Dining Blind [Nia]

[Sakoru]

It wasn't really rare for Khemres to venture from the candidates' barracks, but he didn't much like going into the main Weyr. This was mostly because he got lost quite easily, and also crashed into virtually everything, nocturnal and half-blind as he was. Still, even he had to eat, so the candidate made his careful way down the tunnel to the kitchen, muttering to himself. "There's a wall there...don't crash, you've been this way before. Aha! I see - ow - light. The source of all food lies thataway!"

Cheering himself on under his breath, Khemres crept along, hand on the wall, and at last emerged into the light, pulling his hat down low over his eyes to protect them. Discovering an unattended plate of sandwiches, left there apparently for the nocturnal residents of the Weyr, he snatched one, stole a biscuit from an adjoining tray, and carried on to a table in the corner, studiously avoiding the kitchen staff. There were a few people sitting at various tables, but not all that many, and none that the wher candidate knew.

Settling in at his own table, the albino gave a small content sigh, leaning his head against one arm as he ate. With the first bite he gave a blissful sigh, closing his light purple eyes and adjusting his hat to better hide his shock-white hair (and, of course, keep his eyes shaded from the light). "This is the life. Midnight sandwiches! Much better than midnight leftovers, don't you think?" Nodding in agreement with himself, Khemres slid back his chair, folding his arms on the table and resting his head on one arm. The comfortable material of his long-sleeved shirt provided a wonderful pillow, and with a happy sigh the candidate closed his eyes. "Yes...I really do like this Weyr." Having forgotten all about the biscuit near his elbow, albino Khemres settled in for a nice snooze in the kitchen. After all, no one really cared as long as he caused no trouble (which he never did).

[Nia]

It was way too late to be out, but Kio was anyway. He wandered through the Weyr, hands in the pockets of his fur trimmed jacket, yawning widely, though he walked with a steadiness that meant he wasn't really that sleepy. Perhaps he'd just slept in far too late? Or maybe he couldn't sleep because the images of all the people he'd manipulated haunted his dreams....

Nah. He was just bored.

Oh, maybe he was hungry? That might be it. As observant and intelligent as he was, Kio tended to miss a lot of important details regarding himself. He didn't need to observe himself, that was boring. He already knew all about himself and how great a person he was. It was other people that he liked to watch and predict. But wandering around at night was dull, wasn't it? There wasn't a soul in sight. Stifling another yawn, he changed his course and headed towards the Dining Hall. As late as it was, there still had to be some crazy, nocturnal beings out, right? And people who wandered around late at night were usually the most interesting to investigate! They had to have some kind of issues to be walking around in the dark. Kio failed to recognized the irony in that line of thought.

As he neared the Dining Hall, he began to hear voices. Not in the crazy way, but in the more... someone else was crazy and talking to themselves way. Perfect! Just what he needed, a crazy person to investigate! Kio thoroughly enjoyed crazy people. He hummed happily as he stepped into the Dining Hall, looking around for the source of the voice. Aha! There. The one in the hat. Not that there were many other people to pick from... the Dining Hall was basically deserted.

He slipped into a chair across from the boy, who now looked like he was sleeping on his arm, and watched him for a moment, smirking. "Sleeping at a table? How rude." He started the conversation off quite arrogantly, a teasing smirk playing across his face as he continued, "Though I suppose it'd be useless to expect politeness from someone who talks to themself. Do you do that often? It's a sign of quite a few mental disorders, you know." Kio leaned across the table, and if the other were to look up, their faces would be quite close.

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[Sakoru]

Khemres had very nearly managed to fall asleep there on the table, comfortable as he was, but this slow descent into slumber was interrupted by someone speaking. Dazed, with a slow blush staining his cheeks deep pink, he lifted his head to look at the mystery person, wondering why he felt the need to be so rude. I never knew that dozing on a table meant you had to have a rude person come and wake you up. Maybe I won't do that again.

Sitting up sleepily, the wher candidate realized his biscuit was still on the table, and reached for it, hiding his blush under his hat. Capturing the biscuit with one deathly pale hand, he brought it to his mouth and took a bite, wincing slightly at the unwarranted abuse. "That's kinda mean...I do talk to myself. 'Cause I don't really, um, have anyone else to talk to." Except for the ponytailed boy, now. And he didn't seem all that pleasant, anyway, with that arrogant smirk of his. A fuzzy arrogant smirk, because he was about three feet away instead of two, but an arrogant smirk nonetheless.

