Like Only Yesterday

Writers: Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 6th December 2017

Characters: Kaiafel, Harki
Description: Harki is being her usual good influence on an impressionable youth...
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 1, day 6 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentions: U'kaiah

"I got it, I got it!" Harki pushed a small bag into Kaiafel's hands.
It was so much easier to get your hands on these sort of things when
you were an adult. "Now you go!"

"Ok," the boy nodded with an excited grin. "How much do I put in each bag?"

"About a handful, at least. It won't work if there's not enough, and
if there's too much people will see it. Make sure to mix it up so that
it's not just sitting on top in a pile." The greenrider grinned, her
expression mirroring Kaiafel's. She'd forgotten what fun this was.
"Go!"

Kaiafel nodded his understanding and went running down the corridor
towards the bathing pools, a mischievous grin on his face. He peeked
round all the corners to make sure no one was there. This particular
pool was usually quiet this time of day, but once drills were done, it
was sure to be full of riders reaching for the sweetsand.

He walked over to where the bags were laid out, ready for eager
bathers to use when they hadn't brought their own. Opening each bag
carefully, he did as he was instructed. First he took out a handful
of sand, and replaced it with a handful from the bag he brought,
carefully mixing it in so it would not be so easily noticed. When his
bag was empty, he swept the discarded sweetsand into it and with a
naughty little giggle, replaced all the bags and ran back to the
waiting greenrider.

"No one saw me!" he assured her. "Now what do we do?"

"Now we wait for someone to go in there and find out surprise. Gotta
look nonchalant so that people don't catch on." Harki jerked her head
at a pair of chairs nestled into an alcove nearby. She settled into
one and put her big boots up on the little table between them. "How
you been, kid?"

Kaiafel nodded, as if he understood. Sitting in his chair, he had to
hunker down into the chair a little in order to reach to put his feet
up on the table in a pose that somewhat resembled the greenrider.
"I've been good. I've been... You know... Nonchalant."

She snorted. "Saying you're nonchalant pretty much means that you aren't."

He had no idea what the word meant. It had just sounded like a word
adults would use, and Kaiafel was not child anymore. Still, he
couldn't admit that he had no idea what he was saying. "Of course,"
he said with a shrug as if he knew she was right. "But I'm nonchalant
sometimes, and sometimes I'm not. So...yeah, I'm good."

"Mmm." It was very hard not to laugh. "Are you out of Harper classes yet?"

"Almost. I'll graduate next sevenday, and I'll be twelve next month."
And then he could petition the Headwoman to stand on the Sands and
find his own lifemate at last!

The greenrider shook her head. Kaiafel, twelve Turns already?! "About
time. Oh hey-- look. People!" Out of the corner of her eye she saw a
pair of greenriders enter the bathing pool.

Kaiafel perked up, turning in his chair to get a good view. "I don't
recognize them. Do you think they're River Bluff people?"

"Even better." Harki slouched in her chair with an evil grin. It was
too bad that people insisted on growing up. Stupid pranks like this
were _fun_. Of course, being an adult also had definite perks, chief
among them wine and sex... but it was a shame that people got too old
for life's little pleasures. It felt like only yesterday that she and
Kaiafel's father were pulling pranks together, and now here she was
doing the same with his eleven Turn old son. Where had the time gone?

Kaiafel felt a small stab of guilt, actually, at playing a prank at
the new rider's expense. He hadn't thought that maybe they would be
caught up in his little trick. His mother had impressed upon him that
they were supposed to be welcoming to the River Bluff people. But
Harki seemed to think otherwise. "Why is that better?"

"Can't point fingers if they don't know names. There's a lot of
benefit to being a face in a crowd." Harki's lips quirked in an odd
half-smile. "Your Da was never really good at that one. He always
wanted everyone to know who he was." Even as a kid, U'kaiah had known
he'd be Weyrleader some day. And flame it, he'd made it happen, too.

"Oh." That was true. And if they didn't know it was him, they
couldn't be mad at him, either. That was good... he guessed... "Did
you and Da do stuff like this?"

"Sure, all the time. This trick was your Da's idea, actually. It
seemed fitting that I pass it along since he seems to have neglected
to mention it."

"Well, you know, he's been busy or I'm sure he'd be here to help,"
Kaiafel said, feeling the need yet again to defend his father. "What
was Da like when he was a kid?" He knew Harki had grown up with his
father, and the young man had always been curious if he was much like
his infamous Da.

"Mmm. A lot like you, actually," she said, partially because that's
what Kaiafel wanted to hear, and partially because it was true. She
grinned. "You know, kind of a brat."

He wrinkled his nose at her name calling, but beamed his pleasure at
her answer. "We're not exactly alike though. He's a Harper, too. I
don't want to do that."

"Good! Harpering's a boring profession. Too many rules." She wrinkled
her nose back. "Are you thinking of apprenticing to something?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "I'm just going to be a dragonrider."

She grinned. "Yeah? You're going to Impress at your first Hatching, hmm?"

"Well, Da says not to expect it all to happen the first time," Kaiafel
said with an air of experience. "I'm still pretty young after all.
But it will happen. When the time is right."

"Your Da's right about that. It doesn't happen at all for some people.
But with your parents, you've got pretty good odds." She shrugged.
"Can you Stand at the next Hatching?"

"If the Weyrwoman allows me I can." Suddenly a thought struck him
with a flash of panic. "If we get in trouble for this, do you think
she would tell me I couldn't Stand?"

Harki snorted. "Kid, do you have _any_ idea how much trouble I got
into when I was your age? You'll be allowed to Stand. Shards, even if
you aren't on the Sands, if your dragon's there, he'll find you. Don't
you worry about that."

"Oh, good," he said with visible relief. That last thing he needed
was the embarrassment of not being allowed to become a Candidate with
the others his age! He sat up straighter when he saw movement. "Hey,
someone's coming out!"

"--absolutely unacceptable!" The door banged open and one of the two
greenriders strode out. His hair was wet and his clothing clung damply
to his thin frame. And his skin-- was bright yellow. He looked around
frantically, finally zeroing in on Kaiafel with a frown. "You!"

"Is there a problem?" Harki leaned into the other greenrider's view, a
lazy smile on her face. "Oh my. Are you well, greenrider? You look a
little..."

Kaiafel's insides froze and his eye flew open wide at the anger in the
face of the greenrider. His chance at ever being a Candidate seemed
to be in the balance in that moment! But Harki sounded so sure, so
confident that everything would be alright. His first instinct was to
run behind her chair and hide, but he wasn't a little kid anymore.
"Y-y-you look y-y-yellow," he said, a tremor in his voice betrayed
him, but he held his ground.

The greenrider glared at the kid. "This sort of stupid prank is
unacceptable! I am going to--"

"Going to what?" Harki asked sharply. She'd lost her smile. "The kid's
been with me."

"I saw him there when I went in!" the greenrider said indignantly.

"So? We're having a chat. Kids are allowed to be in hallways.
Besides," Harki said with a sniff. "He's been with an adult the entire
time. Maybe something you ate turned you yellow. I'd visit the healers
if I were you."

The greenrider turned his glare on her, then spun on his heel and
marched back into the bathing pools. Harki promptly dissolved into
giggles. "Oh, that was too perfect!"

"Yeah, it sure was," Kaiafel said with a laugh, though inside he was a
mix of emotions. On one hand, he felt a little bad that he had made
the greenrider so angry. But on the other, he felt the rush of
excitement of doing something so illicit and getting away with it!
"His face kind of looked like a citrus, didn't it."

"Like a cob of corn!" The greenrider hadn't felt this young in Turns.

Last updated on the December 10th 2017

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