Logs:Convict Cohorts
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| RL Date: 22 February, 2010 |
| Who: Taikrin, Xeoshen, Zarenya, Zahriel |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Bad weather has the convicts stuck in the caverns instead of working. They stink up the place for a while, until Journeyman Miner Zahriel intercedes. |
| Where: Living Caverns, HRW |
| When: Day 11, Month 1, Turn 22 (Interval 10) |
| Weather: Raining buckets. |
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| Xeoshen? Complain about a fellow con having her boots on the table? Nah. "Aye, me." He grunts, and leans back in his chair to relax, may as well take advantage of this extended break as long as possible. "Good, was a mad house earlier." He says, and sips at his klah. "I see it's still rainin' buckets out there, maybe they cancelled work for the day." One could hope, right? Zarenya chuffs lot in her throat and continues rocking her chair back on the back legs slightly. "You ain't kidding. Y'lucky you bailed when you did. Women. Cackling hens, the lot of them most times." Her mouth twists downward into a considering frown at the thought of the work, shaking her head. "We should only be so lucky. Knowing us, they'd put up tents to divert the rain or something and say that water helps the rock move better. Or crack up better." "Shards, yer such an idiot Ganner!" Taikrin, seated with her usual work detail, abruptly rises to her feet. "If they was holdin' us here 'cause they were gonna send us back t'Crom, they woulda /said/ somethin'." Face set in a mask of irritation, she swats irritably at her companion's shoulder. His utter lack of response - aside from a raised brow - only serves to annoy her more. With a muttered, "Dimglow!" she stops away from the table, hesitating only a moment to survey the crowd. Just as abruptly as she'd risen, Tai plops gracelessly down next to Xeoshen. "You believe that idiot?! Back t'Crom..." A pause, in which Zarenya is sized up, then, rather demandingly, "D'I know you?" Xeoshen snorts. "Glad I decided ta take a good long soak then." He remarks, and shakes his head. "Aye, that's true, when have we ever been that lucky, we get sweaty crackin' 'em, the rain'll just wash it away." He rolls his eyes, and then looks up at the commotion, and raises an eyebrow. "Back ta Crom? I hope the shards not. I aint heard nothin' about goin' back to Crom, far as I know we're stuck here 'cause it's rainin'." Zarenya waves her finger around inthe air in that 'whoopee' gesture. "And we'd be clogging up the infirmary, with all that chill that'd've taken us, if there be that sit'ch involved. Salt an' water makes it colder. So they probably won't call on /all/ of us to get back to work for that reason. No labor force. Guess we'll see." Her eyes flick, in their sleepy-narrowed state, toward the scene that's starting to unfold at the other table, but as the other woman comes flopping down, she stops the rocking of her chair, but her feet stay propped on that table. The absent sleepiness is gone in a thrice, but the narrow of her eyes increases. "What's it to ya, con-vict." Just as demandingly. Taikrin rolls her eyes at Xeoshen in exhasperation. "That's what /I/ told 'im. He's so sure they're jes waitin' for the chance t'screw 'im over. 'Specially with all this talk 'bout th'candidates." As Zarenya speaks, Taikrin's sloppy posture slowly stiffens; the gaze she turns on the other girl is suddenly wary. "Pretty sure I ain't been on detail with you." Brown gaze drifts measuringly along the length of Zarenya's sprawled-out length. "Would'a remembered, girl like you swingin' hammer." Zahriel heads in from the inner caverns. Zahriel has arrived. Xeoshen nods. "Yeah, exactly, and I'm sure the infirmary people would be thrilled havin' ta take care of a bunch of sick convicts." He snorts, and sips at his klah. "'ey, with the way our luck runs, they'll throw up cavers, so we can still work, or decide enough was enough, and make us work in the rain anyway." He snorts. Zarenya nods her head slightly to Xeoshen at forst, but her eyes stay on Taikrin, maintaining her position with easy languidity, for all she moves. "Be a good way to kill us off, but not until we get finished with cleaning up the mess. Though, could always just shuffle a new load of convicts over here. Won't be no big thing." But her next words shift to Tai, eyeing her up and down. "Girl like me? And what, convict, is that supposed to mean?" Casually. But pointedly. "Can't mix mortar proper in th'rain. Gonna smash someone's foot in, on breakin' duty, too. 