B Is For... Beard?

Ista Weyr - Records Room
Naturally rounded, this cavern extends deep into the volcano within which the weyr has been built. Bookshelves line the walls, right up to the high domed ceiling, spectacular in size and breadth, although it is nowhere near as large as either the living caverns or the hatching grounds, not to mention the weyrling barracks. Down either side of the room, runners have been put in place so that tall, wooden ladders can be rolled along, providing access to the higher shelves. Occupying the center of this chamber is a huge, wide oak table - large enough to accommodate meetings between perhaps up to twenty people, and equally large enough for day-to-day business and work. Smaller desks have been tucked further along between some of the shelves, for those working by themselves, with ample glowlamps bear each one. Various books and hides are scattered about, some in the process of being recopied. One of two massive doors leads out toward the queens' ledges, whilst a second opens to a corridor which winds downward to the bowels of the weyr. Several much less impressive doors provide access to the meeting chambers and various offices.


Stephane is busy working in the records room. Most of the rest of the candidates know that he cannot read or write and has been struggling on getting up to pace with the others. He's sitting in the records room, slowly looking over his studies, this being one of his duties today in the Records room.

If there was one word to describe how Kaylis entered the records room it would be 'furtive'. There's definitely something sneaky going on, and her head turns often to survey the room, likely making her even more noticable than had she simply walked in. Apparently she deems thigns safe for as soon as she stops this odd behaviour she heads over towards Stephane, hands held behind her back. "Brought you something."

Stephane tilts his head to the side and looks towards Kaylis with a small spot of surprise on his features. He manages to get it under control for the moment and he nods. "You did?" The confusion still manifests itself in his voice. "What'd you bring me?" He tries to peek around Kaylis' form, see what she's hiding. He's kept his voice down, to not alert anyone in nearby rooms.

Kaylis smiles, bringing her hands to the front and offering over the book she's been hiding. "Don't be mad? I have a friend who's a harper and it's… one of their teaching books?" There's concern in her expression, but also hope, and she moves to pull out one of the other chairs at the table. "I thought it might help. That I might help. If you want."

"Oh.. Oh…" G'ir seems a bit embarrassed, but he nods his head and he smiles warmly to Kaylis. "Th.. thanks and that's really sweet." He nods to the chair, telling her it's okay that she can sit. "I mean, if you'd like?"

Relief floods Kaylis' expression, and she sinks down onto the chair with a happy sigh. "I don't mind. It's just… I know what it's like to be that one person. That's different? Not that you can't do it on your own if you want to, but sometimes it's nice to have someone to cheer you on."

"I appreciate any help that I can get." Stephane tells her, smiling before he reaches down into his bag. "Hold on, let me get something that'll help." He shifts and turns and brings something up to his face. When he turns around he's wearing a brown knit beard. It looks ridiculious on his face. "Do I look more scholarly?" He pets the beard, as if stroking it.

Kaylis relaxes back in the chair, clearly expecting something other than the beard to appear. For a moment she sits and simply stares at him, and then the laughter starts. her laugh is surprisingly deep, and verging on what some would class as 'dirty'. "You look like my uncle! Well if he was young, and blonde. It looks…." more laughter robs her of her voice, and she leans forwards, head almost resting on the table for a second before she looks back up again. Her lips are pursed, trembling, as she tries her best to not laugh even more. "It looks very… seacrafter."

Stephane grins at that, laughing himself as he hears her laugh at that. He pushes his locks out of the way. "Afore the mast there, make the sails fit, short shift!" He points out all nautically… laughing again before he looks to the book. "Well, what should I do?"

Kaylis creases up once again, utterly failing in taking things seriously. "I… um… Oh shells, I can't even look at you." True to her word the laughter does seem to increase each time she glances his way. "This is going to be interesting. Okay. I can do this. Get a grip of yourself Kay. Could you not have grabbed a yellow one?" This last is obviously aimed at Stephane, even though she looks everywhere other than at his face.

"Hey, stop eyeballing the goods lady!" Stephane says, laughing as he nudges Kaylis before he reaches up and takes the beard off and tucks it away, sticking a tongue out at her impishly. "There." He says, motioning. "It's gone." His arms jingle with his bracelets. "So, lets get it going!"

"I wasn't!" There's a dip in the laughter before Kaylis realises he's teasing her in return, though unfortunately for poor Stephane the laughter comes in bursts for longer than is perhaps normal. "So how much do you really know? I've only heard stories and… well… you know how people are."

