Midday meal,Egg hunt(Minor Quest Tags: Veyani!)

While S'jiro sat on his step, nose stuck in a book as he laid back in relative repose, it was time for the Candidate classes to gather for lunch.

As they did, a gaggle of girls and boys from those classes were handed eggs by some of the usual suspects who cooperated in the Bronzeriders' schemes. They were all chatting, standing around, looking slightly nervous until Veyani arrived, at which point the raw eggs were all thrown in her direction.

While some of the children shouted taunts and a couple even tried to shove her over in the midst of the ruckuss, raw eggs pelted her sides and her head, leaving thick, gooey yolks dribbling down through her hair and into her clothes -until much of her was covered in pieces of cracked egg shells and yellow egg-goop.

Figuring it was about that time, S'jiro got up, heading up the stairs to walk in the direction of the gather hall where meals were held.  Just within earshot, where he could see the goings on from a distance, S'jiro leaned a shoulder against the wall, opening his book back up again, where he could pretend to read, looking down, while his eyes peered beyond it to see how the everything played out.

Before it was over though, he began to move away. And slowly, listening into the background, eyes turned back to his book.

Finally lunch time! She thought as she made her way to the Dining Hall. All morning everyone had been staring at her. Not that she minded the reason it simply was horrible when everyone was staring at you so much that the Candidate Master was constantly calling them back to attention. Lessons had been almost pointless this morning because of it. So she had chosen to practice reading since no one else was paying attention, there was no reason for her to either. She walked in expecting to find it fairly busy.  And then she pummeled with raw eggs. Like a statue, she stood there, allowing each and every egg to hit her. A couple of times she nearly fell as they shoved her.

When they were finished, she said nothing. Veya knew exactly who wanted to do this to her. She didn’t bother to look for him; he was around there somewhere. Humiliation indeed. Well he was going to have to try more than that to humiliate her. She went over to the table that S’jiro and company generally claimed as their own and sat down. Waiving off the drudge that told her she couldn’t sit there. “I’ll sit where I like.”

If anyone wanted to forcibly remove her they would have to deal with egg mess that was her hair and clothes. “And since I’ve been egged it could be appropriate to ask if I need a towel or even maybe if you could bring me anything to drink.” Common courtesy was soooo dead. ERGH. Well she wasn’t going to let it upset her too much. Taking out the book she had been reading earlier she began to read out of it again, assuming the girl had gone to get her something to drink and a towel.

The girl didn’t come back to the table but one of the cooks came out with a towel and some food. Other drudges were mopping the floor and the tracks she made going to the table. She did feel a twinge of guilt for leaving the mess but why she should, she didn’t know. It wasn’t like she had been the one to egg anyone else. No S’jiro should be the one to feel guilty for causing more work to the Lower Caverns staff. Not that he cared one whit for anyone other than himself. When the woman moved away, she felt like people were staring at her again, so she turned around. No sooner did she do that than they all went back to quietly talking amongst themselves.

As it grew closer to the end of the Candidate's lunch period, the staff would start preparing for full fledged wings to be making it in for their own meals. Though their schedules would vary based on their work that day, S'jiro had loitered about knowing that he would get to make his way to the Gather Hall to eat soon -and witness the humiliation that Veyani was only now beginning to experience the brunt of.


With Z'rim, one of the other Bronzeriders in their elite foursome, S'jiro arrived a little early, waltzing up to their table with his book tucked against him in one hand. As they did so, the whispers and stary-eyed stares from girls could be seen, excited for the opportunity to oggle up close. "It looks like the drudges haven't finished cleaning up the trash from earlier. I suppose we should call them here." For now, they'd just have to sit on the opposite side of the table.

Z'rim's eyes turned down as they passed by Veyani, hardly seeming to take interest in her, though that changed a little when they took their seats. Both riders were looking across the table at her then, and S'jiro started with more of his taunts. Apparently Z'rim knew about how things were going between the two of them, because he didn't seem to be surprised by S'jiro's unusually harsh attitude toward her.

