Logs:A Tisket, A Tasket
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| RL Date: 18 July, 2008 |
| Who: Paige, C'ael, K'len, Nerine, Xakael |
| Involves: Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Paige meets Xakael and learns a bit more about just what having a baby dragon would entail from chatting up C'ael, K'len and Nerine. And there's a kiss from K'len, who demonstrates what exactly counts as contributing to candidate delinquency. |
| Where: Galleries, Fort Weyr |
| When: Day 18, Month 2, Turn 17 (Interval 10) |
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| As the eggs harden enough to merit candidates hastily finishing up their robes, those with an eye for wagering on the clutch continue to pop in and out of the galleries throughout the day, hoping for perhaps another glimpse of a egg here or there that might help them with those crucial, final decisions. Paige, seated between the higher and lower tiers late in the afternoon, is speaking animatedly with a tall, female bluerider, who scribbles onto a hide; eventually, both nod and the older woman departs. If the candidate just laid a wager, it must have been a rather extensive one. Loitering is about the only thing that Xakael's any good for when he's visiting, so that's precisely what he's doing. He's found his sure-footed way to the galleries, a metal coin -- an odd bauble, to be sure -- being flipped casually as he does so. He's long since placed his bets, so his interest in being here is purely to try to get a better look at the eggs. The young man's expression conveys indifference, though whether feigned or real is difficult to say. Others in the galleries are noted, with him lifting a hand and tipping two fingers toward the ladies in lieu of tipping a hat. The coin, meanwhile, continues to be flipped in his other hand nigh unconsciously. K'len is here - he's been here. It's amazing how well he can lurk in the shadows of the galleries unseen, but certainly it's been effective today. Shirking duties, perhaps, or simply looking for a place to appear social without actually being social. He's working on something in those shadows, for his attention is solely focused lower towards his hand where they're rapidly working on something without being visible to those who aren't in the back of the galleries with him. However, his ruse is up shortly as one of the riders from his wing comes and singles him out to dress him down and then huff off and leave. If he won the argument or not, well, it's hard to say. Paige, turning as her aunt departs, gives Xakael a brief smile in response, but her attention is pulled away as a rider marches over to have a momentary spat with someone near the back of the galleries. Brow creasing, she gets to her feet and carefully navigates around a few other people to begin heading in that direction. She pauses near Xakael on the way, adding a cheerful, "Afternoon, " to him, watching the coin's movements with some fascination. "How d'ya do tha'?" she has to ask, curious. The spat is regarded with a bored look, the young Bitran's attention being snared more readily by the young woman speaking to him. A pleasantly drawled, "Afternoon, miss," is issued, with him giving the coin another flip before it lands with a muffled, meaty thump in the middle of his palm. Some sleight of hand ensures that it all but vanishes, the coin-flipping hand abruptly spanning wide to expose its emptiness. Though he doesn't smile, amusement registers clearly in his eyes and voice as he remarks, oh-so-innocently, "Do what?" Left alone quickly enough, K'len only glances at the pair at the galleries. Clearly registering who one of them is, he arches a brow at the man she's speaking with. However, he doesn't actually get up from his spot or seem at all interested in interrupting their conversation. Instead he returns his attention to the fabric on his lap, and starts tucking it away into a satchel he'd brought with him to the galleries. "Flippin' tha' -- " And the slim girl blinks. It vanished. "Tha's funny. Thought fer sure I saw ya flippin' a coin 'bout. Musta been the heat." Paige squints a little, however. "'Less s'was one o'those tricks where ya make it disappear. Think I saw someone doin' tha', once." Nonetheless, she tacks on an introduction after staring at his hand a moment longer. "M'name's Paige, by the way." There's another glance for the rider in the far back, if a vaguely uncertain one. Likely she's still trying to decide if it is who she thinks it is. "Oh, that?" The coin manifests again, deft fingers working with the practiced ease that only those with too much time on their hands can manage. The coin is flipped once and then Xakael extends his hand, offering the coin up for her to take for the time being. His other hand lifts in a wave to K'len, mostly for politeness' sake. "It's just a little trick I picked up, miss," the term used in spite of his nodded acknowledgement at her introduction. "Easy enough to learn, I assure you, but you've got to have quick fingers." There's a beat, then his manners emerge with an amiable, "I'm Xakael, by the bye." Paige's eyebrows lift, accompanied by a vigorous nod as the coin reappears. "Yeah, tha'!" Momentarily confused as he offers the coin, she finally takes it somewhat dubiously, rolling it experimentally in a hand with a child-like focus. "Oh. Dun reckon I got very quick fingers, " she