Bad Influence

Writers: Sia, Yvonne
Date Posted: 2nd June 2024

Characters: Ketlyn, Aydhara
Description: Aydhara's a bad influence on her fellow candidate
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 10, day 2 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: J'nic, Jayzine, Haysh, Rabain, Arlin, Lenorin, Videryn

Aydhara

Night air was invigorating after a long, hot day. Ketlyn had thought she'd be exhausted but instead ended up leaving the girl's bunk nearly as soon as she'd entered. The canine-eared, tattered novel she'd found in the dining hall was perfect for a little before-bed reading beneath a glow basket.

Footsteps made her look up, and she smiled at Aydhara. "Good work making it back before curfew." Although maybe that didn't matter so much for a goldrider's daughter.

Aydhara grinned as she practically flopped into the seat next to Ketlyn. "Tell me honestly. How much do J'nic and Jayzine care about curfew, as long as we aren't slacking off in the morning or causing too much trouble?"

Ketlyn closed her book. "Strict enough. They like assigning latrine duty."

"Well, if you're always welcome to tell them that you spent the night at my parents' weyr with me." Aydhara said as she stretched out, kicking her feet over the arm of the chair. "I mean, tell me you need that so I'm not sleeping here when you give that excuse. My parents would cover." Or her dad would, anyway. She wasn't entirely certain how much mom's new rank would change what she let Aydhara get away with.

"They'd really do that for you?" Ketlyn asked, startled.

"Oh yeah. They've done it before. It might be harder now that Mom's a 'second, I guess." Aydhara admitted. "And they don't have a family weyr anymore, now that we're big adults. So if you sleep over, we lost track of time and we shared the couch."

There wasn't anything that _would_ keep her out after curfew, but Ketlyn nodded anyway. "Thanks."

"How many weyrs are unoccupied, do you think?" Aydhara mused, seemingly unaware of the sudden lag in conversation. "You think we can eyeball it by standing out near the docks, or would we have to knock-knock-run until we found an empty one?"

"There's lots, although most of the empty ones don't have the wiring finished or they have rough floors or something. How come?"

"That's nothing a couple glowbaskets wouldn't fix." Aydhara replied. "But if they're under construction, we'd can't leave anything there in case the workers come back. And probably not tell the construction boys that we're doing it. They look like they'd tattle."

"The... you mean Rabain and Haysh?

"And Arlin, and Lenorin, and Videryn. Especially Haysh, though. Did I tell you that he tried to hit on me the other day? His opening line was making fun of my Mom." Aydhara rolled her eyes. "He got mad and flustered when I suggested that he go make out with Rabain instead."

Ketlyn hid her smile with her hand. It felt exhilaratingly mean to say things like that about her fellow Candidates. "Oh no. Do you think he really does have a crush on Rabain?"

"Who knows." Aydhara shrugged. "I knew it'd get his caprine. He's cute in a goofy kind of way and I might have let him if he hadn't started like that."

"Do _you_ like him?" Ketlyn asked.

"Eh. Could have been a fun... twenty minutes? If we're being generous. Though there's a charm in having the first set of 'boobies' a boy ever sees in his life."

"You'd think the communal baths..." Ketlyn trailed off. "You never said why you wanted to find an empty weyr?"

"The communal baths aren't the same." Aydhara said knowingly. "Oh, the empty weyr! For fun, of course. Anything the Weyrlingstaff might not approve of. And it's awkward to make out here." She gestured around the room.

Ketlyn looked down at her novel. Her very smutty novel. "Oh."

Aydhara's eyes followed Ketlyn's. "What are you reading, anyway?"

"Mmm... 'Bartered Innocence'? I found it in the Dining Cavern. Are you reading anything right now?" It was a last ditch effort to distract Aydhara.

Aydhara's brow furrowed just a little as she looked at the book, the pieces coming together slowly but surely. Then the grin resettled. "Sounds _dirty_. Who's innocence is being bartered?"

Once again Ketlyn was glad that her dark skin hid her blush. "Not sure. I haven't gotten that far," she said, trying to sound off-handed and failing. Aydhara probably read books like this all the time. Honestly, it was a wonder that the Candidate Barracks weren't wallpapered with them, with how much pressure there was to fool around just in case you Impressed.

Aydhara grinned. "Well, keep me posted. If it's real good I might ask to borrow it." She stretched and started to rise. "I'm going to see what trouble I can get into before lights out. Want to come?"

"That's a..." Ketlyn trailed off. It was a bad idea. Getting in trouble might get her kicked out of the Weyr and branded no good for a dragon. Not that she would Impress anyway. Ketlyn looked at the book in her lap, then back up at Aydhara, who was still grinning at her. It was really hard to say no to a smile like that... and she was bored, and she liked Aydhara, and she wanted a friend. "...Sure. Why not. Sounds like fun," she said, setting the book aside.

"Yes!" Aydhara reached out to grab Ketlyn's hand, pulling her to her feet and towards the door. "The night is young and the Weyr is ours."

Last updated on the June 7th 2024

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Bad Influence