Logs:Brave Enough
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| RL Date: 23 April, 2010 |
| Who: K'del, Vyshani |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: K'del meets Vyshani. |
| Where: Garden Patio Ledge, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 22, Month 7, Turn 22 (Interval 10) |
| Weather: The sun is high in the sky and there is not a cloud in sight. There's a breeze that tempers the heat with no humidity lingering in the air. |
| Mentions: Milani/Mentions |
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| Garden Patio Ledge, High Reaches Weyr Partly sheltered by the curving stone overhang, partly exposed to the weather, the wide stone patio serves as a balcony for socializing or just plain drinking on a sizable scale. The repurposed ledge might once have let two large dragons land, but now there's too much furniture for that: two rustic tables with attendant chairs, plus a couple more in particularly good weather, and a wrought iron bench situated to make the most of the view of the western bowl and the lake beyond. Other changes include rough little niches carved out of the stone walls to hold glows in colored bottles at night, the climbing plant that's being trained to grow up along the overhang, and the blue ceramic pots of flowers that dot the edge of the ledge as a colorful reminder not to fall off. An archway leads to the Snowasis itself, housed in the ledge's former weyr, while a few wide steps descend along the wall to the bowl. It's been a gorgeous day out and the tables on the ledge outside the Snowasis have been full for a goodly majority of it, though the population has changed up steadily. Especially now when the accepted workday is coming to a close and thoughts are turning towards meals and how to fill the late afternoon and evening hours, it's a favoured location. Among those enjoying a drink as they start to wind down from the day, one petite Bollian. Vyshani is sat at one of the smaller tables that gets pulled out for days just like today, a mug near her elbow as she leans her chin on her palm. A few sheets of hide are on the table in front of her, along with an inkwell, and in her free hand she idly swings a pen back and forth. Her gaze isn't on the hides, however, her focus engaged in people-watching instead. People-watching might allow Vyshani awareness of K'del long before he actually approaches. Bare-footed, his shirt hanging loose from his light trousers, he's a visible figure crossing the bowl, making his way up the steps, then disappearing into the Snowasis itself. He's back a few minutes later, with a a glass of beer in one hand, and a plate of the pasta-with-creamy-tomato-sauce that's on today's menu in the other. A quick scan of the busy ledge later, he makes his way right past Vyshani's table, attempting to squeeze past in order to - apparently - reach a flowerpot-free section of the edge. It would probably go better if he didn't manage to kick one of the flowerpots by accident on his way, sending it careening over the edge and into a pile of shards, broken flowers and dirt on the bowl floor. It does, and since bare-footed Weyrleaders are somewhat more interesting, Vyshani when she becomes aware lets her attention linger with an amused expression until he disappears inside. Her attention isn't recaptured until he's trying to squeeze past, and while the amusement returns, it's with a comical blend of concern. "Oh be careful!" Though she seems more distressed over the murdered flowerpot than any damage K'del's done to his toes, half-risen from her chair as if that would allow her to see the broken corpse. "You can sit here, sir, if you like," she offers next with a bright smile turned up at him. "Before you send your food to a similar fate." Instead of a string of curse words, as might usually result from such an incident, K'del's reaction is a pained and pathetic, "Ow!" There might even be puppy dog eyes, as he sets his food and drink down on the table, and reaches to examine his foot, which isn't, at least, bleeding - just grazed. Apparently satisfied with that, he glances back across at Vyshani, shaking his head. "Won't steal your seat... reckon I've just cleared a decent sized perch, don't you think? Bet they'll make me pay for the damages, anyway, and if I'm going to do that..." If he's going to do that, he's going to get a place to sit out of it. Without taking a seat away from a pretty girl. Still rubbing at his foot, he adds, "If I sit, reckon you can pass my stuff down to me?" "Haven't broken anything, have you?" Vyshani asks as she goes back to peering at his foot. Amending immediately after, "Like a toe, I mean. 