'Sides, you think /that/ lot wants t'be all wet?" Taikrin indicates the overseers with a jerk of her short-cropped head. Her gaze remains locked on Zarenya, though. A leg is swung up sides onto the bench, allowing her posture to shift enough to be comfortable propping her head against a closed fist. "Oh, you know..." Taikrin allows a hint of a smirk to curl thin lips upwards, one hand waving in Zarenya's general direction. "Big talker, loud walker. You comfortable, there?" Xeoshen so votes for a cat fight between the two women cons! Cough. "Eh, good point, just kill off one bunch, get another moved in, yeah, that's probably their plan, some probably wouldn't mind if we drowned in the rain." He grunts, and sips at his klah. "Nah, they don't, why do ya think they let us hang around in here, insteada makin' us go out there? Personally, I plan ta enjoy it long as I can." Zahriel's entrance is quite unobtrusive, fingers working their way through damp hair as he makes his way towards the nearest klah pot. A second journeyman follows at his heels, muttering softly. Zare's reply? "Look. We've gone over the echos twice. It's fine. I'd like to get this done before I'm called to sit my exams." Given his age, that's probably several turns away yet. "I'd like to move the work inside before the rains get really bad." Waving off the next mutter with a sigh, the journeyman takes a seat near the convicts. This, apparently, was quite planned, for as soon as the other miner sees them, he wrinkles his nose and moves away with a loud snort. "Oh, perfectly comfortable, /thank/ you for asking," Zarenya purrs throatily at the female convict with more than a little feeling, and more than a little roll to her eyes. "Not that it's your concern, for one talkin' s'loud as you now. Who you be?" The snort from over there makes one brow quirk up, her hands removing themselves from behind her head to rake through her hair and shove off her hood. Her hair falls straight, but she pulls her bangs back into place and resettles the hood on her head with much care, absently. "Enjoy it while y'can. Never know when we be yanked up by the collar and marched back to work." To Xeo. Xeoshen snorts. "I'm Xeoshen." Why put fuel on the fire? Girls fight dirty He'd still love to that cat fight between them though. "Exactly why I'm enjoyin' it." He says to Zarenya. "I doubt they'll let us have the whole day off, they'll probably find a way ta get us working out there again, somehow." He remarks, and looks up, noting the Journeyman's arrival, and departure, giving a smirk. "Hey, I took a bath not at hour ago." He remarks to Zahriel. "Wha, me? Taikrin, a'course. Ain't you heard 'bout the party, girl?" Taikrin is not, apparently any more forthcoming on how those two could possibly be related. Zahriel's arrival is finally enough to claim her attention; her gaze jerks over to the journeyman, all pretenses of smirking subsumed under wariness once more. Xeoshen is not afforded a look, but rather a comment muttered rather under her breath, "Wouldn't admit that too loud, Xeo. Don't want it known we ain't miserable." Louder, then, voice still filled with wariness, she greets the miner with, "C'we help you, sir?" Zahriel studies his klah mug, not drinking from it, but merely cupping his hands along the sides. At Xeoshen's remark, the journeyman looks up, offering the convict-candidate a blank stare. "That's nice. I'm certain that those nearest and dearest to you will be quite pleased by that." At Taikrin's question, his gaze swivels to her, consideringly, before he jerks his shoulder upward in a half-shrug. "Not unless you know a way to stop the rains or hold back the snow. I hate working in the winter." Grimmacing, he drops his gaze back to his cup. Oh, they do fight dirty, but Zarenya isn't moving, other than moving her heel again, settling her chair back into its precarious rock. "I'd be keepin' that in your gullet, Xeoshen, regardless. They got ears, y'know. An' heard something about a party, but I ain't heard jack about no one like you, girl." One good turn. Zahriel's words make the dark-haired woman bark out a laugh. "Join the club, boy. We're all huffing at the rain. Don't like it, find something inside to do. Or get a cloth and cover your area." Shoulders shrugged. "Not me. Don't think they can sew a sheet big enough t'keep us dry." Taikrin moves her focus