Jemili

Dark eyes glared at the bottom of the bunk. Why did girls get private rooms while the boys shared a common area? Unruly dark hair flew as the young man sat up. At 17, Jemili was wilder than his hair and more temperamental than a brooding mother gryph. Standing a smidge taller than 6', and as strong as a horse, he attacked anything he did with unbridled fierocity, which was appreciated by all, but when he got into a rut about how men were treated differently than girls, he was unbearable.

For whatever reason, Jemili woke up cranky this morning. A shower in the common bath and a heap of grumbling got his day off to a start - not a pleasant one, but a start nonetheless. He made his appearance in the dining hall clad in clothing considered ill fitting by the general population but the oversized shirts and low slung pants were Jemili's choice, and no one really wanted to fight with him about it any more. One shouting match containing "girls can wear whatever they want, why can't I?" is all anyone wanted to have.

He skulked across the room, collected his breakfast, and sat down to eat it. He rewarded anyone he caught looking at him with silent but deadly glares. His very being oozed negativity and hatred, making even lingering in his vicinity unpleasant.

The first of the bonders for the exchange had been taken away almost two weeks previous, and the others scrambled to fill his shoes. No one realized how much he'd truly done until he was gone.

The blue-eyed Maryt slowly entered the hall and looked around. She walked across the room and chose a chair at a vacant table. Jemili glared at her fiercely. She was the most spoiled child in the entire house.

"Jemili - you're done. Get a breakfast for Maryt, please." Someone with full hands called.

"Why should I? Let her get it herself!" he snarled back.

An open hand connected with the side of Jemili's head, knocking him to the floor. "Do what you're told, boy." The gryphonner growled.

The room froze. No one had been able to do anything with Jemili when he was like this for quite some time. Would the gryphonner succeed.

Jemili stared. "You hit me!" he declared, insulted, and began to rise from the floor. "Just who do you think you are?"

The gryphonner didn't whither under the boy's gaze. "It shouldn't matter." She said calmly.

"Doesn't matter my foot!" he exclaimed, "Tell me who you are, now!"

The gryphonner introduced herself by backhanding him. Her signet ring left an impression on his face.

Jemili stared at her from the floor, not moving. Time stretched out, no one daring to breathe. Jemili scrambled from the floor, and stubbornly launched himself at the gryphonner, intent on attacking her. Calmly she countered, and her fist met his face.

Jemili crashed to the floor.

"I believe you were asked to get breakfast for the blue-eyed young lady." She said calmly. Jemili got up fromt eh floor and crept away to get Maryt's tray, his ego bruised more than his rapidly coloring eye.

* * *

The next few days, Jemili was pleasant and helpful, though it seemed forced. Until the bruises faded, he had more than enough reminder of why he should. Of course, he wasn't happy about being reduced to servitude, but in his cowed state everyone seemed to like him better.

Jemili wondered why everyone loved submissive males, and though he was cooperating, he was plotting his next move: Out of the house.

* * *

Jemili found himself with less to do in the afternoons and slightly less in the mornings after Maryt had been hauled off as a bonder. As a result, he got lazy. When he wasn't doing something, he wasn't doing anything. This habitual laziness wound Jemili up in strange places. The further away he could get before they started looking for him to do something, the longer it was before they found him.

One snowy day, Jemili grabbed his outdoor gear and left the house. His journey brought him to to the front of the Gryphonner's hall. Remembering full well how the one gryphonner treated him for backtalking, he was loathe to enter the building. Since there was a bench there, he sat. Better to rest for a while...

Eventually a man walked past. "Can I join you?" he asked kindly.

"Yep." Jemili replied.

The man sat down, and relaxed. After a while he turned to Jemili again. "It's beautiful out, don't you think?" he asked.

"Yep." Jemili replied.

The man looked around again, and after a while turned to try to converse with Jemili again. "Are you from one of the houses."

"Yep." Jemili replied.

The man's eyes twinkled. "Can you say anything other than 'yep'?" he asked jokingly.

"Yep." Jemili replied, trying hard to keep his expression neutral, and failing miserably.

"Good to hear." The man replied. "So you want to go to Saisai Aerie and take up life as a bonder?"

"Yep." Jemili replied, but before the actual question had worked it's way past his stubbornness. And then it did. "Saisai Aerie?!"

The man laughed. "Indeed. Are you truly willing? Mother Yence would have my hide if I hauled someone off the isle unwillingly."

Jemili stood up. "I'm all for it. When can we leave? I am so tired of being bossed around by women just because I was born male! It's about time men got a say in things!"

The gryphonner took all this in stride. "you do know that female gryphs run the Aerie, don't you?"

Jemili shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Once some gryphlet chooses me, it won't matter how bossy they get. We'll just up and leave 'em when push comes to shove."

The gryphonner nodded solemnly. He'd learn in time. "So you still want to go?"

"Yes, a thousand times yes!" Jemili said.

"All right then. Let's get your things..."

* * *

Jemili found that he liked Saisai Aerie. It wasn't nearly as female dominated as the house, and he hadn't had to fight or raise a fuss about anything... yet.