To The Victor Go The Spoils

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 29th July 2014

Characters: Alina, Ervine
Description: Ervine's not finished
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 28 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Chaysea, Jenackt, N'vanik (not by name)
Notes: The Game 10

Alina

Chores were a blessing. Alina gratefully threw herself into piles of laundry, folding endless sheets into endless squares that eventually piled into an endless stack of fabric that was loaded onto a trolley. The blast of fresh air that came when she swung the doors was a blessing over the heat and chatter of the laundry room. The storage closet for clean sheets was just down the hall, and she used the nose of the trolley to bump open the door. The head of laundry hated it when girls did that, but it was _so_ much easier.

The inside was dark, so Alina lit a glow kept on a hook by the door. She walked it to where a hook dangled in the middle of the room, hung the lantern on it, and used a rope by the door to haul it to the ceiling where it could light the room. She then began unloading the sheets and stacking them by size on the appropriate shelf.

Behind her the door opened again. She turned to see the last person in all of Pern that she wanted to see: Ervine. He stood leaning against the door with his arms crossed and an unpleasant expression on his face, or maybe it was just that his eye was a little more swollen shut than it had been that morning. Even still, her heart began to hammer and her hands curled into angry fists. "Get out!"

"We need to talk." Ervine pointed at his shiner. "About this."

"No, we don't. If you're not here to apologize, then you can go drown yourself in the lake," she hissed, biting off the end of each word as if they offended her.

"Apologize?!" He snorted."Are you kidding me? You're the one who owes me an apology."

"You lied to me and you tried to take advantage of me--"

"I did not!" Ervine jabbed an angry finger at her. "I never did anything you didn't want me to do. You kissed me back, and when you said 'stop' I did."

"No, you didn't!" Alina put her fists on her hips and glared. "You kept trying to convince me even after I told you I wanted to leave!"

"Can you blame me? Your 'no' was pretty weak." He shook his head. "You're making me out to be the bad guy here but only one of us has a black eye. I never hit you. I never forced you. You were willing until you got all holdbred, freaked out, and then hit me."

"You weren't listening!" she hissed, frustrated. He hadn't been. How much clearer did she have to be?

"And that's an excuse to hit someone?! You're not two turns old." He shook his head. "You need to learn to adapt to the ways of the Weyr. Your hold rules don't apply here."

"Apparently you think _no_ rules apply here." Alina sniffed, then started stacking sheets again. She was painfully aware of Ervine; his presence burned like a stove in the corner.

"Of _course_ think rules apply. Which is why I'm here." He pushed away from the wall and came toward her; Alina retreated, glaring and clutching a folded sheet to her chest. Ervine let out an explosive sigh. "I'm not going to sharding maul you! Quit acting like I'm a monster!"

"Aren't you?" Alina's voice was laced with venom.

"No! I'm not! I'm trying to cut a deal, here!"

"I want nothing to do with you," Alina told him tartly. "Get _out_."

"See this?" He pointed again to his swollen black eye. "What do you think the Headwoman will say if I told her who did it, hmm? At best you'll be on probation like that Holdless friend of yours. At least he has the excuse of not growing up somewhere civilized. But you? At worst, they'll send you back to whatever Thread-infested pit you crawled out of, and I'm _sure_ that you'll be welcomed with open arms."

Alina froze, fear making her blood run cold. They wouldn't-- would they? Ervine was right that violence was never acceptable. And he hadn't left a mark on her. He'd grabbed her skirts, not her body. But before then, he wouldn't keep his hands to himself... "You shut your mouth about Jenackt. And you deserved what you got, and I'm sure that the Headwoman will agree." She wished she was as convinced as she sounded.

"Are you willing to bet on it?" Ervine was smiling a mean smile. "Because I am. Chaysea comes from a Crafthall, but _she's_ managed to figure out how the Weyr works."

She narrowed her eyes, scornful. "You're a maggot. She'll see right through you."

