It's not (technically) hiding (Open!)

Jadrek knew the rules of Fort Weyr (as given to Weyrbrats) backwards and forwards.

And no where in those rules did it say that he wasn't allowed to go to the empty hatching sands. It was probably frowned upon, but honestly, who went to the hatching sands when there wasn't a Clutch to spy upon?

Well, apparently Jadrek did.

The fact of the matter was that Jadrek was feeling slightly under the weather. Nothing serious, just a bit of a headache and some joint pain (a little sneezing, even less coughing). And he was sure to be just fine in a day or two.

But Anayr had seen him that morning, and had gotten a look in her eyes that spelled disaster and misfortune.

The last time his sisters had caught him feeling sick, they forcibly moved him back in with his mother and hadn't let him go back to the candidate's barracks for almost a month.

It had taken considerably longer than a month for the mocking to end.

So, Jadrek had made the decision to remove himself from his usual haunts and find a comfortable patch of sand (in the middle of the sands, the heat was too intense, but in some of the corners it was comfortably hot) to bake himself until he could fake health.

He had supplies (nicked food and drink), and a few pieces of clothing that needed stitching (that had covered his food and drink beautifully), and was more than content to spend the rest of his day napping and day dreaming, and fixing the rip in his jacket.

Thanekar was busy. Busy enough that the absence of his friend was not lost on him, at all. Although Thane first had to get through his Candidate lessons and chores he was soon delivering the idea of a prank to the Brat Pack. While he was there he noted once more the absence of his friend. If he was somewhere sulking about, he would deck him.

The fact of the matter was, Thane would have ignored Jadrek's abandonment of life if it wasn't something he expected the other boy to do from time to time. He was in his own world half of the time and the other half of the time he was sulking. There was no way to get it through Jadrek's head that life was wonderful, they were going to be dragonriders and then the World would be theirs for the asking. The problem with Jadrek was he didn't know what to ask for.

Thane was not tormented by that much at all. He knew when he wanted to do something and when he did not. Often he acted according to what seemed to be the right thing to do, considering of course his reputation. So when he was approached by Jadrek's sisters. Apparently the other boy was "sick". Well he was much too busy, he assured the girl to go in search of his friend and he made his way to the dining hall appearing to be with some people he was close with.

Once of course he knew he wouldn't be followed, he went in search of Jadrek. If he were hiding somewhere, then Thanekar would know where to find him. He was adept at navigating the Weyr after successfully pulling off more pranks than most children his age. He knew he would find him sooner or later.

Unfortunately it was later. Huffing into the nearly empty Hatching Caverns he plopped down next to Jadrek, catching his breath. "Why in the shells are we here eggxactly?"
Thanekar couldn't help but giggle a slight bit at the words. He was hoping to see a smile at least on his friends face. Probably wouldn't get one though. He was horrible at jokes.

"And why couldn't we be in a sunnier place, with shade trees and some water to swim in... really if you have to pick a spot to hang out at without your irritating siblings, you might have asked me to help."  And he might have guilt tripped or charmed someone into taking them out of the Weyr this time... maybe. For some strange reason no one would take him anywhere. It only reaffirmed the idea that his mother was no fun, at all.

"Did you bring anything edible?" Thanekar said, standing up, brushing the sand out of his hair and off his skin. Looking through the provisions he grimaced, it sure didn't look like it.

"Did you seriously make that joke?" Jadrek groaned, covering his eyes with his forearm, and flopping backwards onto the sands, head pillowed on his jacket.

For a moment, the older teen debated cracking a joke about how hanging out with Weyrbrats clearly caused Thanekar to regress, but he stopped himself at the last second.

Jadrek always erred on the side of caution when it came to talking about Thanekar's standing as a candidate who never actually stood. Instead, Jadrek snorted, and continued on with the conversation.

