Guards Headquarters
Set aside from the main caverns of the Weyr, this room is rarely silent. It's dominated by the public area near the wide arch of a doorway, where there are chairs and tables set in little groups, availible as work desks and chatting spots. Further back into the mountain is several curtained alcoves, used for such things as a private office for the Captain, storage for paperwork, records and miscellanea. Continueing into the rock, the last section is sheilded by heavy curtains that, when pushed aside to let someone pass, shows the cots for the Guards to sleep.
Hanging around are eleven firelizards.
You see Nee's Hidden in a Corner Multicolored Cot, OOC HRW Guard Etiquette Book <read OOC>, Sinead's Cot, Chalea, Miria's Sweet Lil' Stowaway, Kila's Mat, Dry organic waste, Aiwen's Cot, Will's Cot, and Shafirah here.
You notice Nalla, Daei, Aiwen, Alars, Sinead, Miria, and Leolin asleep here.
Obvious exits:
Bowl

Donis walks in from the Central Bowl.

Donis tentatively enters the guards' quarters, looking for once (for him) rather uncertain and young for his age. "Erm... excuse me..."

Donis
A round face is eternally youthful, bordering on cherubic with proud-appled cheeks that are quick to smile and bright mud-brown eyes. Small pink lips are a splash of color on pale skin, as are beetle-black eyebrows, twins to the unruly ringlets that bounce around just below his ears. He's getting taller and leaner, but still has that short stature, attributable to genetics and age; legs and arms are faintly wiry from the movements of restless muscles.
Bright colors make up Donis' tunic, a cheerful sea green's blue brought out in the bright navy stitching that makes sturdy cuffs and decorated seams of a supposedly indestructable piece of clothing. Pants are durable wherhide left in its natural tan, without frill except for more reinforced seams. They bunch around the tops of scuffed half-boots, too long for his short legs.
A bog-standard High Reaches Weyr knot adorns Donis's unimpressed shoulder.
He is a teenager of about 14. He is awake and looks alert.

At a desk is Miria, busily scribbling- er, writing- on a duty schedule (she's got her own bunch of recruits to look after you know), but as soon as Donis speaks, she whirls. "Hello... what can I do for you?" The young woman gets up and paddles her way over to Donis, tilting her head to the side a bit.

Ead is sitting at a table, glad to not have so many recruits, now that some are in Mirs' care. She's actually busy skimming through reports, or something, when she hears Donis enter. "Hello," the sr. guard of the two greets politley, willing to leave this up to her little sister.

"Hello Miria..." Donis seems to be relieved that the person speaking to him is someone he knows. After all, didn't they share a Candidate Barracks (even if he was there unofficially). "Sinead," he greets the other guard, slightly more nervously though he flashes the brightest, beaming smile he can manage. "Is one of you in charge or something?"

Looks like Miria and Sinead are not the only one busy with paperwork. Slunked over a desk at the side, Tekin lets out a long breath of air and tosses one piece of hide toward the side. "Impossible, just impossible.." he mutters, glancing up to see the new arrival. Something familiar about him, isn't there...?

"Hullo, Donis. Neither one of us is really in charge of anything, but we could probably help you," Miria replies with a mild smirk. "So. What brings you here? Glad to see you again- haven't gotten to see you much since Candidacy."

Sinead shrugs slightly. "The captain is," she offers with a shrug, the captain's still peeved at her for taking off without notice for weeks on end, only to turn up out of the blue, and give no explanation. "What's impossible Tek, Dear?" she questions, yes, she said that, hope nobody caught it, considering last time she ended up with some bruised something or other from being pushed over. A nod is given at Mirs' comment on being able to help.

Donis stands up as straight and tall as he can, squaring his shoulders as he glances towards the older male guard. Back to the pretty girls though: "Well, erm, I haven't really been doing much round the Weyr and I'm bored. And I wondered if I could become a guard, perhaps?" The teenager's voice gets rather squeaky towards the end of this sentence.

Good thing Tekin wasn't drinking klah or anything liquid for that matter. Donis! Of course! Shooting Sinead a glance he just shrugs and turns toward the teenage. "You, err, you're, Lis' boy, right?" he stammers, looking almost shocked.

Miria looks toward Sinead and Tekin. "What do you think, guys?" Then, she looks back at Donis. "We'll have to toss a couple of questions at you first before we let you in, you know."

Sinead only barely catches Tek's glance, hey! Not her fault her mouth starts moving before she thinks. "Hmm, just because you're not busy around the Weyr? or do you actually find the guards to be of interest to you?" See, she hasn't really met Donis before, so she's allowed to be drinking klah. "Of course, we'll throw questions at you, hope you're a quick catch," she states with a wink.

"That's me, sir, Donis..." the lad replies to Tekin, trying to make himself even taller and failing. "And I'll answer any questions I have to, Miria..." His big brown mudpool eyes (so like Lis's) are as wide and innocent as they can be.