'Cause obviously the flowerpot." Which probably shouldn't make her giggle, but it does. "Oh I don't mind, really. It's not like I'm actually using the table to write on and all's I have is a drink. But sure, I can do that." If he's going to insist on being a gentleman, she won't argue /that/ hard about it. "I'd expect anyone here would probably give up their seat if you asked, though. You could just replace it with one out of stores; we've got pots and stuff." "I don't /think/ so," reports K'del. "Anyway, from what I understand, healers can't do much to fix a broken toe, so maybe it doesn't matter either way." He looks pleased, bobbing his head as he folds himself into a seated position, one leg dangling down the side of the ledge, the other folded into a lazy sprawl upon the stone. "I," he tells her, then, "have no intention of taking /anyone's/ seat. It'd be rude. And presumptuous and whatever." He reaches up a hand, presumably requesting - silently - plate or mug. "Reckon you've got pots that'd match these ones, though? That'd be more convenient. It's-- Vyshani, isn't it? Girl with the skirts." With a kittenish tilt of her head, Vyshani points out, "Might matter to you though. Imagine trying to put your shoes on." Ow, say big brown eyes. But she isn't going to dwell overlong on it, dropping her pen onto her hides and picking up her drink to take a sip while he sits himself down. "Comfy?" It's his mug that appears first, the young woman handing it down with a swift and confident motion that doesn't allow the liquid inside to slosh overmuch, and certaintly not enough to spill. She's got his plate ready to follow, a practiced lift and turn of her wrist settling the base along her palm. She's done this before. "Probably," she agrees for rude and presumptuous. "Matching is boring, but I could check. If I ran this place, each pot would be different. Different colours, and shapes too. Girl with the--?" Blink, blink blink, as she looks down at her lap. "Is there something wrong with them?" Wait, he did ask-- "Oh! Right, sorry. I'm Vy, yes. Vyshani. You actually knew." And that just makes her grin, sunshine-bright. Accepting mug, then plate, both ending up set on the ground beside him, K'del looks pleased. "Milani's spoken of you on occasion," he explains. "Described you by your skirts-- which are /cute/, by the way, nothing wrong with them at all." Stabbing his fork at some pasta, he cups one hand beneath it as it makes it to his mouth, hovering there just long enough for him to add, "Is kinda comfy down here. Enough room for my legs to stretch out, which is nice." Chewing takes priority after that, though he puts in, after swallowing, "Can see the appeal of not-matching, I guess. Huh. What else'd you do differently, if you ran it?" "She has?" Vyshani doesn't seem able to decide if looking pleased or mildly embarrassed is the better reaction. To that or the compliment, which she receives with ducked head and a hand lifted to brush fingers over strands of hair that are already firmly tucked behind her ears. "Thanks. I didn't think of it like that. Having room to stretch out. But a space has to be pretty small for me not to fit, so." She gives a little shrug, bending to peer at the underside of the table for a few moments. When she pops up straight again, her answer is prompt, "Oil lamps with coloured glass on the tables out here. That'd look really pretty at night, don't you think? But really, there's not much I /would/ do different, aside from decoration. It's really well-run." Approval threads thick through her voice for that. "It's not like a 'Station though, so you could probably have special events during the turn. Like oh... I don't know. A ladies' night? Half-price drinks for the women. Or, hmm. Some sort of meal special for families?" After that first bite, K'del actually picks up his plate, setting it to rest upon his folded knee, though he has to carefully brace it with one hand in this position. "She likes you," he reports, cheerfully. "Two of a kind, I think. Anyway-- yeah, it's one of the hard things about being so tall. Always end up with extra leg and nowhere to put it." Twirling pasta around his spoon, he tips his head up and across to give her a thoughtful glance as she continues. Eventually, head bobbing; "That would be pretty, yeah. And-- hm. Wonder if they've thought of all that. Could be worth mentioning the ideas. Get people in." Beat. "Not that, days like today, seems like we have much problem with /that/." Vyshani beams at him for that report, regardless of whether or not he's looking to see it. "I like her, too. She's really nice. I keep looking for a seashell I can bring back for her, whenever I go home. You know the really big pretty ones that when you hold them up to your ear, it sounds like the ocean inside? But the only ones I've found so far were little and broken." Chattering along quite happily, and moving from one thought to the next with ease. "Low entryways are probably a problem too, huh? You'd definitely have to duck if you ever visited Bolgur. Oh, that would be rude! Some outsider comes in with suggestions for how to maybe make business better?" She shakes her head so fast that her runnertail tumbles completely free of the loose tie she'd bound it with. "It's like spring, finally. Sometimes I think I'm a little crazy, choosing to stay up here. Is it very different from your home?" "She'd like that, I think," says K'del, after several seconds of silence in which, presumably, he's sorting through the mass of things Vyshani has been chattering about. "The seashell. Know the kind. And right, low entranceways. Bolgur-- right, that's where you're from. The Waystation." He looks pleased at having remembered all this, or at least enough for his memory to