drowning in sunshine [pulp]

[Mystery]

Damion of Damiosk

[/i][/center]

Of all the places Damion wasn't supposed to be in the middle of the afternoon while everyone was working and going about their busy busy lives - the candidate barracks was probably the one that most would want him out of. Now, he'd already gone through the girls things, and at the present moment had stolen something flimsy and pretty from a trunk and was meticulously carving little shapes into the material. Of course he'd give it back, but for the moment, he was fiddling. And fiddling was nice, fiddling was comfortable and for the first time in a long time, Damion looked rather at peace.

Mind you, he looked particularly smug about something too, but that wasn't exactly unusual for Damion.

If Damiosk had been awake, no doubt he would have been rummaging through stuff too, but Damion had already gone looking through stuff to see if there was anything interesting - once again finding something to shred in the process. There was nothing jerky or vicious about his movements now, however, and gone was the need to do something, anything, to distract himself with something, with anything. Now there was only peace, well, as much as at peace as Damion could really be. There was always going to be that kind of tense, coiled readiness about Damion.

At this very moment, however, it was possibly the cleanest most relaxed and content anyone had ever seen him, lying with his shirt practically falling off his chest, boots up on the covers and leaving a smear of dirt behind and playing with a very sharp blade. When he inevitably nicked his fingers, he simply gazed at the thin line for a moment before dismissing it.

Was he humming? Perhaps just a little.

Did he care who's bed he lay on? Nope.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[pulp]

Afternoon meant Bahari had gotten through a large portion of the day already, including a slew of candidate duties on top of his craftwork that he still insisted to dabble in. The starcrafter had spent the time after his quick lunch delving into the crafting areas and submerging himself in a room full of ink and scrolls, and all of those he had coated with constellations and equations. By the time he had assorted everything back into some sort of organization and pried himself away from the work his mind was gladly buzzing. Luckily Bahari had anticipated the mess that would likely come from working with the ink, and thus dressed for the occasion in some thin, worn shirt that had definitely seen better days.

The trip to the candidate barracks wasn't a long one, and Bahari's ink-stained fingertips were already working loose the ties at his chest and around his wrists to loosen his shirt. Perhaps if Hatsya hadn't been lazily winging after him he might've had some warning as to what lay ahead. Striding briskly into the barracks without giving a thought as to if anyone would be in there or not--and furthermore, why would he care? If he was being forced to bunk with the other candidates they could deal with him at any time of the day, he wasn't going to change for that.

Bahari had been pulling his hair back, redoing the thick runner's tail that had gotten messy and undone throughout the course of his craftwork. His hands were still there when he caught the sight of someone in a bed, someone in his bed. A slight flick of an eyebrow was all that changed on his expression, Bahari's pace certainly didn't stutter or slow. The brunet arrived quickly enough at the side of his bed, and without any hesitation delivered a quick, hard kick to the bed frame.

"You know I'm beginning to suspect you're head over heels here, and the thought of that is making me a bit nauseous." Bahari sneered a bit, giving the wherhandler a look before turning around and continuing with the process of pulling his shirt up from over his head. "And those don't look like your size, or more importantly your color, at all." He shifted his blue gaze briefly to the delicates the man was cutting up briefly, and oh he had to look away from that slip of skin across the man's chest and focus his attention on retrieving himself a shirt of his own. When he spoke next it was in an unmistakeable sing-song tone. "I don't think you're supposed to be here."

[Mystery]

Damion of Damiosk

[/i][/center]

Had Damion been in one of his dangerous moods, he would have stabbed the blade he was holding at the person kicking what was his bed for the moment without hesitation. In the mood he was in however, he started, tensed long enough for his mind to assess the situation before calming down. It was only a moment though, and just the brief hardening of his eyes before that smug, satisfied grin shifted into something that was even more smug. Even more satisfied.
"Head over heels? For you?" Wasn't that just an indelicate snort that Bahari got as an answer. Damion didn't do romance. Damion didn't do anything that wasn't pleasure.

"I just had lunch, don't make me throw it up. You're not quite amazing enough to have someone like me falling for you." Not that Damion would know what love felt like even if it was beating him over the head with it. He'd never understand that emotion people seemed to get all hyped up over and he had not interest in finding out. Bahari was fun. He was nothing more than fun (aside from alive), it was just luck that had him wandering into the barracks right when Damion was causing some trouble. Harmless, non bloody trouble too. Tsk, he just had the luck of it all, didn't he.

"Oh don't hurry to put that on, not on my expense." Would he mind if Bahari stayed shirtless, not in the slightest. Actually, it was giving him a rather wonderful view to oggle. And look at that, the candidate got another laugh out of him. Playful, easy going Dami, it was nice to be relaxed.
"Oh and you've seen every pair of my delicates, have you?" Assuming he wore them, in any case. Never could answer a question outright, nope he could not. Where would the fun be in that.
"They're not mine. I'll put them back later and wait for the squealing to begin."

