Logs:A Free Gift
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| RL Date: 11 February, 2015 |
| Who: Lilah, R'hin |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr, Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: The wine procured from the Vintner Hall is ready to collect... from Nabol? |
| Where: Grounds, Nabol Hold |
| When: Day 21, Month 13, Turn 36 (Interval 10) |
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A land of gently rolling hills and dark soil, Nabol stretches out across the southern end of High Reaches' territory. Most of the land is devoted to sprawling farms and orchards; even the fallow areas are overgrown forests of apple and other fruit trees. A number of rivers and smaller streams cut across the land, providing excellent irrigation. With the temperate climate and abundant greenery, animals are widespread, frequent visitors to the forests and fields. The main Hold rises abruptly up from the land, a fortress carved into cliff faces that spring from the valley around it. Occasionally threatening to turn to snow, a bitterly cold rain falls almost without a break from sunrise to sunset. The snowfall of the previous day has eased up a little, though light, sporadic falls mark morning in Nabol. The day after their winter gather is a busy day, with locals moving back and forth to clean up, and the few who stayed the evening preparing to make their leave. Cold enough, that only those that need to linger out in the cold, do. Earlier, Lilah received a hand written note indicating that her delivery from the Vintnercraft could be picked up here, of all places, though no more detail than that was given. Into this scurry of clean-up appears Eliyaveith, that note apparently reaching its intended target and, perhaps, producing the intended result. That Lilah remains on her dragon's back to survey those locals around her, even as she strips the riding gloves from her fingers immediately despite the winter weather, might suggest that she is not sure exactly why R'hin has chosen this place. In sync with her rider, the queen doesn't crouch into that cold ground yet, but her tail does twitch with a hint of impatience. There's no sign of Leiventh, no hint of his wintry presence, though given he's naturally reticent that's probably not too much of a surprise. The queen and her rider get a few glances, curious but not overly so as yet -- most people have somewhere to be. Eliyaveith seems to be content to keep to herself where Leiventh isn't immediately discernible, but reluctantly she reaches out to the bronze dragon, trying to find him with a silent question born from her rider. Even as she does so, finally Lilah slides down from her dragon, one swift movement that is paired with the gold crouching and extending her foreleg at the same time. Her gloves are tucked into her belt, a brush of bare fingers trailing against Eliyaveith's hide for a moment as she considers a woman that passes her by. She doesn't ask for directions, yet. Leiventh is... well, there's a sense of mountains rising around him, a place where the snow isn't falling at this moment, and the pale, wintry sun is visible, even if it isn't overly warm. The second Lilah's foot touches the ground, a small boy darts out from the archway leading to the courtyard, skinny and light enough that his footsteps barely sink into the snow. He stops far enough away to feel safe, whatever safe is in a ten-something Turn old's head, eyeing the gold warily and her rider just as warily. "I'm freezing my ass off," he tells her, like this is somehow her fault. Lilah's brows quirk upwards in a curve, and despite all of her worst tendencies-- she laughs at the boy. A quiet, gentle laugh that has her offering, "You shouldn't have been sitting down, then. You could have froze your toes off instead." She pats her gold's side again, the gesture more for reassuring her companion than need, though her gaze slides towards where the boy came from. "I take it R'hin asked you to wait for me? Do you have the delivery, then?" As the boy appears, Eliyaveith withdraws from Leiventh, satisfied with his answer and not being pressed by her rider to ask for more. "You could've come quicker," the boy counters, logically: "You have a dragon," like that means she should have no excuse. Instead of answering the later, he bounces back in the direction he came, towards the courtyard, looking over his shoulder expectantly. A laugh still touches the edges of her words, softening them as Lilah actually apologizes (lightly, not seriously, but still an apology), "Sorry. Next time, I am sure I will know better than to keep you waiting." She follows him, not taking much time for the goldrider to catch up to walk beside the boy. The boy at least seems vaguely mollified by that answer when he looks at the goldrider. Once she reaches the archway, there'll be more follow-the-leader, this time into a cave leading off from the courtyard. It widens out into a big cavern, undoubtedly used for storage for most of the Turn, though during winter it houses what looks like, judging by the wagons, to be traders. It's not easy to tell how many are here, but the place seems convivial enough, with small drums set up here and there as makeshift hearths and to keep the air warmer, though most are still wearing their jackets as they sit around talking -- working on various crafts and creations, or walking here and there. The boy's fast, and doesn't really get the concept of 'showing someone', since he's darted off ahead of her, left here and right there and vanishing behind that wagon. As he disappears, there is a hint of tension returning to the line of the goldrider's shoulders, to her spine. Yet, she only starts to slow her own stride as she loses him, taking more time to survey her surroundings and the people around her. No one really seems to be paying Lilah any particular mind, though any scrutiny she gives starts to get curious looks in return. When she eventually reaches that corner where she lost the boy, she'll catch sight of R'hin's standing with a slightly older man near the steps of one of the wagons, the pair of them turning to regard the boy as he runs up. There's laughter, from the elder pair, as the boy holds out his hand expectantly. The bronzerider leans down, murmurs something, claps the boy on the shoulder, and then finally places something in his hand. The boy, beaming, takes off speedily between the wagons, while R'hin and the older man shake hands, before the latter climbs up the stairs and goes into the wagon. The Reachian turns and, eyes lighting swiftly enough on Lilah, grins, as he walks towards her. "I hope you docked his pay. I half-led myself here," greets Lilah wryly, loosely interpreting 'half-way' without even a hint of shame. "If you hired a girl, that never would have happened." Her gaze trails briefly to that wagon, but then back again to R'hin in a sweep of dark eyes