off Zahriel only with difficulty, and the way she focuses in again on Zarenya isn't precisely pleasant. "Ah well, don't expect a girl like t'pay attention anyways. Y'can thank me later." The smile she flashes is all teeth, more of a grimace than anything else. She's obviously on edge: her attention darts once more to Zahriel, and she's silent a moment before venturing, "Ain't flooding the worksite none, is it? We ain't gonna work in a flood, right?" Xeoshen snorts to Taikrin. "Whatever." He mutters back to the girl, and shifts further down the bench, enough that he can stretch out length wise on it, and lounge back. The overseers might frown, but at this point they're not doing much, not like they're going far with the weather, or the con's are really causing trouble. "Aye, is the worksite, alright?" He asks, break, and all is nice, though idle hands can cause problems eventually. He turns to snort at Zarenya. "I know they got ears little lady. "Depends on what ya want ta know about me." Boy? Zahriel hasn't qualified for that particular term in quite a long time. However, Zarenya's impertinence doesn't earn her a quick retort - instead, the journeyman's hazel eyes flicker to her and linger, studying her thoughtfully for a long moment. "Young lady," he finally says, only a faint chill frosting his even baratone, "as with you," and the way he flicks his fingers to indicate all three of them says he includes all the convicts, "I have little choice on where or when I work. I would love to ensconse myself inside all day with the echo reports, but ensuring that you have safe working conditions means that I must, on occasion, venture outside. However," and here an amused note enters his voice, "the weather is not why I hate working in the winter. And no, the worksite is not being flooded," he assures the other two. "We've been taking steps in that direction to keep it from doing so." "Helps when no one mentions no 'Tai', darlin'. Guess you just don't make the cut," Ren offers up just as sweetly as a rummer rain and eyes Zahriel and Xeoshen both absently, her brow lifting. "Don't call me 'little lady', Xeoshen. Or 'young lady', outta you, miner. You ain't so much older than any of us, so don't go be acting such. Don't like the rain, put on a hood. And mind y'step. Don't want you to /slip/ out there, you know." Sweet, still. "Expect nobody thought ya'd keep it in yer pretty little head there, girl." Taikrin can play dirty, too, and Zahriel's continuing attention only serves to make her reply waspish. "No point wastin' the breath, like." Another swift, sweeping look at the other two convicts at their ease, then she shifts her body away from them in a slow, deliberate motion, her posture stiffly upright once more. "Wasn't lookin' forward t'workin' a hammer on ice, uh, sir. Journeyman," is cautiously offered towards Zahriel. "We ain't--" A pause, then she tries again, "Ain't a problem in the walls, right?" Suddenly, a rush of words spill out, concern overcoming wariness. "'Cause it don't look like mortar's holdin' right down on th'south side an' when I were down there yesterday there were a coupl'a breaks off th'roof an' the pieces're pretty jaggy-like--" Just like that, she breaks off again, teeth coming together with an audible click. "Uh. Sir." Xeoshen snorts at Zarenya. "Whatever, then don't go makin' comments, and causin' problems, ya wanna get the rest of us in trouble?" He asks her, and puts a cheek in the palm of his hand, though Tai's babbling does catch his attention, and he winces. "Aye, wouldn't water gettin' into them cracks make them worse?" He asks, and looks toward the miner, for the answer, they wouldn't purposefully put them in danger, would they? Then again, they are just criminals. "I think I was supposed ta be on mortar duty taday after lunch, but the rain changed plans." Zahriel merely offers Zarenya an amused look. "Okay." That's it. Then he dismisses her by the simple means of offering his full attention to the other two. His brows draw together in a puzzled expression as he notices Taikrin's nervousness. "I don't bite," he offers gently. "Some of the others might, but I won't." Even if asked? Ahem. "There are no problems that I have found," he continues, dropping his voice soothingly. "A few weak spots, but we've been shoring them up as the echos come back." He does, however, drop his hands away from his mug to dig in his belt pouch, pulling free a small notebook and stick of charcoal. "But, if it