Now, he could hardly ignore that singsong tone, could he? One broad shoulder shrugged slightly even as he stretched out his entire body along the bed and resettled himself, lying the knife against his chest where the shirt hung open.
"Probably not," He wasn't supposed to be at Trelis at all, but hush, secrets. "Going to remove me yourself?"[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[pulp]

"Oh I am, you're likely just too dazed from the initial exposure to me to rightfully assess it all." Bahari rolled his eyes, answering back to that sass with a healthy dose of his own. "Give it a bit, I'm sure you'll figure it all out the moment I slip away." Bahari turned to give Damion his best impression of something lovestruck and coy, fluttering his eyelashes a bit to finalize the effect. He couldn't hold that charade for long, and soon enough turned back to the task of finding something acceptable to wear. The discarded, ink-stained shirt had been left on the floor of the barracks, and dutifully Hatsya had skittered over to get his claws on it and put it in it's proper place.

"Mnn, what makes you think I'm in any mood to hurry just because you're here?" Bahari arched an eye towards Damion, and damn the man for taking the action to make himself even more comfortable. "I'm pretty sure you've seen more of my skin than this, in fact I'm sure the other candidates who room in here have too." The starcrafter snorted a bit, shaking his head and rolling his shoulders. "And I do believe I haven't gotten to see any of your delicates, if memory serves me right I don't think we spent much time looking over the clothing we discarded. Still, that's so not your color."

Obviously they weren't his, and at the comment of Damion waiting for the squealing he only shook his head. He could actually see that happening, though, it wasn't as if the candidate class was made up of individuals who would think before acting.

"Probably not? Oh I doubt the candidatemaster would take too kindly to an intruder in the vicinity." Bahari clucked his tongue in a bit of a scolding manner before pulling out a thin, pale blue shirt that he pulled on. No move was made to do anything to the lacing up the front of it, and due to the way the fabric shifted it near-elegantly slid off of one of his shoulders. "Oh please, don't take me for a fool, clearly you're the one who outweighs in brute strength, I don't really think I can just heave you out of here with what muscle I do have." Bahari finally settled on the edge of the bed, fingers moving back up into his hair to rework it into something more manageable. He gave the wherhandler a look from the corner of his eye, and shards, he couldn't help that small pleased smirk that resulted in the sight of that open shirt.

"You look smug. Do you really have so much extra time that going on a, ah, panty raid is something you have to satisfy yourself with?"

[Mystery]

If someone could choke on disbelief, Damion might have done so in that very moment. It was a sound somewhere between a laugh and a snort at the sheer arrogance of the statement. Dazzled. Damion. Huh, two words he'd never thought he'd hear in a sentence, even a mocking one.
"The only thing I'll figure out is where you've gone so I can put you back in your place till I'm done with you." What was that odd expression? Damion had never been particularly affected by fluttering eyelashes or coy little smiles, they made no sense to him. Better to make someone stay with force if you wanted the time with them, what did fluttering your eyelids do? Thus, the look Bahari got was one of amused tolerance, rather than anything else.
"Now you're really going to make me feel ill."

"Hm. Everyone performs better with an audience." And didn't he just look so smug right at that moment, eying Bahari with every bit of possessive glee that had contained - which was quite a lot. It was a struggle, actually, to keep the possessiveness from showing at the next comment about candidates seeing more of him too. He didn't ask for an elaboration, didn't let any sign of his annoyance that someone else was looking at his toy show on his features. Far too soon in the game for that.
"Aren't they lucky~. Doesn't mean I don't enjoy the view." Oh really? Well that was fair.
"That's your own fault. If you weren't such a tease, clothing wouldn't be thrown around so quickly."

With actual conversation around, Damion was visably bored with his game of starting a mini-war between the candidates, dropping the material to one side as he rolled enough to prop himself up on one elbow, grinning in that entirely boyishly cheeky manner.
"And I care what your candidate master thinks? Besides, danger makes it all the more fun." Not that Damion's eyes were on Bahari's face anymore, nope, they were following that lovely line of shirt. The way it fell off his shoulder, just a lovely little slope there. It would have been better if he'd left it off.
"I am, clearly. But given the right incentive, I might let you manhandle me." Damion grinned again, sitting up enough to tug lightly at the thick mass of hair that was apparently about to be reworked into some other style before relaxing back once again.
"Want a hand?"

There was a pause. Just a little one before that pleased, self satisfied smile of before touched his features. Bored. Oh yes he was, after everything..
"I am, startinga war betweenthe girls should be amusing, and I have enough time on my hands to be a little bored."