"It's your word against mine, and my friends'. Three to one. I'll get a slap on the wrist because I misinterpreted a holder girl's intentions. The best you can hope for is a lecture on Weyr etiquette and being put on probation for assault, and your reputation, such that it is, will be in tatters. The _best_. It's more likely that they'll send you back to your cothold in disgrace."

That couldn't be true. Could it? They wouldn't send her back. They hadn't sent Jenackt back when he'd been fighting, but then, he was the Weyrleader's favourite and had no home to go to. For someone like her, someone ordinary without powerful allies... "So let's go to the Headwoman, then," she said, sounding braver than she felt. "Let's find out who is right."

"Thing is, I still kind of like you. I don't want to have to do that, so here's another option." Ervine crossed his arms, his mean smile becoming wider and revealing his dimples. "You give me your panties and I _don't_ go to the Headwoman, and you continue on as you are."

Rage, red hot, made it hard not to smack him a second time. "No." She set the bundle of sheets - now crinkled - onto the shelf with more force than she'd intended.

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. Enjoy your life while it lasts."

"It's not going to ruin my life. It would ruin yours." She should stop talking. She knew she should, but her mouth carried on without her. "You _lied_ and you tried to take advantage of me. The Headwoman won't stand for it. I should tell her myself, and then you'll see."

"And confess that you assaulted someone? That you can't adapt to the Weyr enough to go on a simple date without resorting to violence? That will go over real well. You're so holdbred, you can't even wear pants." Ervine sighed, then rubbed his hands over his face. "Look. I'm trying to do you a favour here. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. I can make your life super difficult, or you give me your panties and I don't. I'll even give you a quarter mark if you do-- your share of the winnings. _Or_ I get you sent back to your stupid cothold where you can live our the rest of your sad, spinster life in shame and misery. That's what they'd do to you at Emerald Falls Hold, and I can only imagine how much worse it would be at your tiny cothold."

Alina stared blindly at the shelf, shaking with rage and how much she hated Ervine at that moment. This was blackmail. But he was right, flame him. If she got in trouble, if she got sent home... it would reflect on her family as much as it would reflect on her. What about her sister's chance for marriage, if she was sent home in disgrace? They were twins; Elana would be condemned along with her. And Ervine was right. She _hadn't_ adapted to the Weyr's stupid ways, hadn't felt the need to change to please someone else. Now she was in trouble because of it. It made her sick to think about it, but Ervine could be right. He had put his hand on her knee, but he hadn't tried to pin her down or do anything more, thank the Egg. And it was three to one.

"Well?"

"Fine." She grit it out through clenched teeth, then spun on Ervine. "Give me the quarter mark, and get out."

"Wait-- what?" Ervine blinked. "You-- give me your panties, first."

"Then get out," she snarled. "I'm not going to-- with you here."

He was grinning as he left. Alina pushed the laundry trolley against the door to make sure that he didn't come back. She felt sick, and appalled that she was actually going to do it. Taking a deep breath, she hiked up her skirts and pulled off her underwear. Because if she didn't, her family's life would be ruined. **You'd better appreciate what I do for you,** she thought at Elana. Her twin would have slapped Ervine and let them all rot, for all she cared. But Alina couldn't do that, and now she held a scrap of pale blue fabric balled in one fist.

Shoving the trolley aside, she threw the door open to find Ervine smirking in the hallway. She held out a hand, palm up. "My marks."

He shrugged and flipped a bit of wood to her. Alina caught it in one hand, then threw her panties at his head before slamming the door. She leaned her forehead against the wood, feeling sick and naked. Outside she heard him laugh, then the thunk-thunk of his footsteps as he retreated. She'd done it. And felt gross for it, exchanging marks for something so intimate. A quarter mark was more money than she'd ever had at once, but now she didn't want to touch it. Her fingers curled a little tighter around the wood.

Because no one saw, she could deny all of it. No one would ever know the truth except her and Ervine. And she couldn't hate him more if she tried.

Last updated on the August 1st 2014

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To The Victor Go The Spoils