over the bronzerider in a study. "Never. I like to reward enterprising and patient young men. It's really cold out there -- why do you think I got him to wait?" R'hin's patting his furred cloak with a low-throated grin. He's not wearing riding leathers underneath, but clean, if not elegant, pants and shirt. With a cluck of tongue, "Ohhh, no. Girls get distracted by the gold, you know. Too dangerous. We'd leave frozen girls all around." Once he's reached her side, he steps into line with her, and with a gesture, veers left, down a row of wagons. "Patient?" Lilah challenges with the curve of brows and light humor edging her words. Where he veers, she does, her attention drawing away from the bronzerider to return to her surroundings as he leads her, looking ahead for a likely destination. "I think you underestimate how enterprising and patient young girls can be." "Extreme patience," R'hin adds, with a knowing grin, "For a ten Turn old. Do you remember being ten? I could never stay still, ever, and everything else was way more exciting than whatever chore I was being forced to do. Sitting still is like agony." It's almost like nothing's changed, since the bronzerider's moving with energized strides, now. "Oh, no, I'm not. They're so distracted by shiny things at that age. And color -- anything colorful. I tell you what, you can get a girl to do just about anything, for a pretty scarf." His tone seems earnest enough, though the glimmer of pale eyes might well suggests he's putting it on for a reaction. Lilah's lips quirk into a small, soft smile as she replies, "Not me, at that age. You could get me to do just about anything for some peace and quiet and cleanliness. A pretty scarf is useless if you do not have anywhere to wear it to, but some time to yourself--." She shakes her head, light and dismissive all at once before she returns to insisting, "That is because you were a boy. Girls are infinitely more patient, even at that age." "Yes, but you," R'hin replies, with a sidelong look, accompanied by one of his familiar, dark chuckles, "Are not a normal girl." The end of the makeshift aisle opens out, and there's boxes stacked along the wall. There's scribbles on them, but they can't be deciphered, and yet the bronzerider steps unerringly towards one, opening the lid briefly to confirm the contents. "Ahh, here. Two, wasn't it?" he steps back for her to see the contents, the bottles carefully encased to prevent them jostling around. "Does anything seem normal, anymore?" is pitched quiet and serious in answer to that, Lilah's dark gaze meeting his, sidelong to sidelong, before she steps up to examine the contents. She tips a nod, only asking simply, "How much do I owe you," as she reaches to unearth one of those bottles from their protection. A brief grimace flitters across the bronzerider's expression, but he isn't one to linger on such things. Instead, with his gaze on the wine -- on her looking at the wine, R'hin says, "Consider it the price for your silence on my arrangement." Annoyance flickers briefly across Lilah's expression at that answer, her lips pressing tightly for a moment that allows her to think about her answer before she replies carefully, "That isn't the price, because I was never going to tell anyone, R'hin. If you do not know that by now--." "Then call it a free gift." The counter comes swiftly, without weight of judgement. A sudden, familiar grin: "A pre-Turnday gift." "Thank you," accepts Lilah simply, though the reminder about her turnday only has her studying R'hin all the more intently. It resolves in an added question of, "When is yours? I feel like I owe you one as well. Though, I don't know that I would know what to get you." A pause. "Wine. Wine would be a safe bet." "A lady never tells," R'hin demurs in a higher-pitched voice, laughingly, clearly enjoying that he knows when her Turnday is, but not the other way around. "Mm. I have plenty of wine." He gestures, as if to say try again, pale gaze expectant. "You'd never qualify as a lady. And, I can ask someone. I will write to K'del and formally request your turnday from your Weyrleader." Whether the goldrider will actually do so or not-- well. "A blanket," is her next suggestion that she tosses lightly to the bronzerider, even as Lilah reaches to slide her wine bottle back inside the protective shell. And now, he's chuckling. "Go ahead," R'hin says, permissively, waving his hand as if allowing her to do so. It's the latter that makes his brow furrow, however: "A blanket?" quizzically. "Something soft, warm, and comforting," explains Lilah, her gaze lifting to meet his for a long moment. "If anyone could use something like that--. Well, I can think of many people who could, but we are discussing you." A brief noise in the back of his throat that could be snort, or laugh, though R'hin's pale eyes are even as he asks: "Is that what you think I want, or what I need?" "If I ever knew what you wanted, R'hin," Lilah starts to say, though the sentence never gets an end. Instead it trails off, even as she lifts her hands, palms up, in an empty gesture before they fall back to her sides. "What I think you need is much easier." His head tips, and though unvoiced, his oh? is pretty clearly read in his expression. It is subtle, the way Lilah's expression changes with a simple smile, even as she offers lightly, "It's a long list." It makes him laugh. "I'd expect no less. Do you want to sit down for it, or should we walk while you describe this long list?" "That certainly seems to be a conversation one should have while seated, over a nice bottle of wine." Lilah even gestures with a careless flick of fingers to her own wine, before she reaches for the box to lift. R'hin seems to consent to the suggestion, waiting for her to take hold of the box, before he leads the way back through the row of wagons. He veers left, deeper into the cavern -- the glows and the barrel he leads her towards serving to provide sufficient light. There's chairs already stationed around it for those stopping for warmth, and after a look at her, he says, "Glasses," striding confidently off across the cavern in search of those. Lilah will settle in to one of those chairs, shedding her riding jacket at the heat as she makes herself comfortable in the cavern. When he returns, it is unlikely that she will linger long over telling him what he needs, except for perhaps a suggestive offer from the goldrider. Glasses of course, needed for good wine, R'hin returns and settles down, and in his usual fashion, turning the topic back to what he's interested in, despite her suggestive offer. What he does get from her earns a low-throated laugh, unruffled. It's probably not until most of that bottle is finished before he finally stands and -- whether she takes it or not, leads the way off through the cavern for some more exploration, of sorts. |
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