[pulp]

"Back in my place?" Bahari grinned, and oh wasn't that a telling sort of answer Damion might've let slip out. Bahari at least gathered that the man wasn't fond of the idea of having anything slip out of his grasp or control. The starcrafter locked that little bit of information away, chuckling darkly and waving his hand a bit. "I wouldn't say everyone performs better with an audience. Some individuals might have some confidence issues with doing anything in public." Bahari was clearly not one of those people, or at least he outwardly oozed enough confidence that it seemed as such.

"Oh of course they're lucky, and they enjoy the view just as much. Don't tell me you think you're something special, Damion." Bahari put on a front of mock surprise and shock, and oh the sass. "You know I never heard you complain about me being a tease before. Really it's quite obvious you like that, trying to say anything against it now just would look silly." Bahari paused for a moment, caught by that boyish grin that definitely sidetracked his attention. The crafter snorted, watching the wherhandler look over him. "Oh of course, the dangerous wherhandler is just so above the trifle matters that dragonriders deal with. Danger isn't what makes it fun, it's the thrill of being caught that does." Well, both were likely, but Bahari was of course going to be cheeky.

Bahari's eyebrows shot up in genuine surprise when Damion voiced the option of him letting Bahari manhandle him. "Oh that's interesting, the strong, savage handler wants to get a bit roughed up?" He wouldn't have pegged Damion as the type to do a bit of role reversal in those types of situations. Bahari's hands stilled when he felt the man reach for his hair, and at once the crafter sat a bit straighter. "Mnn, please. I'm going out on a limb and going to assume you at least know how to do a simple braid. Don't do all of it up like that, gather it into a loose runner's tail and do a few knots. Too much of a braid is far too heavy. Give me a hand with that and I'll give you a hand with your shitty plan."

Bahari gave the wherhandler a stern look from the corner of an eye before looking ahead and waiting for the wherhandler to get on with helping with his hair--oh Baha fully to be doted on if someone offered to aid in such a way like this. "Your idea, sweetheart, is terribly juvenile, even for a batch of candidates. A war between the girls won't last too long if you don't know who to frame. Based on how things happened in the lessons I'd wager trying to start a feud amongst a certain few of them would at least lead to something more substantial. A few of the other boys are quick to stand up for a some of them, and there's plenty of egos on both sides that strong opinions will likely clash."

[Mystery]

"Back in your place." If Damion had any inkling that he had just given Bahari information to use, he didn't show it, repeating the phrase in a dryly amused tone. Whatever the star crafter gained on him, Damion was more than willing to let him have for the moment. He was smart, he was manipulative, there wasn't likely anything he could say that Bahari wouldn't gleam some kind of truth from.
"Really? I've found even the shy ones find at least the idea of someone watching to be a little exciting." There was that grin again, entirely full of mischief when he spoke, shrugging one shoulder. Damion, certainly, couldn't be called one of those shy people. Bahari... well, he was still working out what his toy preferred.

"Oh I know I'm something special. Special to you, however? I think I'd gag at the thought of being 'special' to anyone." Eventually, he was going to have to find out those names and just subtly warn them away from looking at his toy until he was done. Maybe taking a finger would work well enough, or an ear. Taking an eye might actually get him in some sort of trouble, but a finger he could put down to a kitchen accident... Well, it would take some planning, and no doubt some very subtle questioning of Bahari.
"I never said I was complaining, just that it was your own fault you've never seen any of my so called "delicates"." He laughed, sitting up again and placing the knife he'd been playing with aside, rather than on his lap or chest. Trifling matters of dragon riders, huh?
"More like I don't give a damn what the riders rules say. I go where I please. Oh? You don't find danger at all exciting? Liar~." He grinned, shifting closer to fullfill the offer he'd made in helping with his hair and shrugging again as he did so.
"Oh the thrill of being caught is something else entirely."

Oh was that surprise, Bahari? Was that true, genuine surprise? Damion would have been lying if he'd said that he didn't feel decidedly smug about that, and certainly the grin he gave the candidate was all cheekiness and smugness.
"I never said no to being manhandled, you just seem to like being punished so much, I wouldn't have wanted to take that away from you." Besides, Dami certainly didn't get those scars from playing nice, Bahari. When the star crafter sat up straighter, Damion instantly wound his fingers through the thick curls.
"I do. Men and women with long hair seem to like having it played with, as long as you can fix it after." Useless skill one thousand and two that Damion had picked up in his life of juggling lovers. So he said nothing in reply to the offer back, simply twisting Bahari's hair into the style he'd been told to - never mind those delibrate little scratches at the back of his neck - and sitting back with another grin.

"Oh you think my plan is juvenile? I'll admit I don't usually play with the politics between children, and a few of them aren't even pretty enough to be fun to play with. How do the let people like that stand?" Didn't Damion sound so put out by the idea, sure, there were plenty of unattractive people out there, but Damion didn't tend to play with them nearly as much as he enjoyed messing with everyone else, thank you very much.
"I wasn't at the lesson." He grinned, snorting at the idea of the chivalrous young men leaping to a maiden's defense.
"So tell me, what would you do?"