Foot in Mouth

Writers: Aaron, Miriah
Date Posted: 24th March 2019

Characters: Aviday, Kariskan
Description: Some confusion between Candidates occurs
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 2 of Turn 9

Aviday

"Psst." Kariskan fell in beside Aviday as the pair walked out of the
communal bathing area. "Hey," he said. Since coming to Dolphin Cove,
he had noticed Aviday in their Candidate classes. And since coming, he
had assumed that Aviday was a boy.

Not that there was anything wrong with being a girl. But. Well. Things
seemed weird to Kariskan now. He had thought that maybe he had a
little bit of a crush on Aviday. When he was a boy. But now? He was
not certain of what he had seen in the baths. But he was certain of
what he did not see.

And how was he supposed to bring this up?

"Um. Hi," he said again lamely.

Aviday looked up and smiled, "Oh, hi!" She ruffled her hair trying to
fluff it to dry it out better. "You're Kariskan, right? "

At first, Kariskan was elated that Aviday knew his name. But then.
Confused again. What if he was a girl after all? Did that mean
Kariskan liked a girl? The idea seemed unpleasant to him. But then, he
did like Aviday.

"That's me. You remembered." He blushed. "I, uh... We just came from
Rising Moons. My parents decided we should live closer to their
families." Kariskan was still working on thinking of them as his own
family also.

"You're Aviday," he said to point out that he knew his – her? – name.
"You're new, too, right? Uh... Well, I thought maybe we could hang out
or... something, but then, well, I was... I mean, I didn't mean to
peep on you or anything, but, um..."

"Of course I remembered. We're both Candidates." She nodded as he
continued. "I heard. Your father's a bronzerider, right? I bet Rising
Moons was really nice. I used to be at Riverbluff before the
earthquake. I hope you like it here. It gets hot but..."

Her voice trailed off as he continued and she blinked slowly, then
nodded. "Yeah, I'm Aviday. I'm not really new. I've been here for
about a turn." She tilted her head, confused over his stumbling words.
So he wanted to hang out or he didn't? Peeping? She stopped walking.
"What?"

Not really new? What else had Kariskan assumed incorrectly?

"Uh... Well, I thought... I mean, are you..." Kariskan blushed. He was
about to make a fool of himself. He wished he could just talk about
his hidebound bronzeriding father instead, but here he was, about to
be a wherry.

"We should just hang out!" He chuckled nervously. "Right? I mean.
You're new-ISH, and not from here. And I'm new and not from here.
Maybe we could be friends. I've had friends that are girls! And also
boys. Both. Either. So. Either way... it would... work..."

Open mouth, insert foot...

Aviday's mouth dropped open as she stared at him for a moment. Then it
clicked. Her eyes narrowed as she stomped a foot with irritation.
"Oooh." She took a quick in-drawn breath. "I'm a girl. A _girl_. Just
cause I don't have boobs ...yet... doesn't mean I'm not. And it
shouldn't matter if I'm a girl or not if you want to hang out or be
friends. I don't care if you have boobs or something that dangles."

Kariskan squeezed his eyes shut and wished he could start this all
over. "I, uh... I'm sorry, I just... Kinda thought... Well, you see, I
like boys, and... This isn't sounding any better is it?"

Just keep digging, Risk. Keep on digging.

"Can we just. Start over with the let's be friends part?" he asked,
opening one eye tentatively.

"Wait..." She held up a hand, trying to wrap her own mind around what
he just said. "No, it's really not. So...I'm a cute...boy?" She looked
upwards at the ceiling. "Well, at least I'm cute, I guess. It's
something." She exhaled with a puff of air. "Sure. I guess. Now that
you've made things so much clearer?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't... I wasn't trying to be mean." Kariskan wished
he was back home. At least there, he had never mistaken a girl for a
boy. He offered his hand, hoping she might still forgive him.

"I know you weren't." Her reply was glum but she took his hand and
shook it. No one ever really _tried_ to be mean about it. "I guess
it's okay. I should be used to it by now. It's not your fault I'm a
stick."

"Well... I can't grow a beard yet, myself," Kariskan offered. "There's
nothing wrong with not having... er... you know, those. Big ones.
Women come in all shapes and stuff, right? That's what my mom said to
Oskalle, anyway..."

"Sure. That's great to hear if you actually _have_ a shape." She
didn't want to think of what would happen if she never developed
anything more than what she had now. She finally shrugged it off and
offered a bit more of a smile. "But at least I'm cute, right?" She
managed to give a teasing wink.

Kariskan blushed again. Oskalle had always been less developed than
she would have wished, and she was a late bloomer, but Kariskan really
did not want to do any more talking about breasts – especially not his
sister's.

"The first girl I ever thought was cute," he said. "So that's pretty
special." He smiled back.

That finally brought an honest laugh from her and she nodded. "Well, I
guess so, huh?" She tilted her head at him. "You're okay. I think we
can be friends."

Kariskan smiled with relief. Well, this had ended better than he had
feared it could about halfway through. He held out his hand to Aviday.

"You're my first friend here," he said.

She shook it, then grinned. "I'm a hugger." Before he could protest,
she gave him a quick hug. "Get used to it."

Kariskan laughed and hugged Aviday back. He could get used to this.

Last updated on the April 4th 2019

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Foot in Mouth