it like water to a man dying of thirst. "This girl know, or ya planning to tell her with /this/?" and she holds out the figurine in indication, but also for him to take back. "Nice work, though," she gives her assessment, leaning back on the bench a little. "Girls like it when ya make them personal gifts like that. Had a trader do that for me, once."
Sho watches Jolie as she studies his handiwork, then takes it back when it's offered and looks it over in silence. "I dun know if she really knows or not, but I think she might suspect. And I dunno if she feels the same way either." He admits, running his finger along one edge of the wooden figure before carefully placing it back in the pouch he got it from. While he may be a bit embarrassed about the subject, he actually seems willing to talk about it. "Alright, I told ya my secret. Now tell me yours." Seems he's not going to let that go so easily.
"Ya should flat out ask her," Jolie suggests, her boots scuffing the ground as she nods toward the figurine. "Doesn't hurt. Worse she can say is that she doesn't particularly care for ya. Y'know?" Or....yeah. It's an easy solution to an easy subject - at least to her - until he's back on her and her secrets. A long, unreadable look gets leveled onto the other stablehand, seeming to buy for time as the silence stretches out from his words. Since he -did- bare himself out to her, Jo is giving him a gauging look before, "Alright. A secret. Well," and she pauses again, her words careful, "I....ran away from home with that trader I mentioned," she finally reveals something, her tone blithe. It's probably likely not the secret Sho was expecting, but the look going his way suggests that it's the best he's going to get from her. What a tease.
"Took ya a while just to think of that one little thing?" Sho asks curiously, rolling his eyes in the darkness. "Seems ta me you got lots more secrets and that one was nothin', specially after what I just told ya. I think you can give me a little more." He pauses then for a moment before tilting his head in the darkness. "Like how ya know Taikrin, since she's the one that brought ya to the Weyr." Apparently someone has been doing a little research.
Tsk, tsk. Jolie's lifting a finger and clocking it from side to side in accompany with the noise made by the clicking of her tongue. Straightening up, "Ya liking some girl is /hardly/ gossip-worthy," she notes, expressively rolling her own eyes with a shake of her head - probably in imitation of his own. "Maybe at /yer/ age, that little piece could shake the ground, but it didn't shake mine. Nice try, baby." Her voice is carefully flat, letting her hand drop back down when the brownrider's name is mentioned. Ohhh, /that/ gets the woman to pause, eyes instinctively narrowing at him for even bringing Taikrin's name up. Someone must /have/ been doing some research, and the dangerous glint in Jo's eyes at that maybe brief, but was definitely there. Changing tactics, "What do ya know about Taikrin, hmmmm?" she asks him, shoulders rolling to relieve tension as she leans a little towards him.
Sho has, unfortunately, been hanging out with Taikrin and Silarra just a little to much lately, and he's learned that trying to change the way a conversation is going is a girls specialty. He shakes his head in the darkness, "Don't try'n ask me another question when I asked you one. You answer me first this time, an' then I'll answer you, since ya can't really seem to be trusted to give a good answer." Perhaps he's playing in dangerous territory, but he's the one blocking the door...even if that wouldn't really stop Jolie from getting past.
Blocking the door indeed....Jolie's eyes flick just in that direction, at least for a split second, but her posture remains calm enough to suggest she's not looking to move anytime soon. "I'll ask ya whatever I want," she returns in a slight warning to Sho on questions, still evading the very one he asks - at least, initially. Lips drawn in to a cool smirk, "I dunno her," she answers flippantly, hitching up one shoulder into a shrug. "At least, not like that. She was a ride. Nothing more. What's it to /ya/ how I got here?" The words are spoken quickly, too casually, the woman looking to younger man over guardedly now. "Now answer /my/ question, Sho."
Sho's turn to answer a question with a question, grinning a bit in the darkness despite her warning tone. "Some little person doesn't just get a ride in from a rider without knowing 'em somehow. Even if it's just a name and some money fer the trip. I'm just curious, is all." There is that word again. It's going to get him in trouble one of these days...well, more trouble perhaps. Other then that the boy doesn't move, but just stares at Jolie in the darkness, still leaning against the door with his arms crossed easily.