"But I'll forget the joke if you've managed to seduce some nice Greenrider who will take us to Ista, I'm all in. You can distract my sisters, and I'll distract your keepers. "

So maybe it wasn't funny to imply that all of the Bronzeriders in the Weyr seemed to always have a close eye on Thanekar. Except it wasn't a joke so much as it was the absolute truth.

"Maybe we could dress you as Emerene?"

Jadrek pondered the dynamics of smuggling Thanekar out of the weyr, and declared it (silently) impossible. Neither of them had the connections, or were owed enough favors to sneak out. Then he shook his head, and rearranged himself, so that he could watch Thanekar going through his (pitiful) selection of provisions.

"You knew you were looking for me. And you know the kitchen staff doesn't like me. Why would you think I had anything good?"

It wasn't like Jadrek didn't understand why the kitchen staff didn't like him. He just really wished he could be like some of the other candidates who flashed a smile, and got snuck sweetrolls rather than feeling gratitude because the kitchen staff only glared a little bit when he swiped day old bread, a little bit of sickly looking fruit, and some stone cold tea dregs.

"So, how did the prank planning go?" Honestly, Jadrek mostly just wanted a heads up. He didn't want to end up in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Not after the time with the itching powder.

Especially not after the time with the mock tunnelsnakes.

"Even greenriders fear the wrath of my mother..." He grimaced. He couldn't seduce anyone at all. At least not on his own merit. "I could pull that off though, dressing like Emerene. Would people believe I was her is the question. I think the hardest part will be attempting to flirt with every rider and somewhat good looking male in the Weyr." He wasn't all that inclined towards men, in that way, at least not that he was aware of.

After finishing rummaging through the supplies, he plopped back down next to Jadrek, sending some sand into the air as he did so. "If you had come to the meeting you would be able to prevent future embarrassment by avoiding the upcoming pranks. As it is I don't think you deserve to be spared. You ditched lessons and didn't even have the decency to let me in on it..." He let the words end there. Thane would think he should be foremost on his friend's mind.

"Yes, next time you should invite me. You might get something decent from the kitchens."

Thanekar was done picking on his friend, although the other was probably used to it by now. He was truly concerned as to why Jadrek had come here, alone, in the first place and why he was avoiding his sisters, although that might happen more frequently.

"So tell me, why exactly are you here?"

Jadrek snorted at Thanekar's (fairly) accurate description of Emerene.

"I think you could pull it off, actually. Just wrap yourself around the rider, flutter your eyelashes, and giggle every few seconds. It can't be any more difficult than pretending to be awake when you sleep through lessons."

Jadrek brushed the sand Thanekar's flopping had rearranged, and frowned. It wasn't a real frown though- it would make a good reminder to brush every last grain of sand off. Thanekar hadn't found him easily, meaning that the Hatching Sands were the new best place to hide.

"I don't think you wanted me at that meeting. Or lessons for that matter. Dana and Anayr noticed that I'm getting sick, and if I'm anywhere they can find me, I'm going to end up living with my mother again. I don't want that. I really don't want that. And I don't have anything to bribe them with right now. And if Anayr had crashed that meeting, you know that she would have all of you lugging firestone for the next six weeks."

Jadrek glanced at Thanekar, hoping his friend wasn't going to laugh. Most people were afraid of the Weyrwoman, but that was just because they'd never met his mother.

"But maybe when I sneak out of here, we could sneak to the kitchens and get better food. Thane- if you're there I might not even have to sneak. They might just give me food. You food. Same difference."

Jadrek sighed. The kitchen staff was never letting him live down any of his cooking disasters. It wasn't his fault that they'd assumed the first two disasters were a fluke, and thought a third chance was a good idea.
It wasn't!

"Anyway, give me some credit. Who would have thought that the Hatching Sands were a good hiding place?"

Thanekar didn't find it amusing the way that most people would. Indeed he was surprised that Jadrek's sisters took so much interest in his health. They were a little ridiculous really. Why should they care if he had a little cold. It was on Jadrek's concious to go to the Healers and get better before he got someone else sick. And it certainly was not for them to decide if he should be staying in the Barracks or not.