"D'you always wake people up to talk to them?" he inquired mildly, taking another bite of his biscuit. Chewing it idly, he considered pulling up the brim of his hat to see better, but decided against it. The boy with the black hair would probably only make fun of his crimson cheeks. Munching on the delicious snack, he stared at the table, wondering why he attracted rude people. Honestly, it was like moths flying to a light. "I don't have any mental disorders, either..."

Oh, did he always have to sound so pathetic? Hearing his own quiet, nervous voice, Khemres cringed. Not that he was going to suddenly change tone and grow himself a spine, but he thought it must be nice being able to stand up to people. He'd lived for seventeen Turns and only really learned that it was easier to give in than fight. Plus, it kept more people happy. Keep people happy and they'll be nice to you. You know that. Be nice to this person, too.

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[Nia]

Kio tilted his head to the side as the boy talked, watching him with fascination. Now that his head wasn't hiding in his arms, he was far more interesting. Even his face was interesting! But he was hiding it. That wouldn't do. Kio could barely get a good look at his eyes! Which, he had to admit, were a rather funny color now that he looked closer. The black-haired boy leaned further over the table, inspecting Khemres as the other boy spoke. His grin looked hungry now, almost predatory. He was pretty sure the other boy was blushing. It was rather obvious on his extremely pale skin.

"That's so sad," he commented, though his voice was laced with sarcasm. No friends, huh? The gears in Kio's mind began to turn... he could use that to his advantage. Befriend this boy... manipulate him into becoming one of Kio's followers... and soon he'd be running this Weyr from the underground in no time! It was a thought that made his predatory grin even more sinister, something Kio barely even noticed. "I don't know," he answered the second question cheerily, "I don't find people that sleep on tables very often." His voice was rather nonchalant, as if he didn't care much for Khemres' comeback. Boring, boring. His face was far more interesting.

Kio was silent for a few seconds after that as he tried to think of a way to learn more about this rather quiet boy. "You might have a mental disorder. Do you answer yourself, too? It's really only bad if you answer yourself," he was rambling as sort of a filler, Kio really didn't like awkward silences and he did enjoy the sound of his own voice. "There is a way to check, though," he was suddenly making this up as he went along, but it seemed like the best way to actually get a better look at this boy... in order to observe him.

"Crazy people tend to have lighter color hair... or so I've heard. Haven't you noticed that blondes tend to act a lot more eccentric than black haired people?" he continued, "So... you should take off your hat. So we can tell if you actually do have a mental disorder or not. I was raised by Healers, so I'll be able to tell," that was a lie, but it wouldn't be obvious unless this boy were to know his family's history. It wasn't even the hair Kio wanted to see, it was actually the boy's eyes and skin tone that Kio was more focused on, but anything to get him to remove his hat would be fine. Hmm... perhaps he shouldn't walk around so late at night. It made him a bit more crazed than usual....

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[Sakoru]

Khemres stared at the table at the sarcasm, wincing slightly. Cheeks blazing even brighter than they had before, he inclined his head slightly to hide his face still more. Now staring at a badly stitched patch in his trousers, he plucked at the spot uncomfortably. "You must not come into the kitchens much in the middle of the night..." he mumbled, biting his lip as the arrogant voice rambled on and on. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to come down into the kitchen tonight. To think he'd only wanted a sandwich and a biscuit!

"No...I don't answer myself...I just like saying things to myself," the albino responded in a near-whisper, chewing his lip more fiercely. Tugging his hat down lower at the comment about the hair, he cringed, staring hard at his shabby pants. His hair! Bright white, whiter even than his pale skin. No, he didn't want to show the cocky boy that!

Was he even telling the truth about being able to tell by the hair colour if people had mental disorders? Khemres didn't think so - after all, he'd never heard that before. But what if he was crazy? And if he showed off his hair, what would he be called? Stark raving mad, probably! And yet...he wanted so much to stay out of trouble. What would the dark-haired boy do if he didn't take off his hat? Clinging to the brim of said hat uncertainly, he lowered his head, and considered. If I don't take it off, will he hit me or something? And if I do, am I really crazy? I don't think I am...but maybe he's telling the truth. If I take it off, he'll be happy, so I'll be happy too. Take off the hat, Khemres, the albino ordered himself. Cringing all the while, and staring hard at the table, he finally pulled the hat off.