have been jogged; he's silent, briefly, after that, though, concentrating on a few more bites of dinner, another sip of his beer. "Dunno, think most people are interested in hearing ideas. So long as you're not forcing them on anyone. But--" He swallows a mouthful, shakes his head. "I'm from Tillek. Vineyard near there, anyway. Wetter, there, than here. Not quite so cold in winter. Summers here are beautiful, don't you think?" Beat. "Why did you choose to stay?" Someday, Vyshani will finally figure out that pausing for breath is actually a good thing. Really! Her head bobs in a nod as she reaches up to push her hair back away from her face, blessedly? silent confirmation of his memory. "Well, yeah, but... I haven't even met the guy who does run the Snowasis. It's a really clever name, by the way, do you know if he thought it up? So it kind of seems a little... what's that word you used earlier? Presumptuous?" Lifting her feet up to rest them on the edge of her chair, she tucks her skirts around her legs and sets her chin on her knees. "I've never been to Tillek. I want to go, though, someday. Well, I want to go everywhere someday. They are. Even if they don't feel like summer; not like I'm used to." Tipping her head back, she looks off blankly into the sky. "I wanted something more. More than just being the daughter of a 'Stationkeep. I mean, I love my parents, and I love the 'Station. But Mama and Papa are gonna be around a good long time -- it'll probably be my children, not me, who wind up taking it over. And I thought maybe, I could find that something more here. Or if not here, here would be like the beginning of looking for it, like starting out on a journey." Looking back down again, "It's kind of silly and childish. Does your family actually make wine and stuff? Or just tend the plants?" K'del is silent for a few moments after all of that, but he's smiling when he does speak. "No, think the Snowasis has been the Snowasis for much longer than that. /Is/ a good name, though, yeah." His bobbing head seems to accept her explanations easily enough, unconcerned. After another bite, he adds, "Good ambition, seeing everything. Makes sense to me. I wanted that, too." He's silent again, after that, then finally adds, "Not silly and childish at all. Makes sense to me. S'why I came to the weyr, too. Something /more/. Not that I had anything to inherit, anyway. They just grow the grapes. Got family that makes the wine, though-- family by marriage. Lots of siblings, lots of ways in which they help the family business, you know?" "Wanted? Have you seen everywhere, then?" Vyshani asks curiously. Her voice has grown softer -- not that she's ever exactly /loud/, but some of the bubbly-intense cheer has faded from it. Though she does remain cheerful. Just, muted. "Thank you for saying it. It /feels/ silly though, sometimes. I mean, you're supposed to go out an explore the world when you're like, sixteen, not twenty-three. I should be like, settled and married and a mother or something, at this age." She makes a face, eyes squinted and nose scrunched up. "That sounds nice. A big family like that, siblings and all, all working together to help each other. It's just me, at home, me and my parents. Was it-- I mean, if you don't mind answering. Did it make it easier to leave, not being the only one they had to depend on?" Laughing, "Not /everywhere/. But enough that... it's not quite so much of a priority?" He's finished his pasta, now, and nurses his beer, tipping his head back to glance upwards at the afternoon light. "Guess I was only fifteen when /I/ left, but... not sure it matters. If you're able to leave, if you're not abandoning things." He looks serious, then, frowning, unhappy, but attempts to brush it away, "Don't see why you shouldn't do it when you're ready for it. Must be a bit lonely, not having siblings. Though... I could stand to have a few less." Her question draws a purse to his lips, and he shrugs. "Maybe. Yeah. Seemed like... I was in the way, if I stayed, you know?" Vyshani's own laughter burbles for no other reason than that K'del laughed, a light flurry of notes to fill the air. "And well, probably a good idea to save some places, right? So that you still have somewhere to look forward to visiting for the first time." Not as entirely air-headed as she might come off as, when she notes the serious turn of his expression she lowers her feet back to the ground and leans forward, reaching towards his shoulder, though only for a brief brush of fingers if she makes it that far. "I never felt lonely. I mean, I always thought it would be kind of nice to have even just one sister or brother, but I never felt... lacking? We're kind of a different sort of family at the 'Station, even though we're most of us not even related. