The Booze Bandit

Writers: Corrin, Devin
Date Posted: 21st November 2024

Characters: Halia, K'mai
Description: Halia attempts to steal from K'mai...
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 10 of Turn 12

K'mai

There were a few well-known party boys at Dragonsfall Weyr. N’kyri, L’keri, K’mai… On the day of the Starstones party, Halia checked with the laundry room to see if any of them were due for a drop off during candidate chore time. Luck was in her favor, K’mai had a load of laundry to be returned. She volunteered and was soon sent up to the bluerider's weyr with a large basket of clothes.

After Turns working in the lower caverns, Halia was familiar enough with the duty. She unloaded the laundry and left it neatly folded on the table-- and quickly got down to the _real_ reason she'd come: K’mai’s drink stash.

She had snuck a few empty wineskins into the laundry basket. Now she fished them out and hurried to find the man's liquor cabinet. It didn't take long. “Gotcha,” she smiled with satisfaction as she opened a door to find enough alcohol to host a small party.

Quickly she began decanting some of everything into her wineskins, grinning at her own cleverness while she did so. The barracks boys were so cocky to think _they’d_ be hailed as the great providers of the upcoming party. She wasn't about to let them win!

"Just what do you think you're doing, Candidate?" K'mai asked in his deepest, scariest voice.

Halia yelped in surprise, splashing some wine as she jerked around to find she wasn't alone. When had he gotten back? Shells, the man moved like a feline. Caught redhanded, wine dripping down her wrist, there was nothing she could do but roll with it. She cringed back in her best meek drudge impression. That wasn't hard. She _was_ a drudge and he was honestly quite intimidating in the moment, more than she'd expected. "S-sorry, sir! I just-- you have so much. I thought you'd never miss it. There's a candidate party tonight and I promised-- I'm sorry!"

K'mai put his hands on his hips, doing his best impression of a stern dragonrider. "And you thought you'd _steal_ from a rider?" The idea of having some of his liquor going missing _was_ genuinely annoying.

It was a good enough impersonation for Halia. She swallowed hard. "I know it's wrong, sir. I do," she said in a rush. "But the guys in the barracks, they were bragging so much about how _they'd_ be the ones to provide the drinks and saying we'd have to thank them and treat them like heroes. I couldn't stand it! Now there's a contest on to bring the most liquor-- I just wanted to help the girls out and show the guys up. I swear I didn't take too much!" He had caught her halfway through filling her second wineskin.

"And you didn't think to ask?" K'mai squinted. "How old are you?" He recognized her, but only in passing.

"Nineteen, sir," Halia lied. She didn't suppose her actual age of twenty-one would win her any sympathy. "... Would you have said yes if I asked? I didn't figure any rider would. Not for a bunch of candidates they didn't know."

"Maybe, maybe not." K'mai certainly remembered being a Candidate himself and doing plenty of things he shouldn't have. "I understand why you wouldn't ask the kitchens. You'd hardly want the Headwoman -- or the Weyrlingmaster -- finding out what you were up to." K'mai tapped a foot. "You'll look out for the younger ones, won't you? Try to keep them from getting sick, and if they do, take care of them. Right?"

"Yes, sir," Halia agreed quickly, hope rising in her chest. She hasn't given much thought to the young ones, but if it got her out of trouble and maybe even got them some drinks, she'd agree to anything. "Will you help us?"

K'mai stepped toward the cabinet. "If you get caught, I had nothing to do with this." He reached for a few opened bottles that had been left behind from the last party.

Halia lit up, her very real worry melting away into glee. "You're the best, K'mai!"

Last updated on the December 10th 2024

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The Booze Bandit