Tekin gets up from his seat, moving toward the two female guards, his eyes narrowed at them. "You /do/ know this is Lis' kid, don't you," he whispers at them as they both offer to interview him. Straightening, he looks down at Donis with his sternest glare, "did you talk with you mom about this, Donis...?" he asks, getting in the first question.

Donis is almost flattened by Tekin's first question. He blinks rapidly a few times, then answers, "No sir, I've only just started considering it myself, when I was talking to bluerider Zana." He glances from Sinead to Miria, offering a shy but charming smile which would probably work better on girls his own age.

"Yes, I'm quite aware, Tekin. I shared a barracks with this boy," idly replies Miria, pulling up a chair. "Give the fellow a chance. If he wants to be a guard..."

Sinead blinks. Lis?! watch Sinead splutter, be glad she wasn't drinking any klah. "It's?" she peers at Donis. "Oh, Faranth, I'm dense," she states with a laugh. "Tek, no use staring intently at the boy, he won't jump out and bight you, you know," ooh, did he just mention... "Zana? Hopefully she's only telling you good things aoubt us, huh?" charm? Ead doesn't fall for charm. "You know you should, Donis, she probably won't want to wake up one morning to find you in the infirmary from a tough work out," she states laughing.

And Tekin wouldn't want to find /himself/ in the infirmary if Lis found out he was responsible for letting her boy into the Guards. "Zana..?" he asks, blinking for a moment, "oh, right, you mean Zorana. Yes, she was an excellent recruit," he rambles, still uncertain about this boy in front of him. "Uhm... Why d'you wanna be a guard?"

Donis gives Sinead a rather confused look. "Zana wouldn't want me to wake up in the infirmary?" But oh, no, Tekin's asking more questions. Umm. "Well, I've lived at the Weyr all my life, and I'd like to contribute something to do, and I'm just being useless at the moment..." Donis replies ingenuously, aiming to say what might please.

Sinead snickers. "Tek, honest, he's not going to bite you, his mother might, but I doubt he will," she states. "No, Zana wouldn't, but neither would Lis. "Ahh, but the question is, do you really, I mean /really/ honestly, want to put in the hours it takes to get to full guard? or do you just want the spiffy uniform?" She questions. Yah, she likes the spiffy uniform. Looks even better on guys though...

"The uniform /is/ spiffy, of course, but there're things that go with it," Miria adds. See? She can contribute constructively while writing up duty schedules, as she's doing right now. "Do you understand what we do as guards?"

Tekin crosses his arms in front of his chest, taking a stance that he might take in front of errant recruits, neverminding Sinead's calming words. If the boy wanted to be a guard he may as well see what it's like from the get-go. "And how-come you don't want to be, say, a stablehand.. Don't you like runners?"

Donis doesn't answer Sinead or Miria - he can tell who's in charge. "A stablehand? Runners? I, erm... no, I don't like them. Don't see the point, really..." The lad realises he's being rather brutally honest, and attempts to change tack. "Being a guard... well, people see you 'round the place, and you have to be responsible and everything. I like that."

Sinead eyes. "Tek, love, he's not a recruit, yet, so don't scare him away, yet," she states with a laugh. Hey, they're all in charge, though Tek's the sr. guard of the lot. "Yah, we're around, of course, why not a messanger? You get to get out more often?"

Miria eyes Ead. Did the word 'love' spout out of her dear half-sister's mouth? Oh, she's going to be teasing her later. "Ead. Tekin." Miria can't hold back an amused smile, though. "How about we just let him be a recruit and see what he thinks of the whole shebang before we do anything?"

Tekin doesn't even /hear/ Sinead saying the 'l-word', only that she's asking him not to scare Lis' boy away. What does she think he's out for, here? "If he /really/ wants to be a guard," he says, giving Miria an odd glance, "I won't scare 'im away, will I, Donis?" And eyes back at Miria for another, harder stare. "You don't think he's a little... Small?" This said with a note of humour in his voice as not to injure Donis' feelings too much.

Sinead eyes, not to self, strangle Miria. Ahh, phew, Tek didn't hear that. Note to mouth, don't speak before brain thinks. "Hey, Tek, I was small when I joined you guys," she states, "I'm still here, and a full guard now," she points out, glowering at Mirs.

Donis squares his shoulders up again. "I'm only 14, sir, I'll grow..." he says, determinedly. Of course, anyone who knew(knows) either of his parents knows that neither of them are particularly tall. "And I wouldn't want to be a messenger for the same reason I wouldn't want to be a stablehand, Sinead, ma'am - I'm not bothered about runnerbeasts."

"He's not too small, Tek- good Faranth, I was practically as thin if not thinner when I joined," Miria comments, offering Sinead a slight smirk. Ah, having a sister doing the same job you do is /such/ fun, isn't it?

Tekin lets out a sigh, nodding at Donis, then motions for the other two guards to join him a little ways off to the side. "Listen.. If he really wants to be a guard, fine," he says, voice lowered as he glares from one guard to the other, "but this is /Lis'/ boy! You know Lis? If he gets hurt she'll come after each and every one of us..." Wiping a hand across his face, he shakes his head, "Alright, how about this.. We let him in here on probation. For a period of say, four seven-day.. If he still wants to join, fine.."