admits, smile sheepish. "S'interestin' trick, nonetheless. Y'know any others - Xakael?" He watches her handling the coin for a few moments and then he extends his hands, offering to take hers and maneuver her fingers a bit, if she'll allow him. "Like this. You work your thumb under there, see?" Xak explains, his drawl coming smooth and patient, if a bit aloof. The motion is explained to the best of his ability, with a shoulder rising and falling at her latter query. "I've picked up a little of this and a little of that, but it's nothing 'useful', I reckon." K'len lifts a hand to wave back, belatedly, at Xakael. But, as their attention is more towards the coin and less towards the surroundings - he takes the opportunity to slip out of the seat in the back and walk towards the front to take a look at the sands. The eggs are regarded, but even if asked, there's no bet to be made from him. Seems he prefers to keep his marks close at hand, rather than betting them out frivilously. Paige lets him show and demonstrate the motion with her, but the movement is nowhere near as fast as his - nor so deftly executed. She even manages to drop it near the end, retrieving it with an embarrassed, "Told ya m'fingers weren' tha' quick." And she offers the coin back to its owner, eyes lighting up as K'len heads for the front of the galleries. Beam. Her cheeks pink a bit, though perhaps not so much from the warmth suffusing the cavern. "Ah, yeah. Fun ain't always useful, " she concedes after a bit, gaze flicking briefly to his shoulder. "Ya - not from 'round here?" she guesses. The coin is taken and neatly pocketed, with Xakael's thumbs finding his beltloops and his stance shifting a little so he's both more able to converse with Paige and also look at the eggs -- and perhaps K'len, as well. "It's alright, miss," he assures, nodding a little to her instead of offering a smile. He shrugs it off -- the knack is a tough one to pick up, despite his statements otherwise -- and instead drawls, "Well, fun can be useful, sometimes; useful's rarely fun -- it's an awful shame." There's a minute quirk at the corner of his mouth that's abruptly stilled and he glances over his shoulder at something or another. "I'm not; just a Bitran brat visiting this fair Weyr for a little while." Eyebrows lift a little as he studies her, venturing a curious, "The accent's familiar, but I can't place it ..." Heaving in a deep sigh, K'len begrudgingly steps away from the edge of the galleries to walk over and stand beside Paige. Not too close, yet not super far away either. "Hey, sorry I didn't come over and say hello sooner." He offers to the pair of them, tucking his hands in his pocket after slinging his bag over his shoulder where it hangs by a strap. He doesn't interrupt any further though, just lingers for a moment before deciding if he should go appease his wingmate, or make them simmer a little longer. C'ael has arrived. "Sure explains yer skill, " Paige concludes, giving a little shrug. "Got folks in the mountains, " she supplies helpfully. "I'm from Balen Hold." Looking as though she'd very much like to protest against useful being rarely fun, she discards that train of thought in favor of giving the approaching bronzerider a shy smile. "Hey, so tha' /was/ ya. S'okay." And if she's bursting to ask about the other rider's dressing down, she doesn't mention it right then, settling instead for, "Er, have ya two met?" Nerine has arrived. The apology is shrugged off with, "Nothing you need to apologize for, sir." Xakael appraises the two with a considering look and then he starts to move away, another of those funny little two-fingered salutes to Paige. "We haven't, but-" his gaze slides away again, catching on an insistent motion from someone near the galleries entrance. His mouth presses into a flat line. "-it seems I don't have time. Take care, miss, sir," he concludes and turns away, heading off without anything further to say. Xakael has left. K'len lifts a hand to wave to Xakael as he leaves, but then returns that hand to his side quickly after the young man leaves. He then tucks his hands into his pockets and glances at Paige with a quick smile. "Seemed like you were really interested in him." He says with a quirk of a grin, and then adds, "What he was saying, I mean. Was he doing something odd with his hands?" He asks, not able to see clearly from back where he was sitting previously. C'ael meanders in, pushing hair back from his brow. He looks for a spot to sit, to enjoy a view of the sands, and by chance happens upon Paige and K'len. He nods to both. "G'day. Nice in here compared to outisde, isn't it?" He takes a seat and unbuttons his coat. Nerine flashes silver blue eyes over the occupants of the galleries, as she enters. a slight lift of the brow is perhaps resulting from the pair sitting midway up. A smirk works its way across her lips before she climbs up to take a seat next to Paige. "Well this seems to be a popular place today." Paige shakes her head a little, but returns K'len's quick smile. "He was tryin' t'show me how he made this coin disappear and come back, " she explains. "I seen it 'fore, but never real up close. And found out I dun have the quickness fer it, either." But perhaps that's just as well. She and Bitra would mix as well as oil and water. At C'ael's greeting, she offers up a polite, "Warm 'nough, t'be sure, sir." And then