A Cracked Denial

Writers: Anika, Leigh M-F.
Date Posted: 7th May 2015

Characters: A'kua, Slif, Rinban
Description: At this rate, the only person he'll fool is himself.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 12, day 18 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Ilyssia

Aluka was in a Mood again, one that deserved the capitalization. He felt it
was justified, since not only was it snowing again, making him crave
another beach getaway, he'd had another dream about Ilyssia last night, and
guilt was hounding him. He would even go so far as to say it was laughing
in his face.

Other Candidates sensed he was not of a mind to be social and steered
clear, which suited him just fine. Currently, he was on one side of a shelf
in the tailors' work cavern, sorting bolts of cloth by color. Normally the
tailors would be more on top of that, but after the blackout, Weyr
residents wanted more blankets, more warm coats, and more curtains. Even
though the power had held steady for some time, the residents wanted backup
in the form of cloth, and that meant the storage rooms were being riffled
through and the tailors had a steady stream of work.

The tall Candidate set aside a bolt of a weird mixed color -some kind of
pinky-purple he couldn't possibly name or place in an appropriate spot-
when he heard the distinct sound of complaining from a row down. Huh.
Sounded like Slif was going off about something to one of his occasional
hanger-ons, Rinban. Not wanting to get a headache, Aluka tried to tune them
out and kept working.

Slif was in a foul temper as well. Another hatching gone by and once again
he'd not Impressed and to top it off he'd been assigned extra chores for
being disrespectful to one of the weyrlingstaff. "Think they're all so
high and mighty now they got dragons, but they were candidates like us
once. Tried to talk to that trader girl from the caravan just the other
day in the baths an' she looked at me like I's some sorta sandworm."

There was a quiet pause as Rinban's response was too muted to carry.

"Yeah, she's cute and I'm guessin' she's a wild one bein' brought up in a
caravan, but she's got her nose stuck a mile up in the air. Tell you what,
though, she's got a nice tail on her and I plan on getting a piece of it
one day!"

Aluka's stomach dropped at the mention of a girl from a caravan. That
lowlife had better not be talking about his Lys.

"C'mon, Slif, everyone knows weyr girls are better in bed," Rinban argued.
"Even if she is from a caravan, she's probably too hung up on what's
'proper' to give you any fun."

Rinban needed a slap upside the head at some point, Aluka noted to himself.

"And she's too skinny, besides. Girls with curves give you more to hold on
to," Rinban added.

**Lys is not skinny! She's perfect!** Aluka angrily thought as a red haze
began to creep across his vision. If either of them said one more
derogatory thing, it would not be pretty.

"Yeah, she's a bit sparse up top, too, but I've paid attention in the baths
and I'd still like a go round with her. I'd love to make her scream, the
little bitch. She got me in trouble just before the Hatching where she
Impressed, ended up in a fight that was really all her fault. Little rough
flight sex would be just the thing," Slif insisted, seeming to conveniently
forget that he'd need a dragon for that scenario.

Aluka's self control evaporated. It didn't snap, it didn't crumble, it just
simply vanished. He stormed to where the other two were talking. Slif's
back was to the outer aisle, and Rinban was facing him, opening his mouth
to say something else. He stopped, paling on seeing the look on Aluka's
face. "Uh, Slif, watching what you say might be an issue," he hedged.

Aluka's hand came down heavily on Slif's shoulder, fingers digging into the
other youth's collarbone. "He's right," he growled. "Hi there, Slif. It
sounds as though our last encounter didn't teach ya how to keep your
fardlin' mouth shut. Do ya need a refresher course? Because no one talks
about my girl that way and gets away with it." With each word, his grip
tightened.

"I'll talk anyway I want 'bout _anybody_ I want," Slif said with a sneer
his hands balling up into defensive fists as he tried to jerk away from the
red-haired candidate's grasp. Aluka may have beaten him last time, but he
would be ready for his tricks _this_ time. "Sides, since when's she _your_
girl? Thought ya said them rumors 'bout you an' her weren't true."

"It doesn't matter if they're true or false!" Aluka snapped heatedly, too
angry to realize he really had called Lys his girl. "If I hear you talkin'
about her or anyone else in such a way again, our next encounter's gonna
end the same way it did when ya went chasin' after my arse!"

Rinban's eyes widened, and he gave Slif a look of astonishment. "I thought
you said you don't like men," he accused.

"Oh, he didn't tell ya?" Aluka gave Rinban a poisonously sweet, fanged
smile. "A couple Turns ago, Slif asked me if all holder boys were
repressed, and if I'd wanna work off some tension with him, so I made him
regret it." He let go of Slif and slammed his palm into the middle of the
other boy's back, shoving him forward. "However, I won't go tellin' anyone
about that or who won if Slif apologizes right this instant for spewin' all
that garbage."

Slif's eyes narrowed, but he considered Aluka's words, nonetheless. Being
Weyrbred, it shouldn't matter to him if people belived he were interested
in men as well as women, but somehow it did. He really was mostly
attracted to girls, but when he was playing the bully, well, sometimes that
got him excited. Turning to Rinban he glared, "I don't. I was just having
a bit of sport with the new Holdbred candidate like I always do. He just
freaked out."

The stoutly built candidate turned back to Aluka, "You fight dirty," he
accused, "Besides, that 'as two turns ago."

That fanged grin didn't go away. "Considerin' how dirty my tactics are, are
ya really all that surprised I'd go diggin' in the past for somethin' I
could use against ya?" Aluka asked. "Apologize. Now."

Not the brightest glow in the basket, Slif did have enough going on
upstairs to realize he didn't need another fight, as much as he wanted to
take a swing at that canine looking grin and wipe it right off the
red-head's face. He also didn't want it bandied about that he'd lost a
fight to Aluka as that wouldn't be good for his reputation. He glanced up
at Rinban. He could probably bully that one into keeping his mouth shut.

"Fine, don't need no more trouble from the Weyrlingstaff just now so I'm
sorry for saying anything about your sharding girlfriend."

"Good boy," Aluka purred, and walked off.

Rinban sighed in relief. For several tense moments, he had been afraid he
was about to witness a real fight.

"Oh, and by the way." Aluka suddenly reappeared, making Rinban jump. "Lys
isn't my girlfriend, but I am very, very protective of my friends. Just ask
Hoai." He walked off again.

Rinban caught his breath. "Men don't get so possessive over girls who're
just friends," he muttered.

"Guy's cracked," Slif commented with a shake of his head.

Last updated on the May 8th 2015

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A Cracked Denial