The Boss Of Me

Writers: Bree, Vix
Date Posted: 30th April 2007

Characters: Y'sani
Description: Y'sani makes a new friend while learning to scrub pots.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 2 of Turn 4

"You shouldn't be here." The young woman, barely more than a girl, hunched her shoulders and glared at the dragonrider. "You can't wash dishes."

Y'sani calmly folded the sleeves of his shirt up and gave the girl a charming smile. "Of course I can. And I plan on doing it with great enthusiasm."

She backed away from him. "But you don't belong here. Dragonriders should be flying, not in the kitchen."

Hesitating, he didn't take a step forward. "Sometimes they need to work in the kitchen, if that's what the Weyrleader tells them to do. And right now, that's what I'm doing."

To this the girl shook her head emphatically and scrubbed at the plate that was in her hand. "The Weyrleader doesn't come to the kitchen. He eats in the dining room. He doesn't come to the kitchen and dragonriders don't wash dishes."

Y'sani tried another friendly smile. "Then why don't you pretend I'm not a dragonrider, and show me what to do."

"Pretend." She pursed her lips and stared at the suds. "But isn't that playing?" She shook her head and glared at the dragonrider. "We don't play here - we work."

"No, I'm here to work," he said patiently. "You've got to have _something_ I can wash!"

She glanced toward the pots and pans, the pieces that she most hated to wash, her eyes settling on one large battered pot, gravy hardened on the side and a burnt-on section of stew on the bottom where someone had forgotten to stir. "That one."

Y'sani was so relieved that he didn't mind being stuck with the ugliest pot in the kitchen. "As you wish, my dear lady."

Darqua continued to stare at him. _No one_ like washing the pots and pans and most tried to get out of that duty. "You must do it right and scrub and get off _all_ of the grime." She repeated the instructions that had been given her so often.

"Of course. You can supervise and make sure I do it correctly." He smiled at her and hoped it would make her do something other than gape or stare. "What shall I scrub it with?"

Still unsmiling, she nodded toward a shelf above the sink. "The scrub cloths are up there. If you need it, use that wire brush for the worst cooked-on spots."

"All right." Shards, she was a difficult girl to coax a smile out of. Y'sani wasn't used to his charming smile failing so often. Especially not when he was actually trying to put someone at ease. Hoping she'd relax if he started to work, he reached for the wire brush and surveyed his task. Perhaps someone who didn't chop up meat to feed to dragons all the time might have found this distasteful, but Y'sani had seen worse. "Tell me if I'm doing something wrong, then."

"There's nothing to get wrong. If the gunk is all off of it, it's done."

"Sounds simple enough." A lot better than some of the other things he'd done over the turns. And probably a lot easier, too.

Or so he thought. A quarter of a candlemark later he was sweating and grimy and had only managed to chip away at about a third of the dried food caked onto the pot. "This is harder than it looks."

She glanced over at him thoughtfully. He really had tried to do it and had not complained. "Try this." She stepped to the pan, poured some soapsand onto a small section at the edge, and grabbing the heavy brush firmly, shoved downward in short, even strokes. Small sections of the food started to peel away.

"Fair enough." Taking the brush from her, he copied her example and found that it made the entire process a good bit easier. Even up to his elbows in grime and suds, he couldn't quite help giving her a grin. "Thank you for your patient tutelage, my lady."

Darqua stared at him, saying his words silently in her mind - and not understanding. "Don't make fun of me."

Y'sani's smile faded a bit. "I'm not, I promise. I'm just thanking you for helping me. I don't really know what I'm doing."

"Oh. Alright." Her expression softened a bit as she addressed him. "You use. . . big words."

"Sometimes," he agreed easily, returning to his pot. "But that's not helping me with this pot! So will you be in charge of me for the rest of the time I'm down here?"

Her expression mirrored her confusion. "In charge? Me? I'm not in charge. I just scrub and do what I'm told."

"And so do I!" Y'sani winked at her. "Only you know more about that than I do, so now you're in charge of me."

She shook her head, vehemently denying his statement. "I've never been in charge of anyone. I don't how to do that."

"That's all right." Y'sani smiled and turned his attention back to the pot scrubbing. "We can learn together!"

Last updated on the April 30th 2007

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

The Boss Of Me