"Then ya clearly don't get out much." Jolie's up, her backpack hefted as she looks to be making for the door. Fixing Sho with a hard look, "What did I tell ya about curiosity, eh?" she warns quietly regarding him in the dim lighting. "Evading my question isn't putting ya in a good light. I'm out." She's going to stalk past him, her shoulders tense as she effectively evades his words on her dubious encounter with Taikrin again. Her tone suggests she could be mad at him, or, she's merely looking to getaway from the stablehand and his 'curiosity'.
She might try and stalk past him, but Sho doesn't move, keeping the door securely closed. "You didn't really answer my earlier question about yer secret either. Guess that might just put us on the same page then, yeah?" He asks, watching as she nears as he stays unmoving, arms still crossed easily over his chest. "Ya actually have ta give an answer if ya want one. A real answer." He pauses a moment. "How'd ya know my name coming into the stables that day?" Apparently all her sneaking and secrecy has gotten Sho perhaps a little /too/ curious.
Door closed, Sho's not moving, and that leaves Jolie to come very close to him and invade his personal space. Stepping towards him slowly, "Who /doesn't/ know yer name around here, ya little troublemaker?" she tosses back now, her voice dropping low with full warning. There's a low tease there as well, as if she were trying to diffuse the situation the easy way. Then she decides to add, "Taikrin told me. Told her I was good with runners and she recommended I seek ya out. Happy?" Arms spread wide, emphasizing the last briefly. "Now, unless ya want me callin' ya a 'kid' again..." she plays that card, her eyes pointedly going towards the door to wordlessly suggest that he opens it.
Sho still doesn't move just yet, simply watching Jolie in the darkness for a good few long breaths. "Thanks ta you, that doesn't really bother me no more. Call me whatever ya want." Pause. "I still think that there's a lot more ya ain't saying, and it's kinda weird. Ya sure you don't want ta really tell me one'a yer secrets?" He does shift finally, pushing off the door to only stand in front of it now, arms dropping to his sides. It's apparent that he's going to let her out, but he's just trying to glean perhaps a little more out of her first. Such a secretive person. It's only natural to call for Sho's curiosity.
Nodding once, "Then back up and away, kid," Jolie is a brat herself, despite her own age, a hand lifting up as if to brush Sho out of the way in action before the full brevity of his words cause her to pause. Dark eyes on him with a twitch of brows, "Managed to control yer emotions, didja?" she muses on that, studying the young man anew at this little revelation. "Very good, kid. Seen it take others much longer to learn that same lesson." She pauses, addressing the rest with her shoulders forcibly going a little slack. "Had a tough life," her voice is rough in admitting, her jaw tightening. "Like I said. I left home for that trader. Biggest fucking mistake of my life." Backpack shifts some as she does, adding after a pause, "Perhaps in time, Sho. If you're a good little boy," she adds, perhaps meaning to rankle despite the small lift of one corner of her mouth. "But not now. Now I am a bit drunk, and I need to take a piss." At least she's honest there.
Sho stares down Jolie for another few seconds when she's done, then smirks at her. "See, that wasn't so hard, ta actually talk ta someone about yerself, was it? Now we're getting somewhere. Kid." Hey if she's going to call him a kid, he'll just return the favor since she acts like it too. He does step aside and open the door now, still grinning at Jolie. "Have a good night. Don't ferget ya got first shift in the morning."
Jolie lets the smile come in full bloom now before snorting. "Sneak up on me, or touch my stuff again and I'll deck ya into the nearest Hold," is her promise, full with that smile of hers. With that door opening, the female stablehand tosses her head as if in some sort of salute before she starts moving off. To his last, "Great. Saddle me with runners and a hangover, why doncha....?" and it's likely muttered as she's passing by him. A little louder, "Good night yerself, Sho. Ya still owe me an answer." For now, she's not going to tell him on which question - though, it's likely something he may remember himself. Either way, with those last words, she's gone from the classroom.
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