Donis stares. This man seems to be /scared/ of his mom! Not that Donis probably isn't, on occasion, but.... "She wouldn't really do anything, sir. Not really. I mean, I'm old enough to make up my own mind now." Whether Lis likes it or not. "If I could come in on probation though, that would be great." And he can show off no end to his agemates.

"If he gets hurt, Tekin, it's generally not the entire collective's fault," reasons Miria. Although, she's never dealt with Lis before. "Let 'im in as a full recruit. He's... well, he looks old enough to me." She looks at Donis a moment. "And if he ends up not liking it, he can go whenever he wants."

Sinead moves towards teh side, joining Tek, amused by his worry. "Don't worry, Tekkie, we'll make sure he doesn't get too hurt," she offers with a slight smile towards Tek. "Come, now, Love, don't be so scared, probationary works for me," shhh, she calls everyone 'Love'... except Mirs.

Tekin is just about to grab a fistfull of Sinead's shirt, but makes do with giving her a warning glare. "Enough, both of you. I've been a guard here longer than either of you. If Donis here is happy with starting on probation, I say we let him. That way, no one gets hurt." Not Tek, not the Captain or anyone else in the barracks when Lis comes charging down for an explanaition.

Donis proves that discretion is the better part of valour by saying, hastily, "I'm happy to start on probation, sir." Truth is, he's looking rather nervous - a spur of the moment decision seems to be turning into something much more serious. Standing as tall as he can, he reassumes an air of nonchalance, aided by one of his bright beaming smiles.

"Yes sir," Miria says, a little more relaxedly- she /is/ pretty much the same rank as the other two now- and then she adds, "Probation works. If he proves well enough, we'll kick him up to full recruit, then?"

Unfortunatly, glares just don't do much to stop Ead. "Oh hush Tek, you know I'm just playing with yah," she states with a grin. "And I agree, that sounds like a decent enough arrangment. "It gives an easy way out too, if his mom's not happy with this," is offered, nodding.

Tekin nods at both the other guards, then waves Donis over. "We've decided to take you in on probation. Now, we don't usually /do/ that, y'know," he says, letting the boy know that he's actually getting special treatment, "and after a month or so, if you still like it, we'll let you become a normail recruit, just like any other. Is that agreed?"

From afar, Sinead laughs, and notes, it'd be ammusing if Tek decided to tell Ead to stop with the names...

Donis was scowling a bit - he overhead all that stuff about his mom. "Probation... thank you sir," he answers though, looking more thoughtful than proud. "Thank you very much. And I'm sure Mom won't mind a bit - I'm old enough to make my own decisions now, after all."

Sinead nods. "We know you are Donis, your mom just isn't someone to get mad," she states. "This is a suitable way to go about things, for everyone."

"Well, you can start by picking out a cot, I s'pose," Tekin says, waving toward the curtained off area that holds the guards dorm. "And we'll see about getting a uniform for you..."

"A uniform? Does that mean I can't wear my own jacket and so on?" Donis looks rather troubled at this, but moves obediently towards the curtain, curious.

Sinead chuckles slightly. "You're uniform'll look like the rest of ours," she motions to Tek, Mirs and herself. "When you're off duty you can wear your own outfit," or at least she does.

Tekin grunts, thinking that maybe Donis hasn't exactly thought this over and it's a good thing they're only getting him on probation for now. "That's right," he says, repeating Sinead's words, "a uniform. People in the Weyr has to be able to tell the guards from the rest of the weyrfolk..."

Donis looks a bit sheepish. "Uniform on-duty, own clothes off-duty... I just wasn't sure, sir." What on Pern has Donis done to make Tekin think the lad has thought it over anyway? Donny's starting to look more and more worried as he realises what he's got into. "I understand."

"In here," Tekin says, lifting the curtain to show him inside the actual sleeping space of the guards. Not that much different than the weyr's resident dorms, only perhaps a little more smelly. "Take your pick. Any cot that isn't messed up, should be free.." he says with a laugh, slapping Donis on the shoulder.

Donis winces from the slap, but manages a dutiful chuckle. "Can't be worse than the Candidate Barracks..." he mutters, picking an empty-looking cot and emptying his pockets onto it to claim the space: a couple of strips of jerky, a stub of pencil, a small folding knife and some bits of string. "Thank you..."

** FADE TO BLACK **

*FrostyGuards (#19618) has just been sent new mail by Sinead (#21695).
Message 7 of 7 on *FrostyGuards (#19618):
Date: Fri May 2 20:09:29 2003 CDT
From: Sinead (#21695)
To: *FrostyGuards (#19618)
Subject: We got one!

After being ganged up on by not only Miria, but Mirs, Ead /and/ Tek, Donis was finally allowed to join the guards. So, please welcome Prob. Guard recruit Donis to the barracks, and try not to get on his mom's bad side (Lis).

On behalf of the leading trio, Ead!
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*** End Log ***