He was a slight bit envious of it though. Someone cared enough about Jadrek that they would keep him home until he was well. Even if it was a little excessive, Thanekar wondered if anyone loved him enough to think that way. Certainly not any of his half siblings. So really, Jadrek was lucky.

"Well your sister did ask me to find you. I told her I was busy..." He had no idea it was because Jad might be sick. "If you are ill I think we should go to the Healers... discreetly... but maybe you'll feel better sooner? And we can get you something better from the kitchens."

He knew all of the unfortunate kitchen accidents had made the kitchen staff insensitive to his needs but Thane had no such problem.

He shrugged "And what will you do when a Gold needs to come here in the middle of the night? You never know what time a Gold will clutch and Jeneveth is severely egg heavy..." No one hid out on the Sands for a reason. Besides it was stuffy and warm and the sands were getting warmer by the day.

"Are you sure this is a good place to be when you are unwell?" If he was even sick, which Thane so far saw little evidence of.

"You know the healers say things like 'burn out a fever'. Nothing hotter than the hatching sands in the Weyr. Besides, we have a few days before Jeneveth lays."

Had the heat from the sands not already brought a mild heat flush to Jadrek's cheeks, the slight flush after that sentence might have been visible.

It wasn't that he tracked the exact days of Jeneveth's pregnancy (except that he had), which would be weird because it wasn't like dragonriding was the only thing he wanted to do.

Maybe.

Jadrek forced his attention elsewhere. Dwelling on his motivations was never a good idea.

"Anayr will find me if we go to the Healers. And she's my older sister. I can't refuse to go with her. You don't understand! It'd be like refusing the Weyrwoman's request, only worse."

He laughed, "You're counting down the days aren't you?" He laughed some more. "Jad, you are an island of your own making." Thane got up and began packing anything he could that wasn't still in the bag. "Up. You are coming with me." If Jadrek couldn't refuse his sister, then he wouldn't be refusing Thane either.

"I can handle your sister..." He smirked. "Trust me."

Thanekar offered a hand to help his friend to his feet. "The drudges will be by to be sure the Sands are clean and heating as they should be anyway. Besides we can have more fun at K'thane's weyr. We won't have to worry about your sisters or my mother."

He shrugged, "Healer first, then fun times." Thane figured his father would allow them to stay and relax for at least the rest of the day into the next morning. By then they would know how sick Jadrek was and how best to avoid his meddling sisters.

Jadrek snorted balefully.

"C'mon Thane, you know that no man is an island." Jadrek might dislike his sisters most of the time, but he also knew that they looked out for him. And that was a good thing.

That sometimes they looked out for him so well that they made his life harder was just something that he had to deal with.

Jadrek ignored Thane's comments about counting down the days. It wasn't that he was (or wasn't) but he just didn't feel comfortable thinking about it.

Or thinking about how he probably got sick because of sharing that drink with the trader who was looking for able bodied men to sign on to his caravan.

Traveling Pern as a trader would be an excellent job. And Jadrek was very able bodied.

But the trader was leaving tomorrow and.
Well.
No man is an island.

"Alright, I'll go. But seriously, hide me from Anayr. And help me get some better food. I feel strangely hungry."

(end thread on next post?)

Laughing, he agreed. If his sister wasn't the Weyr's biggest flirt, he didn't know what she was. Of she was completely ridiculous and he did not understand why she had daddy issues when she had a perfectly good foster family. His parents were both busy most of the time too and he wasn't taking it out on the general Weyr population. Well... not any more.

"Not to worry, the food will be the easiest part." He grinned. Thanekar could certainly use some of his natural charm to get them something tasty. Maybe there would be something fresh out of the ovens. First though, he wanted to be sure that Jadrek was alright.

"Now we need to decide what we are going to do tomorrow. The brats have something going on in the kitchens and I presonally think you should be as far away as possible. The kitchen staff would probably decide to blame you based on past experiences." If only they could convince a pretty greenrider or two to take them somewhere else.