there's a Nerine, who gets a wide grin. "M'aunt was in here earlier takin' down a wager, " she says, agreeing. "And wrote home t'my folks. If'n they wanna come t'the hatchin', she said she'll bring 'em." "Oh, that. I think V'ryce could probably do that stuff too. Isn't he Bitran?" K'len asks rhetorically, though without waiting for an answer he shrugs his shoulders and agrees, "Not much in it for me either. Interesting to watch, none the less." He admits, and lifts a hand to wave at C'ael, and then followed by one for Nerine as well. "It's popular the closer it gets to the hatching, I suppose... That, and it's one of the warm places that isn't directly inside the weyr. Maybe that's part of the draw too." C'ael chuckles at K'len's observation. "Aye, I think that may just be it. I'd rather be here than outside, that's for certain." He shrugs out of his jacket and settles the thing across his lap. He nods to Paige, and Nerine. "Funny, I still find it hard to get used to being called sir. Some days I still feel like a Candidate." He winks at Paige, "Only some days. I don't envy you the days ahead." Nerine gives Paige a disbelieving smile but she settles in with a grin. "I would be willing to wager that blue brown or green will be the first to break shell. But I will keep my suspicions to myself." Those words seemed attached to more than just dragons it seemed but Nerine shrugged it off. She grins at K'len as he responds but keeps her mouth closed and gives a wave to C'ael. "I am sure that whatever comes we will face it head on." Wow that was far more confident than she felt. Paige shrugs. "Wouldn' know. Name's familiar, but dun think I've met him." Tilting her head slightly, she gives C'ael a curious glance. "Really? But ya got yer dragon and yer - ridin' now and all tha'." Her chin ducks a little, both with vague discomfort at the wink and a grimace for those ominous days ahead. "Dunno how y'all put up with the waitin', " she admits. "They keep a'tellin' us we gotta start gettin' ready t'go any time now, and some o'us are still tryin' t'get our robes t'gether." Nerine's confidence garners a hopeful look. Can she borrow some of that? "Guess we'll hafta, " she allows after a moment. "Not like we'll be havin' much of a choice, standin' out there and a'facin' all them." "I don't see why people wager on a chance, more is lost than won. Though I suppose if you wager on green, there's usually just more of them. Better odds." K'len says, lifting his shoulders and sighing a little. Could be that he just doesn't have much luck with such wagering and has left that to people who've got the better eye for it. "You two got your robes done?" He asks, looking between the two candidates before grinning at C'ael. "I think I'm rather glad I'm not a candidate /or/ a weyrling anymore. The restrictions are just awful." C'ael nods to K'len's words. "Those were hard days." He admits to Paige, "Aye, I ride now, but I stood twice at Fort. The first time I was left without a lifemate. I was sorely hurt by it. I confess to being a little more reserved the second time I stood. Still, it goes to show you always have a chance if you're on the sands." He smiles at Nerine. Nerine offers a comforting smile for her friend. "We will, and after there will be the hatching feast." She chirps and then offers K'len a laugh. "It's just statistics really, though I haven't a head for numbers at all. It is fun sometimes to make predictions without money at all just to see if you were right or way off." She nods. "Mine looks a bit too much like a patchwork quilt though, the only one to fit had more holes in it than a miner's sieve." She shakes her head in slight frustration. "I am sure it will be a lot of hard work but the restrictions don't seem too awful really." She muses perhaps over which restrictions the two riders most up in arms. "Tha' makes sense, " Paige muses after a bit. "Sounds like sound advice - if'n I were the bettin' type." Ah, that robe. "Almos'? Can' quite get the neck and the arm-holes t'look right, but s'almos' fits well. Gotta do a bit more fixin' on it." She edges a cautious glance toward the eggs: no rocking until her robe fits! "Oh, " the girl frowns while listening to C'ael's brief account. "Yeah. Chance." Hastily, she turns onto a brighter subject - hatching feast! "And dancin', " she chimes in, looking a little confused at the end. "Awful restrictions? Worse'n cand'dacy?" "Yeah, not much of a head for statistics for me either. Thankfully, nobody needs me to figure out how much of anything we need, either." K'len says with a shrug of his shoulders, leaning back against the railing but facing away from the sands rather than towards them. "I'll help you if you need." He offers to Paige, most likely about the stitching of the robe rather than anything else. "No intimacy! I mean, not like I actually /get/ much anyways. Or liquor for the first while. But it always seems like you want it a hundred times more when you can't have it." C'ael nods to K'len's words. "Aye. It isn't like I get much, but I remember those days well. They seemed one constant reminder of everything you couldn't have. I found it hard, too, tending to such demanding needs those first days. I mean, I wouldn't trade Enjanth for all of Pern, but it wasn't easy that first fortnight." Nerine considers the riders words with a giggle. "Can't imagine anyone right now wanting to be