Unbearable Situation {Sudreth and Eris}

[Sudreth Belrot]

The morning sun flowed in through the open windows of the bedroom, disturbing Sudreth's peaceful sleep. Sitting up with droopy eyes, messed up hair and saliva covering the right half of his face, he yawned and observed his surroundings. Just like the night before, the small room he was in was empty, save for the 2 bunk beds (of which Sudreth had occupied the bottom of the rightmost one) and what little belongings Sudreth had scattered around the floor. The chatter he could hear from the halls probably meant he had woken up late, Eris was going to have his ass for this!

In a bit of a rush, he rolled to the end of his bed, only to go too far and drop off the edge, landing face first on the floor. "Bloody hell..." Sudreth cursed as he picked himself up and rubbed his aching nose. Shaking off the pain, he took off his sleeping wear and put on his worn old armor (as he had yet to be assigned a new set for himself) Finishing up putting on his greaves, he rushed out the door into the halls of the barracks.

Pushing his way past various soldiers, most of which barely paid him any mind, he pressed himself against a wall and peered over into the corner, looking for any sign of Eris. If luck was on his side, he could avoid her and find someone else to give him a job for the day, to spare himself the pain of her hellish wrath.

[Eris Coulson]

Eris was in a particularly foul mood that morning, as any soldiers who spotted her sour expression would figure out. She marched down the halls at a rather brisk pace, to the point where if she had any true friends in the army they probably wouldn't even have time to say hello. It wasn't that this bad mood was worse than her usual ones, it was just that Eris was quietly dealing with a strange internal conflict.

The morning spar that day was painfully average. Eris won one and lost one, which somehow infuriated her more than if she had lost both. At least that would be a more solid sign that she needed to continue improving, but going even was just dull and boring. Nobody would care about that. Nobody would notice, be shocked or amazed, at that sort of record. And Eris sure as hell wasn't going to start losing on purpose. If she wanted to get recognition she needed to get stronger, not just hang around Commander Ilheod every so often. At best that would only spread bad rumors, and didn't show any real sign of progress on her part.

The one thing Eris DID have to show her potential, though, was her command over that boy. She was responsible for Sudreth, so any good he did would reflect positively on her.

So the last thing she needed that morning, on top of everything else, was to come out of her disappointing spars and discover that the damned boy hadn't even woken up yet, or at least hadn't started on his morning duties: polishing her lance. So yes, she was in a foul mood, her boots stomping along the stoney floors of Fort Macendew like a mother bear bulldozing after an aggressor.

When Eris got to his room, however, he was nowhere to be seen. Had the idiot boy actually tried to flee? One word to the Commander and the brat would find himself being hunted down by a wyvern! ...Right? Eris took a deep breath. Probably not. The Commander had more important things to do than just deal with a pesky brat. He was HER responsibility.

Still, she was pissed off, and resumed storming through the fort in search of him. She was tempted to shout out his name and hope for a reaction, but she really didn't want to draw attention to the fact that she was essentially playing hide and seek with her damned ward. So instead she looked very carefully for any sign of the blonde brat. Sure enough, scurrying behind a few taller and older soldiers, she caught a glimpse of him. Eris stormed around the corner and shot him an...unimpressed glare.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! This is an army! You wake up early, and you get to work...and you sure as hell don't go running away from your superiors!"

(OOC Note: "What are you, stupid?")

[Sudreth Belrot]

A sudden chill ran through Sudreth's body and he had a sinking feeling in his gut. It's almost like the very fiber of the universe was telling him "You're boned."

Before he even had the chance to act on this feeling, an overbearing voice pierced through the noise of the barracks. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! This is an army! You wake up early, and you get to work...and you sure as hell don't go running away from your superiors!" The universe was right. He was, without a doubt, totally screwed.

"Crap! Crap! CRAP!" Sudreth cursed to himself under his breath. He stood there frozen for a few seconds, his back still turned to Eris as he tried to think of a way out of this. With no real way out, he figured his best chance was to suck up. Taking a deep breath, he turned around, trying his best to put on a convincing fake smile. "Oh, hey~!" He called out in a cheery tone, making him a little sick on the inside. "I was just looking for you~! Where have you been~? Have you been alright~?" Sudreth stood there, gritting his teeth under his smile. He could feel everyone in the barracks looking at both him and Eris, and he suddenly felt disgusted by his little act. "Urgh... There is no way this day could get any worse... I swear she better give me some leeway for that wonderful little display of 'Cheer'. Bleh...."

[Eris Coulson]

Eris was already mad, but now she was baffled as well. The idiot had the gall to play sweet with her? She knew he hated her guts, and knew for sure that his attitude was never this kind. It was some sort of act, either to appeal to her or to make him look innocent in front of the masses before Eris strangled him to death. Of course, she wasn't going to go that far, but the thought did briefly cross her.

The soldier took note of her comrades looking in her direction. Given her attitude on any given day this wouldn't be too surprising for them, but nevertheless it was attention Eris really didn't want at that moment. So instead she grabbed at Sudreth's arm roughly before turning away, wanting to drag him off where she could talk to him alone. Without an audience of her peers.

"Listen up, brat." She'd growl between her teeth. "If you're going to be staying here then you have to listen to me, all right? Your schedule, your chores, aren't that bad right now. I had to do way more when I was a squire. But if you keep slacking off, acting foolish, and pissing me off, then I'm going to make your life so, so, so much worse."

Eris would whirl around to face him, making sure to meet his eye with her fiercest glare. The volume of her voice was quieter now, but the tone perhaps even more dangerous for it. "So if I were you, I'd do what I was told, exactly HOW I was told. Understood?"