"Do you think that sitting here makes you my equal? Or that you'd make me angry? Or maybe you thought that sitting at our table would grant you some kind of acceptance?" S'jiro was even more snide then, "If you want to be accepted then you'll have to do what I ask of you; and you can start, by making another visit to my weyr. I'll be just as considerate of you as before." Referring to their night together.

Z'rim smirked, but by his expression, it was difficult to say exactly how he felt about S'jiro and Veyani's altercation. Either way, he made no move to intervene.

Momentarily, the boys were calling the kitchen staff to serve them.

For her part, she acted as if it were perfectly normal to be where she was. She acted according to her own thoughts and not his or anyone else’s. If he chose to make this all about him again that was his problem. She had just finished eating when both of the Bronzeriders approached.

S’jiro’s silent companion was no less handsome and cocky as the others. Veyani acknowledged neither of them until S’jiro began to make snide comments. It would be better to stay silent. Anyone with any sense of a little voice guiding them would, but Veya frequently acted on impulse without thinking things through.

“Indeed. We are not equals in many ways.” Mostly because I’m not a cruel, sadistic, asshole who only cares about myself and how many things I can acquire and making friends who will boost my status, that aside I would have befriended you no matter how strange you were to me. Now I find I cannot bring myself to offer you friendship. She thought to herself and probably avoided getting him anymore angry than he already seemed to be.

Veyani stood up. Looking him in the eyes, her voice almost sultry. “Mmmm. I bet you would like to be very considerate to my needs. And as pleasurable as the other night was, I’m going to have to say no.” She didn’t need him now. She already sated her curiosity for bedding a man. Now that she knew what it was like, she didn’t have to worry about it. She could become a rider and not put so much pressure on her first flight.

“And S’jiro, I know you don’t have much farm experience but egg pranks work much better when rotten eggs are used. They have a putrid stench that clings to a person long after the egg is washed out.” Their parents would have died if they used good eggs to play tricks on one another. Nothing smelled quite as disgusting as a rotten egg. “Excuse me, I need a bath and a trip to the laundry. Unless of course you plan on stalking me for the entire day, then by all means come along.”

“Indeed. We are not equals in many ways.”

S'jiro nearly snorted. So she finally realized, did she? No, they weren't equals. Well at least she'd gotten that through her head. Satisfied enough by the comment, he was going to go back to ignoring her and turn to his meal, which had in the mean time been served, but she just had to go on.

Eying her with a whit of surprise at first, S'jiro's brow furrowed and eyes narrowed a bit when she presented him with the idea about the eggs. So she was a better egg thrower than he was, was she? Well, wasn't that just nice. S'jiro didn't know what to say to her about that, but it frustrated him that she had come up with the better idea. Chi! He could just imagine the sense of smug satisfaction she must be feeling at that.

S'jiro started to realize then that Veyani's stubbornness and her way of trying to put him in his place, reminded him a bit of his eldest sister. Of course he didn't think about it that way, but perhaps it was one attraction she held for him. The only girl who'd ever been able to tell him off and gotten away with it, had been his eldest sister -a strong willed girl with a firm sense of reason and fairness, who'd never let him get away with anything unreasonable. Why did Veyani have to be so much like her? Of course, he had a soft spot in his heart for every one of his sisters in some way, especially Tsuki. Only, Tsuki would have given him some puppy face and guilted him about being mean to girls whereas their eldest sister would have just smacked him. He'd gotten slapped a few times by her, and rarely argued with her. If he did, she always won. But that wouldn't be the case here.

Watching her go, S'jiro frowned. Unable to focus on his food, he stood from the table, and just as the others of their foursome were coming into the Main Hall to join he and Z'mir, S'jiro got up and walked out.

"Fine. If it's rotten eggs you prefer, I can certainly arrange for them next time."