intimate with me or that I would want to be intimate with, and for that matter I've never been much of a drinker, except wine on occasion." She shrugs maybe it's a male thing? "Now that I can understand being worried about, got to oil every inch of hide or it develops poorly and cracks between." She nods. Paige's eyes round before her gaze quickly drops to peer at an interesting patch of stone near the toe of her boot. "Oh, " she replies in a smaller voice, a flush rapidly sweeping along her neck. Then: "Y'mean - nothin'? Not even like - holdin' - hands?" The restriction on alcohol isn't even mentioned; it's probably hardly acknowledged since she's never had a drop of it in her life. "Ev'ry inch -- how often d'ya have t'do tha'?" Suddenly, it seems it's starting to sink in; Impression would mean a young being dependent on his or her new rider for every care for a while. Oh boy. K'len chuckles a little at the pair sitting down, and looks between them for a moment. "You two sound just like eachother. Maybe you should get to know one another a little better." He says with a chiding tone, though it's friendly as well. Playing matchmaker truly isn't his suit though, and he shrugs his shoulders lightly at Paige's question then answers. "For the first while after the dragon hatches, it'll be all you can do to keep yourself separate from them. But, holding hands and hugging is fine. Just nothing beyond that." He assures, then seems to consider something for a long moment silently, certainly he looks like he's thinking. C'ael reminisces, "They're big babies, really, when they hatch. Dependent upon you for everything. Like K'len says, it's hard to even keep yourself separate the first while. It's hard to explain, but suddenly they're with you and it's hard to imagine you've ever been alone." Nerine chortles a bit at Paige's question. "Well, with Asling I had to do it every few hours during the first week I had her, I'd imagine dragons are much the same." She muses, "at least when they are little and growing more than you can keep up with." She curves a brow at K'len's suggestion finally deciding to shake her head at the notion. "Thought Assistants Weyrling Master's were supposed to encourage following the rules, even among candidates." There was a smirk there. "I like babies, " Paige confesses with a little sigh, "but sounds like havin' a baby dragon with ya is - purty different. And dun they grow faster?" Still, she takes in the riders' responses with an expression of both worry and - ah, there it is. She's hopeful, like so many others who have come before her. "Guess so long as s'not like havin' a lil sister, mightn't be so bad." And she blushes brightly at the other candidate's remark, focusing this time on a patch of a tier, so she rather misses K'len's thoughtful look. "Getting to know one another better isn't bedding someone." K'len retorts to Nerine with a smirk, refraining from anything further. Really, he's not contributing to the delinquency of candidates, yet. "You have to oil them more often, though you can tell where they need it better. So it's not /always/ oiling the entire dragon from nose to tail." He answers, and then snickers a little. "Hopefully you won't end up with a handful like Enjanth. I remember when he was causing all sorts of trouble in the barracks, eh, C'ael?" He asks, then in a swift movement, without much thought, he presses a quick kiss to Paige's cheek without even asking or inspiring it. And the next, he looks like he's prepared to leave her there to figure out what happened. "That's contributing to delinquency, Nerine. And, I better get back to my duties." C'ael grins lopsidedly. "Enjanth thought he was ready for things long before he really was. It was... well... I remember not being totally comfortable with it, but it's worked it's way out." He doesn't explain further than that, just gets a distant, bemused look. Nerine smiles as Paige speaks, and then gives K'len a stern glance as if to say she doesn't buy it. "Right I suppose." But the tone behind the words suggests she thinks K'len is less than innocent. And then he goes and kisses Paige on the cheek. Well that was certainly something she would be hearing about back in the barracks. She gives a small quirk of the mouth at C'ael's words but doesn't say much about it. Paige just nods along with K'len's explanation, finally glancing back up at him in time to give both riders a questioning look about the handful that was Enjanth. And then there's that kiss, leaving the slim girl to just stare up at the bronzerider, all wide eyes, flushed cheeks and bashful smiles. Forget giving a verbal response; her expression is still floating in the realm of being pleasantly surprised and vaguely agape. Did that just happen? At least it was just the cheek. K'len lifts a hand to wave at those still lingering on the galleries, then begrudgingly starts to head off. "Kalorith's giving me an earful about duty, and honour, and that itchy spot on his hindquarters that's been bothering him for an hour or two." He mutters under his breath, leaving Paige to be agape where she stands without even an apology or explanation or anything. K'len has left. C'ael sighs and rises from his seat as well. "It must be catchy. Enjanth is making a fuss, so I suppose that's enough egg watching for me. Nice meeting you all!" |
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