Keep Him Happy and Willing

Writers: Ames, Eimi
Date Posted: 5th April 2013

Characters: Shyow, Whadi
Description: Shyow and Whadi think how best to use her new friend R'mer...
Location: Amber Hills Hold, Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 13, day 19 of Turn 6

"Hey," Whadi said by way of greeting as he threw his dirty shirt over
the back of a dinning chair. He grabbed a glass off of the shelf and
filled it with water at the sink pump. "I dug out that tunnel snake
nest by the out house. They won't be bugging us any more."

"Good," Shyow shivered a bit, "I can't stand those measly rascals."
She smiled at Whadi. "It's also nice to be back home a few days again. I
wish I could manage to work at the tavern _and_ still return home each
night. But then our _income_ would be far less as I'd lose out on so
many great opportunities."

"It's quiet without you here, that's for sure," he said, grinning at her
teasingly over his shoulder. "The food's better when you're here, too."

She swatted her hand at him. "I should hope so. I _do_ spend all my
time in a tavern. Though I don't do the cooking or else they might all
run the other way!" She laughed at herself. Her skills were decent,
but nothing compared to what the cooks could do at the tavern.

"They might do that anyway, if they weren't too drunk to move." Whadi
might not have lived an honest life, but he lived a sober one. He never
did have any use for drunks. They deserved to lose their marks to
Shyow's sticky fingers in his opinion. "Anything good happen?"

She snorted at his first comment, knowing how much she agreed with him
on those who got themselves overly drunk. At his next question, her
lips spread into a nice, slow smile.

"Remember that rider who gave us the money bag?" Her eyes were alight
as she tried to draw out her story and make him wait for her news. "He
came back to visit me at the tavern again."

"Really?" Whadi turned around and leaned back against the sink,
crossing one ankle over the other. She had his full attention now as he
looked at her over his glass.

"Yup," she was enjoying having his undivided attention. "So... he
still feels badly for dear father who apparently is close to death.
R'mer, that's his name, offered to help me sell things by taking me to
find a buyer!" She gave a, excited grin, as she tilted her head up and
gave a little "look how great I've done" move with her body. "Can you
imagine? He's offered to take me _anywhere_ to sell off father's
_unique_ things." She was so excited she could hardly contain herself.

"Well, look at you, all proud of yourself," he chuckled, amused at her
little happy dance. "A dragonrider in your pocket. That's quite an
accomplishment. What did you have to give him in return for such a
promise?" Surely he wasn't doing it out of the goodness of his heart!

"Nothing, honestly. He just offered after I told him father was
dying." She put on a fake frown. "Oh poor father," then her lips
curled up in a smile. "He is so gullible. It's amazing. I think he's
smitten with me to be honest."

"Who could blame him?" Whadi asked with a shrug, as if it was only
obvious that the whole world would be falling at her feet. "With a
little encouragement, I suppose?"

"Encouragement?" She said, her brow furrowing a bit as she
contemplated his words. "I can do what I do for all the others. The
clothes, the attitude. All of it. Do you think I need to do something
more?"

"Well, if you want to keep his attention. If he sees that he gets
nothing more than the other men around him, he'll get the hint that you
just want to be friends, and that smitten feeling will wear off, along
with his generosity." No man liked to feel like they were getting
nowhere fast with a woman after all. "Having a dragonrider at your beck
and call would be a huge boon, for _both_ of us."

She pursed her lips together and thought, "So you're suggesting I
string him along a bit?" Shyow contemplated that. "I guess I could
make it seem like I'm interested in him. He's actually not bad-looking
and easy to talk to."

Whadi's expression turned thoughtful as he kicked a chair back from the
table with a foot. He down on it, leaning his elbow on the table and
his chin on his hand. How should he put this... "What if stringing
along isn't enough? How far would you go?"

She looked at him questioningly, "What do you mean, Whadi? Are you
suggesting I take things all the way with him?" Shyow had flirted with
that idea before but she'd never actually _gone_ that route...yet,
with any of the male suitors who were overly amorous with her at
times. Truthfully, she hadn't _needed_ to do anything of that sort as
her fingers were so nimble no one ever suspected when she slipped a
few coins from them. She turned her head and looked at him silently
for a moment. "Is it worth it for me to do something like _that_ with
this rider?" She knew he had always encouraged her to do whatever it
took, but for some reason she was hesitant this time, wondering if
this would push things too far.

"I don't know," he said honestly, that very question spinning around in
his mind. "I suppose it depends on how useful he proves to be." If he
really was a dragonrider, he'd be used to a bit more than just pretty
looks and sad stories. He'll certainly _want_ more. "If it ever came
to a point where it became necessary... Well, I would turn a blind eye.
If he's truly useful to our plans."

She gave him a curious look, then a shrug, "Alright then. I'll do what
it takes to keep him in our pocket, and if it means taking things
further, I'll do what I can. He's _very_ easy to trick and lead the
way we want. I'm surprised he's so gullible for a dragonrider."

"Maybe his dragon's as gullible as he is." They must be desperate to
fill their ranks in a Pass. "When will you see him again?"

"I'm not sure," Shyow replied. "He seems to stop in at least once
every sevenday or so."

"Well, I'll have to think of what's the best way to put him to use."
Whadi knew for sure he had a couple things to sell that wouldn't be easy
to fence here in the area. More than one precious item had gone missing
from a room at night around Amber Hills. The last thing he needed was
for someone to recognize it. And it was certainly easier to sell
jewelry in tact than stone by stone and with the metal melted down.
"You just keep him happy and willing, and I'll worry about the rest.
Deal?"

"Deal," she replied with a sly smile. She could keep him happy and
even play the little lovesick girl who falls at the feet of a strong
man. Shyow had played many other roles in the past. This would simply
be another one to add to her bag of tricks.

Last updated on the May 1st 2013

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Keep Him Happy and Willing