The Surly Passenger

Writers: AL, Kaysea
Date Posted: 2nd December 2008

Characters: Relea, Nico, Leaton
Description: Leaton books passage on the Sungazer for he and his sister.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 13, day 9 of Turn 4

Relea

He couldn't wait for the arrival of the Sungazer in Port. He was looking forward to seeing his family again, and with Turns End quickly approaching, he was hoping the new Turn would bring with it all the luck he had seemed to have lost over this Turn. He had hoped he would enjoy being on a ship as much as Lineal had done, but it wasn't for him, he had missed the crew and especially the boat for the last couple of months. The woman he had met, and left the Sungazer for, was long gone. And no one else had appeared on the horizon - he was wasting his time and energy here in the Port for no reason - he desperately hoped Lineal would agree to take him back.

"Excuse me." A voice interrupted his thoughts and when Nico looked up it was upon the visage of a young man, close to his age. He was dark haired with dark eyes and skin that looked as if he had been out in the sun, though it seemed more natural than skin did when it was normally kissed by the sun's rays. He was well dressed, clothes crisp and neat, hair not too short, not too long. A couple of tendrils of the dark locks fell across his brow, teasing it. "I was told to come to you to book passage aboard the Sungazer."

"That's right, you can book your passage here." Nico smiled welcomingly. The man looked presentable enough, "Is this a business trip?" he asked.

The young man shook his head. "No, visiting family." He glanced behind him, then frowned before turning back to Nico. "Two passengers to Emerald Falls."

Nico followed the young mans glance, expecting to see someone appear behind him. "Two?" Nico returned his attention to the man, "In what name?" he glanced behind the young man again, still expecting someone else to appear.

"Leaton and Relea." Leaton turned back and leaned a bit as if to look around the corner, but saw nothing. He sighed softly and turned back to Nico. "Round trip."

Nico wrote their names down on the passenger list, "A double cabin or would you prefer to share the cost and share a cabin with another four singles?" he asked, looking up expectantly.

"Are singles not available?" The man picked at his tunic as if there were something there. If there was, it was so tiny that it was invisible to the naked eye.

"You'd like two singles?" Nico asked, his eyes meeting the young mans, while his finger traced down the list of available cabins for the next leg of the Sungazers trip. "I have three left, so you would like to book two of them?"

"One single." Leaton corrected. "My sister can bunk in a shared cabin with other girls."

"But you don't want to bunk in with the men?" Nico asked, a little surprised by the young mans request.

"No." The man curled his lip in distaste and gave Nico a look that fairly asked him how he dare ask such a thing. "One single, one shared."

"Yes sir..." Nico dropped his eyes to the list and wrote in the names in the spare spaces on the list. "Your sister will be in with two older women." he informed the young man. "And your room will be a few doors down from hers."

"Fine. What time does the boat leave?" Leaton would be sure to be there in time to get settled well before they left the port.

"Umm...around the sixth candlemark on the twelfth." Nico's face had lost its welcome, and his tone had become more business like as the man's rebuff began to irk him.

"What's the earliest passengers can board?" Leaton certainly didn't want to be stuck standing around waiting.

"Around the fourteenth candlemark the afternoon before." Nico answered, as he finished filling out the booking sheet to give to the man. "Cabins are available then and there will be light refreshments around four in the common room. Just to tide everyone over until mealtime."

The young man nodded. "All right. We'll be here. Is there anything else you need at this moment?"

"Payment in full will be asked as you board." Nico shook his head. "If you have anything larger than a carrisac to take onboard you will need to have it at the docks early in the morning, preferably by the noon meal, so that it can be stored properly on board."

Again Leaton nodded. "All right." Without another word, he turned on his heal and stocked off. Just before he turned the corner, however, a girl appeared. She was shorter than him, blonde hair pulled back into a braid and a hat placed upon her head to shield her from the sun. She smiled up at him, but Leaton simply frowned, clasped her hand and stalked off with her in tow. Just before they were out of sight, she glanced back, her free hand upon her hat to keep it from falling off, dark blue eyes meeting Nico's before disappearing around the corner.

Last updated on the December 4th 2008

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The Surly Passenger