"Not much. I know the alphabet now." Stephane says, rubbing the back of his head slowly as he speaks. "So, uhm." He says. "And a few words, but not much else." He looks to the side and gives a small sigh before he shrugs again.

"Hey. We've got this. No sighing allowed." Kaylis offers a soft rebuke, but then pauses and grins, "And now I sound like my mother. But it's true. Okay open the book. It's all really short sentences, and Javey promised me it'd be a really easy place to start. We'll do it the easy way, just look at the word and read out each letter."

"Okay." Stephane reaches out and opens the book, looking at it. "Alright." He begins, naming off each letter. He does that part pretty easily. "Okay, but how do you put it together?" He asks, looking from the book up to Kay. "I seem to trip over it all the time."

Kaylis nods as he does the lettering easily, leaning over a little to tap a word halfway down the page, the word 'round'. "Okay let's take that one, because I like it. Try saying each of the letter but really exaggerate them. You'll feel a bit crazy doing it but go with me on this. Then say it faster. Smoosh them all up together. So that's Rrrrrrrrrrooooooouuuuuuunnnnnnnnndd."

"Why does it make an ow sound?" Stephane asks as he looks at the word. "Shouldn't it be roUund?" He rubs the back of his head and looks over at Kay. "O and U makes ow?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes it's an ooo. Language is weird." Kaylis explains, but also doesn't, muddling ehrself up in the process and having to pause to think again. "Try that one." She points to the word next in line, 'ball'.

"Ba..ball?" Stephane asks, before he eyeballs the word again as he tilts his head to the side. "Ball.." He shrugs and gives a bit of a goofy grin. "That right?"

"Got it in one!" Kaylis smiles like a proud parent, resisting the urge to actually cheer. "Try the next one, just remember the o u combination makes an ow noise." The word she points at is 'bounces'.

"B…bo.." Stephane pauses and frowns for the moment. "Bo-ow-nces." He mouths before he looks up to wards Kaylis and scratches at his chin. "Bounces.." He states before he looks at the word again. "Bounces." He gives a small snerk. Teenagers..

Kaylis grins and nods, though there's a brief laugh at his snerking. "Are you sure you don't know how to read? I reckon you've been holding out on us. You come in here at night and read all the old complicated scrolls don't you."

Stephane shakes his head back and forth. "No, I can't read at all. I've been working at this since we started." Stephane says, embarassed. "You are choosing bad words." He teases her.

"Oh no, you don't get to call them bad words. Just because your mind makes them that way. But if you want some of those books I'm sure someone can get you some." Kaylis winks, unable to keep the amusement out of her expression. "And don't be embarassed, I was teasing. You're doing well. Try a couple more words. You pick this time."

"Why do you have them?" Stephane says, teasing in turn again as he gives a small laugh before he scratches his chin slowly and looks for a word. It's Chasing. "Ch..as..sing?" He asks, looking up towards Kaylis. It comes out like Case ing.."

Kaylis blinks, then shakes her head, "Noooo, I prefer… um… romancebooks." She runs it all into one and mutters it as if it's something to be ashamed of. Perhaps in her mind it is, after all she certainly seems to be telling a very guilty secret. "Not quite, the…um… the ch is a bit harder. CH… asing. Chasing."

"Oh.. Ch.. chasing." Stephane tilts his head to the side as he grins and reaches out to gently touch her shoulder. "Hey, you're not the only one. I know of someone else who does too." He says, trying to comfort Kaylis "Don't make me put the beard back on."

"Really?" Kaylis seems surprised. "I mean, I know it's stupid and all that but… yeah. probably should have grown out of them by now, but I still love them. Don't tell anyone?" And then there's that threat and she laughs, "Faranth save me from the beard. I wonder if the weyrwoman ever tried hers on. I bet she did. When she thought nobody was looking."

"Why would I tell anyone?" Stephane says, tilting his head to the side. "How risque does it get? I mean the other person I know likes it risque, or at least she /says/ that." Stephane laughs softly before her nods. "Maybe she did."

Kaylis shrugs a little, "Not very? I've read a couple that were really… /really/ detailed and they weren't my sort of thing. I just love the whole romance bit of it. Getting swept off your feet by some handsome Lord. Stupid, right?"

Stephane laughs a bit at that and he rubs the back of his head at that.. "Yeah, haha…it might happen." He shrugs his shoulders at that. "Not me though. I'm a trouper, so I'm sorry but I can't sweep you off your feet." He winks.

"Oh sure it might. Happens all the time." Kaylis grins, though his wink brings on a fresh bout of laughter, "You're also a bit on the young side for me. And besides I have a boyfried. Or… I guess had. It's complicated."