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad." Or, whatever. Put a dampener on the mood. "But you've certainly gotten something more, haven't you? I mean, Caje-- Cad-- I'm sorry, I can't pronounce your dragon's name." With a faint tinge of pink coming to her cheeks for that. K'del doesn't shy away from her hand, but his expression is more rueful than anything. He explains himself about that, first, noting, "My sister-- my little sister, she, well, I guess you'd say ran away, recently. Walked out on a bunch of... stuff. I miss her. I'm sorry; I shouldn't be dropping that on you." He takes in a long breath, then continues, forcefully, as though that will make things better: "Cadejoth. And there's no need to apologise, honestly; it's a weird name. Definitely did get what I wanted, yeah, if not... what I thought I wanted. Worth it. Will you try again, if you get the option?" Vyshani? Is an affectionate person. So for that sharing, there's a sympathetic, "Oh, sweetheart," as she slips out of her chair entirely to offer the Weyrleader a hug -- a sort of sideways/backwards hug, but a hug all the same if he accepts it. "I worked a bar all my life. You don't gotta be sorry. It's not the saddest tale that's been dropped on me. I hope she's alright, that she lets you know she's alright." Having wound up on her knees beside him, she folds her hands in her lap after pushing her hair out of her face again. "Caje--" No. "Ca. De. Joth." Yay, she said it right! If in three distinct parts. "You mean Stand? I... don't know. I don't know if I could. If I'd be brave enough." It would be hard to believe that there hasn't been all kind of sympathy for K'del, of late, but that doesn't mean he doesn't - visibly - appreciate Vyshani's, even lifting a hand to drop it on her arm and squeeze, silent thanks. "Think she'll be all right," he tells her, then, managing a slim-lined smile. "Think she just needs to... be someone else. Somewhere else. Just hard, not knowing." He draws his mouth together, then, and shakes his head. "Anyway. What do you mean, brave enough?" "You love her. I know that and I barely know you. So I'm sure she knows it, too. You'll hear from her." Vyshani says that with conviction, an apparently firm belief that there /will/ be a happy ending to this tale. Taking a deep breath, she turns a little and knee-walks without regard for her skirt closer to the edge of the ledge, reaching out to fiddle gently with the leaves of one of the potted flowers. "When I came here, I didn't really... not care but, take it seriously? I guess. I mean, no one in my family has ever been a dragonrider, not as far back as anyone can trace. We're 'Stationfolk. Sailors. Traders. Fisherfolk. That sort of thing. So it was more like I having a small adventure, and I knew what was gonna happen and it would be a great story to tell when I went back home. But once I was actually /out there/." She shrugs and dips her chin, actually wanting her hair to shield her expression now. "I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to go through it again, after that. I didn't want it before, you know? So it was... I wasn't really risking anything." "And now you do." It's said softly, just barely above a whisper, K'del's head turned so that he can watch Vyshani, and give the faintest little nod. He abandons the subject of his sister, though he seemed to appreciate her conviction while she spoke, instead sliding his attention back out across the bowl. "it's still-- not a risk, maybe. I mean. You get your hopes up, I guess, and there's that. But if you want it--" He breaks off, apparently thinking over his words before he gets them out. "Better to try again and maybe risk disappointment than to never have the chance at all. In my opinion, anyway. Guess it'll be a few turns before we've another clutch here, though." Which makes him frown; he can't be completely unawares of Vyshani's age. Vyshani nods, turning her head a little to peek at K'del from between strands of dark hair. "That was what really made me wonder if staying at Bolgur was really something I could be content with. It's still part of me, still home but when I went back after it was... smaller. Dimmer. I don't know. I love it there and I still miss it terribly some days but I felt... confined. Oh gosh, I sound awful." She chooses not to pursue the thought that by the time there's another clutch on Reachian Sands, she'll in all likelihood be too old. Instead, she pushes to her feet and brushes bits of grit off her skirts with brisk strokes of her hand. "Anyway. There's still plenty of other things I could maybe do. I mean, Milani said I might want to think about assisting her someday, and that's an important job. Or well, who knows! Each new day brings the chance of a new opportunity. Thank you for talking with me." A little rushed, a little forced, a lot flustered. Which might explain why beating a hasty retreat seems to be her clear intention. "Have a pleasant evening, Weyrleader." She even dips a quick curtsey before she turns to scamper off through the Snowasis and disappear into the caverns beyond. Completely forgetting her pen and blank hides. Oops. K'del's head shakes, and he opens his mouth, as though he's about to argue her 'sounding awful'. But she gathers herself up after that, and he ends up merely watching her, managing only to say, "You, too, Vyshani," before she's off and away. He'll collect the pen and blank hides for her, and they'll end up back with her eventually. Because he's good like that. And in the meantime... maybe he'll steal that chair for himself. |
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