Playing Dirty

Writers: Leigh M-F., Mirren
Date Posted: 26th November 2015

Characters: F'nix, A'kua
Description: Sometimes, you do need to sink to their level, unfortunately.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 12 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Chioneth, G'nir, Kenirath.

F'nix

A barracks inspection was coming up. Weyrlings were gossiping as they
dusted, swept, and straightened up their cots and their dragonets' couches.
The most popular topics seemed to be how many eggs Chioneth might lay, how
G'nir was taking being displaced, and how this all might make things
different now.

A'kua didn't really care. Having met the man once (and mouthed off to him),
he figured the former Weyrleader could handle himself. So A'kua focused
instead on making his bed while Zeiranth happily chattered about the kids
he had seen playing outside earlier today, and one of them had a really
cute stuffed fire-lizard, and could he have one too please? Pretty please?
Pleeeeaaase?

"Feckin' useless, stupid," F'nix muttered. He grabbed the tunnelsnake skins
in his fist and turned to see who was looking and maybe laughing.

There were a couple of suspects, and one greenrider who just looked amused.
Zeiranth's nostrils twitched and he looked for the source of the smell
that, to him, was quite nice. }:A'kua, where did he get those? I want
those,:{ he said. }:Can I have them please?:{

A'kua gave his pillow one last pat and followed his dragon's gaze. Oh. Oh
boy. F'nix had been picked on a few times by holdbred weyrlings, but this
was the first time someone had dared to mess with the bluerider's
belongings. This would only escalate; he knew that from experience. **Zei,
that's tunnelsnake, and it might not be edible, even for a dragon. Tell
Kenirath about this,** he ordered, **but mention I got it handled.** He
strode up to F'nix and got right to the point. "Is it a mess?" he asked,
meaning whatever the skins had been found on.

"Not yet," F'nix replied. "It fardling will be when I wrap 'em 'round the
neck of whoever did it." He kept his voice down. No way he was giving any
satisfaction to the perpetrator/s.

A'kua held the other weyrling's stare for a moment. "That looks really
messy," he said with an underlying tone of **just play along.** "We should
take it to the laundry before the stains set in."

F'nix frowned. He didn't want anyone to suggest he soiled the bed. Just
because he hadn't lain in it yet, didn't mean it wouldn't be said. "Yeah, I
guess…" he said cautiously. He threw the dead snakes down on his press and
tugged at the bedfurs.

A'kua picked up the skins so they could be disposed of, not caring who saw
them, and once F'nix had a blanket or two, he lead them out into the hall
and somewhere toward the vicinity of the laundry area. "All right, put that
down," he said, tossing the mess aside and wiping off his gloves. He looked
around to make sure they were alone. "You can't go after whoever did this.
No, let me finish," he said before F'nix could protest. "This is only goin'
to get worse. Believe me, I know. So when it does, and they actually come
after you, you need to make them regret it. I can show you how, and you
won't get messed with again."

"What the feck are you talking about?" F'nix was in little mood to listen
and no mood for riddles. "I want to kick their ass into next turn." He was
so angry his face was pink.

"You have to turn the odds in your favor before you do." A'kua leaned
against the wall. "Every time someone insulted me or my ma back in the
hold, I learned really fast to make 'em so angry they wouldn't think
straight and strike first. So when I got cornered, I'd say things like-" he
said quite a few very offensive things "-to provoke 'em. Then, when they
claimed I had, I'd lie and say I hadn't said a thing, so it was my word
against theirs. Even if they repeated what I'd said, I'd act shocked and
insist I'd said no such thing. And because I stopped hittin' 'em first, I
could honestly say they struck the first blow, and I had to defend myself."
He smiled humorlessly. "It was extremely effective. That's the first rule:
Make them start it, then you finish it."

"They do start it," F'nix growled. "I was happy just to impress and let the
past be in the past. Most of the time I don't say a thing, but it gets
worse anyway. I'm -" He took a breath and calmed slightly. "Im scared
they'd go so far they'll scare Nisith between."

"Which brings me to my next point," A'kua said. "When they do start it and
you set 'em off, be unexpected and end it fast, even if you have to take a
few hits to give back even more. Throw things in their eyes, knee guts or
groins, kick their own knees, hit 'em with the hand you don't rely on if
you have to hit 'em in the face. People don't see all that comin' half the
time, especially the groin shots. If it takes 'em off guard and it hurts,
use it. And if you're that scared-" there was no tell to suggest F'nix
wasn't insincere "-we can take this to the Weyrlin'masters. Then if they
don't stop, they'll _really_ get in trouble after you mess 'em up."

"Going to them would only make me look like a baby." F'nix shook his head.
"I'd rather just stick a pencil in their eye and be done with it." He
smiled wanly. "But a kick in the groin might be almost as much fun."

"You can worry about lookin' like a baby, or you can make sure Nisith is
protected," A'kua said with a shrug. "That's my final point. In a situation
like this, you can't truly care about what might happen to you. You have to
worry about the person -or dragon- you're protectin'. And then, when the
people tryin' to hurt you are bleedin' on the floor and you're standin'
over 'em with the power to make 'em suffer more or show 'em mercy, that's
when you have your victory." Which was pretty dark coming from him these
days, but that way of thinking had been part of him for a long time. Maybe
it was a mistake to reveal that much of himself, yet A'kua still hated
bullies more than he disliked F'nix. The violent suggestions were far from
ideal, too, but maybe F'nix could use enough of them to protect himself
when worse came to worst. "If you want to learn more, I'll show you later."

F'nix chewed his lip for a minute. "You know, you're right. I should be
thinking about Nisith first, and using words before anything else. You'd
think my harper training would have… Anyway, maybe I should ask for help.
Then if that doesn't work, I'll make 'em bleed."

"Works for me," A'kua said with a fanged grin. "So is that blanket really
stained? Those skins felt only half dry." He checked his gloves for signs
of mess.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to wash them," F'nix replied. "It'll be good to
get out of the barracks for a while longer." Sometimes it felt so crowded
in there.

"It will," A'kua concurred. "I'll get rid of the skins."

"It's a shame I don't know how to make them into anything," F'nix remarked.
"That'd be a good way to get revenge, by putting them to use."

"I agree." And he did. Too bad it was probably too late to get the skins to
a tanner. A'kua picked the gross things up. "Yech. See you later, F'nix."

"Yeah, later." He'd get them back somehow, some day.

Last updated on the November 27th 2015

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Playing Dirty