Immediately the light hit his shock-white hair, exposing him completely. Shivering, he fixed his gaze on a chipped spot on the table, trying to avoid the light as best he could. Already he knew that if he looked up for more than a few seconds his eyes would begin to hurt from the light exposure, and so he gazed at the wood before him, finding as many details as possible to fascinate himself, since he'd run out of biscuit. Look at all those lines! And there's a knot. Let's look at it, shall we?

Keeping his remarkable purple eyes fixed determinedly downward and thereby hiding one of his most interesting features, Khemres anxiously twisted his hat in his slender hands, though his good left hand did most of the fidgeting. When he next spoke, his tone was barely above a whisper. "So...do, um, do you think I'm crazy?"

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[Nia]

Kio shrugged. "You're right, I don't," but even while admitting that he still had a very cocky, hungry grin on his face as he leaned in closer to Khemres. "You sure you don't answer yourself? Seemed like you were having a full conversation to me...." he mused, though it was more talking to himself than actually responding to the strange boy in front of him. He seemed to get a bit shocked as Kio told him about the light hair = crazy bit he'd made up off the top of his head. One of his better stories, really. He was quite proud of himself for being able to think so quickly! And by the boy's expression, he was definitely going to take off that hat and let Kio investigate his... general face.

It took far too long for the cringing boy to actually remove the hat, but when he did, it was definitely worth it. Kio whistled obnoxiously at the sight, staring intently at the boy's stark white hair. Interesting... he was an albino, then? Kio wasn't an idiot, not by a long shot, so of course he knew what albinos were. It made sense, though. Coming out at night, hiding his hair and skin with long sleeves and a hat... he really should have figured it out earlier. But it was always fun to learn something new, regardless.

He stared at the boy's hair for a moment, then gave a light laugh and leaned back in his chair, no longer staring intently at the other boy. "Nah. You aren't crazy. I was just bored and you looked interesting, so I made that up as a way to get you to take off your hat," he liked explaining his motives, because the shocked faces he got in response were way worth it. He laughed again, then leaned back on the table. "I have to say it was well worth it, though. I've never seen an albino up close before," he commented. The boy wasn't looking up. Was he hiding something else on his face? Did he have some horrible, disfiguring scar on his hairline that he didn't want Kio to see?

"Still... you should know better than to believe whatever a random stranger tells you," his smirk became more menacing rather than just teasing. His words were harsh and held a very insulting tone to them. He still found it very hard to believe that this albino boy had actually believed him. It helped his ego grow quite a bit to know that he could string such a ridiculous story together and get someone to believe him.

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[Sakoru]

Khemres was beginning to be a little scared by the black-haired boy leaning closer and closer. Their faces were about a foot apart now, and the albino gazed harder at the table, trying to avoid looking up. If he did, he knew he would just blush harder than he already was. That insult did warrant a soft response, though, spineless as it might be. "I wasn't having a conversation with myself."

Hearing the annoying whistle, the candidate suddenly wished he weren't here. Hastily replacing his hat on his head with one hand (deftly hiding the crippled one), Khemres shrugged slightly, uncomfortably. Does he have to lean so close? I think I'll pass out if he comes much closer, the albino was just telling himself, when suddenly the other leaned back a little, no longer staring at him so hard. When he spoke, he still sounded uncertain, but had a little more resolve backing his words. "Please don't say that like I'm a freak..."

A real flinch made him draw back at the sudden change in tone, however. Involuntarily his eyes flicked up to the other boy's face, pale violet under white lashes. Without thinking about it, Khemres raised his voice ever so slightly to defend himself, albeit in as mild a manner as always. "I didn't say I believed you." For once the albino's purple gaze was steady, and then it dropped to the table again. Pulling the brim of his hat down again, he leaned back, shoving his crippled right hand into a pocket of his trousers. "I'm not totally stupid..." Still eyeing the table, Khemres pushed his chair back slightly to get farther away from the strange black-haired boy and his disturbing smirk.

Hunching his shoulders slightly against the chill of the remembered words, the wher candidate stood up suddenly, dragging the brim of his hat down so low he couldn't actually see. Backing up, he flicked one more nervous glance to the other boy. "I'll....I'll be going, now," he mumbled, and with that twisted away and fled between the tables, crashing into one chair but otherwise escaping without incident. If he was followed, he wasn't sure what exactly he'd do. Not fight, certainly...but that creepy smirk, and the vicious tone, had frightened him. A bit like a frightened runner, Khemres felt that he had to run.

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