"Hey, I'm seventeen!" Stephane says, shaking his head back and forth in mock anger. "Had?" He asks, tilting his head to the side as he looks towards Kaylis. "Why had? Because you're here now?"

"So's my little brother." Kaylis replies with a laugh, though concedes, "Okay you're maybe not toooooo too young, still would be weird." She shakes her head quickly after his question, "Oh, no, he's here too. I didn't get Searched very far, I lived here before, buuuut I got sorta Searched and he didn't and he went off in the huff and I've not seen him since then. Like I said, complicated."

Stephane frowns. "What's his name?" Stephane seems rather angry about that. "That's not fair. I had to give up my entire troupe. That was my life." he states, before he gives a gentle smile to her again. "I'm sorry."

Kaylis shakes her head a little, but it's clear she appreciates the anger on her behalf, "It's not a big deal. If he'll sulk over this then what would he do with a real problem. Hey, don't be." She waves away the apology as quickly as it's made, "Sounds like you had the worse change. Where were you before?"

"I was a member of my troupe. We travelled around, entertained and performed. I'm a performer, acrobat, juggler, actor and barker." He says, puffing himself up a bit. "It has been hard." he admits.

"Barker?" Kaylis blinks, confused, "As in woof woof? Because that's a bit weird, even for me. Sounds like fun though. There's that romance thing again, running away to join up with a troupe and have the life of wonder and happiness."

Stephane barks out a laugh at that before he shakes his head back and forth as he snickers. "No.. no.. I call out to folks and get them to come watch the show, or play games… we call it a barker." He snerks, laughing again. "Oh?" His eyebrow raises. "What /dont/ you consider weird?"

Kaylis oh and nods, "That makes more sense." At his question she grins, makes a show of thinking for a moment, and then grins even wider, "You're talking to the person that knits beards. I know weird."

Stephane laughs a bit at that. "Beards are beards." The young trouper says at that before he stretches some. "Oh, sorry." He covers his mouth when he yawns. "No, you're not boring." He motions to her. "What else is weird, hmm?"

"Am I keeping you up?" Kaylis asks, completely innocently, then adds quickly, "And don't you dare turn that into something risque!" Oh the blush, her cheeks flare bright red. "So… weird. Um… I once knitted a friend a man pillow because she asked me to. Fully atomically correct man pillow." Atomically, anatomically, at least she's close. "He was about five feet tall."

"The doll or the friend?" Stephane asks as he gives a bit of a grin, shaking his head back and forth as he laughs. "Look how red your cheeks are!" He points out. "And you said I'm the young one." He needles her.

"Both?" Kaylis laughs, but his comment about her cheeks makes her blush all the harder, even going so far as to put her hands to her face to try to hide it. "Oh shush you." Perhaps it's the heat from her face that strips away all vestiges of maturity and she sticks her tongue out at him.

Stephane laughs at that as he reaches out to try and snatch it between his fingers, snickering as he does so. "was it hard enough for her?" he laughs out loud, barking laughter

"It did tend towards the floppy side. I ran out of stuffing." Kaylis manages to choke out the reply, caught somewhere between laughing and wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

Stephane laughs loudly at that, snerking again as he places his head on the table, his chest heaving with his laughter. "Oh.. I bet she was dissapointed." He grins. "How big did you make it?"

Kaylis squeaks out "Just over five feet." before dissolving into a heap of blushing, giggling, candidate. it it weren't for teh table she likely would be curled up in a ball on the floor.

Stephane shakes his head before he laughs again as he wipes the tears away from his face and he chuckles again. "Look at you, you're a giggling mess." he teases, laughing some more. "Best stop, or I'll start wearing the beard again." He gathers his things up. "And I'm sure you've got chores."

"Oh Faranth, don't." Kaylis is breathless, though through laughing rather than anything else people might misconstrue from the conversation. "I should get back. I've got the day off but I need to finish a hat for my sister's baby. Keep the book for now, Javey said he won't need it for a couple of sevens so there's time for you to practice."

Stephane nods his head at that. "Take care Kaylis, and thanks again." He says, laughing as he reaches down to her to help her up. "And enjoy your day off." He sticks his tongue out at her in turn.

Kaylis gets to her feet, "I will. I definitely will." The look on her face is one of sheer mischief, however, and she heads off with a quick wave. And when, a few days later, Stephane finds a tiny needle-felted doll on his pillow, he'll have a fair idea who to blame.


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