makes you feel safer, I'll be happy to have a team go in and check the area you mentioned. Where exactly did you see the problem?" Not one of your typical convict-eating miners, for certain. "Not worth knowin', more like." Zarenya mutters off to the side at Tai and stills her rocking again, absently glancing over the lot of them and rolling her eyes at Xeoshen. "Ain't makin' no damn problems. Shush y'self." It's her turn to be more amused, one hand reaching out to snap up a half-forgotten mug and draw it closer. But she's obviously not gonna let herself be ignored. "Still, seems might be a place for the rain to seep in, pool up at the base. Make it hard to finish the wall there, if it don't freeze over. If it do, axes break it up pretty easy." Look, contributing. Taikrin takes an audibly deep breath, and while some of the frenetic energy does appear to drain from her expression, her spine remains uncomfortably upright. "Ice could make'em bigger, like, up 'round the top too? Oi, Xeo, you see where I was workin' on, yesterday? It look more jaggy t'you?" She allows her gaze to slant towards Zarenya, but only for a moment. With a low snort, she fixes her attention back on Zahriel. "Would appreciate it." Relaxation is slow in coming, but with the talk of business Taikrin slowly begins to lose the fight-or-flight reflex. "S'over t'the right of the hole, coupl'a paces in, maybe? Kinda an overhang, like. Ain't seem t'like the shorin' up." Well, considering some of the other miners, Zahriel is certainly a refreshing change, indeed. "Good ta know." Xeoshen remarks to the man. Yeah, ice was no fun to work in either, not just making things harder, but the slipping on it, the falling on it, etc etc. He nods to Taikrin. "Aye, I remember that." He agrees. "It weren't lookin' right, more jagged like she said." He says in agreement, and nods. "Ayre, definately remember it, and somebody lookin' at it would be good. Thought I mentioned it ta somebody yesterday day, but they musta just took a glance, and brushed it off as nothin'." Zahriel makes note of the area Taikrin mentions, writing with swift, sure strokes before tucking both notepad and stick back in his pouch. "First chance I get," he promises, "I'll bring it up and we'll get someone in there to look at it. This weather can make it tricky - even if the site stays dry, moisture in the air can play games with the materials." He glances at his untouched mug of klah - or was it merely a convienent hand warmer? - and instead rises to his feet. "It happens," he remarks soberly to Xeoshen. "But I won't brush it off. Look here." He taps his knuckles smartly on the table. "You're convicts, but you're serving your time. You don't cause trouble, and I won't make any for you. Do your duty, don't make mine any harder, and if you have problems, I'll try to get them taken care of. I know many of the miners resent working with you - but I understand how important you are to this project. The scope of it demands more labor than we have Crafters to provide." He finally allows his gaze to rest on Zarenya again, ironic this time. "You respect me, I'll respect you." There might be an 'or else' hanging at the end of that statement, but he doesn't put voice to it. Zarenya has nothing more to say, or if she does, she doesn't bother to offer it over, just taking a sip from her mug consideringly. Her eyes narrow on Zahriel, but there's nothing it it besides the shift of her head to the side. Just enjoying her break. That's all! Taikrin nods along as Xeoshen backs up her observation, though too-thick eyebrows twitch together at mention of the other miners. "Ain't got no intention of lettin' myself get smashed under fifty stone of rock, me," comes the sweeping declaration. "Ain't mind helpin' you if it gets me out in one piece. Seen a couple nasty falls in down in one'a the coal mines, few too many fer me." Zahriel is eyed with something approaching actual, grudging respect -- as opposed to the flat-out nervousness he previously engendered. "/I/ ain't gonna end up a greasy smear 'cause I had t'work my mouth some." A somewhat nasty look is shot towards Zarenya again, though it's not maintained. Taikrin abruptly rises, slapping hands against her thighs as she does so. "Need a drink, me. Too much sittin' around. Xeo. Journeyman." Beat. "Girl." That said, she turns abruptly on her heel and heads towards the, well, furthest pot of klah she can find. } |
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