Logs:Even Bad Orders
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| RL Date: 6 July, 2011 |
| Who: K'del, Riorde |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: K'del gets to tell Riorde. |
| Where: Resident Common Room, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 23, Month 2, Turn 26 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Taikrin/Mentions |
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| Resident Common Room, High Reaches Weyr Just off of the main passageway lies the small cavern that forms the hub of the residents' quarters, kept immaculately clean by the headwoman's staff and warmed in cold weather by a stone hearth to the left and well back from the entrance. Comfortable chairs and a plush fur arrayed before the hearth make an inviting spot to curl up with a book or handicraft, or just to sit and chat. Beyond, additional chairs stand in clusters throughout the room, some upholstered with age-softened hide, some plain wood. At the widest point of the cavern, a round table gleams with polish, though its surface is nicked and scarred from Turns of use. Beyond the table, the very back of the cavern often lies in shadow unless the glowbaskets there are unlidded to cast cozy pools of light. The commingled scents of klah, smoke and polish permeate the air along with the sweetness of rosemary and lavender. Tapestries hang across the entrances to dormitories and more private quarters as well as the exit to the outer hall, colorful protections from drafts. Like most of the people mulling around and relaxing before dinner, Riorde has got a mug of klah in her hands as she sits in a chair so large it practically swallows her, idly flipping through a book but having given up on anything except a vague appearance of reading. Unlike most of the other people, her skin has the pink flush of a day in the sun, sticking out among all the pale faces. Perhaps K'del has taken a long walk through the icy bowl, since he dismissed Taikrin; he's clearly done /something/ to calm himself down, because as he enters the Common Room, he's not actually shaking with fury. His steps take him initially towards the candidate barracks, but a cursory glance of the occupants of the room seems to have Riorde catch his eye: there can't be too many people with that tell-tale flush. He crosses towards her, regarding her levelly for a few long moments before, uncertainly, his pronunciation not quite right: "Riorde?" Riorde lowers the book as she grows aware that someone's looking at her, at first just enough to look back and then putting it down on her knees when her name is said. "Weyrleader?" K'del's easy enough to identify though he's never directly talked to Riorde before. A suspicion starts to grow in her eyes as to why he might want to now, turning her regard into a rather scrutinising stare. "You're Riorde, then." K'del is just confirming; just making sure. Confirmation or no, he doesn't wait before adding: "Taikrin wasn't supposed to take you outside of the weyr. She's not going to be able to see you for a while." Beat. "Punishment. Because she wasn't supposed to do it." He looks mildly uncomfortable for the delivery of this, his shoulders set at an awkward angle, his expression set wryly. "Why?" No histrionics, not even the immediate 'but---!' of childish protest, but the question word comes loaded in a too-calm tone, like there's something in what K'del says that makes Riorde distinctly displeased beyond the so-called punishment. Her stare is full-fledged now, unblinking, laced through with something hard. K'del frowns, caught off-guard by this question; it makes him hesitate, visibly, before he can manage to respond. "Need her to stay away from you people, for a while. It's not-- she disobeyed a direct order. Can't let that kind of thing happen. Don't want to stand in the way of your true love, or whatever." He runs a hand through his hair, giving Riorde a measuring glance. "If she does what she's supposed to, it won't be for long. But. Need to make it clear: if you break the rules, you get punished." "Us people," Riorde repeats flatly while her expression takes on an air of condescension. She skips right past all of the extraneous stuff, the things meant to placate her, and dives to the heart of the matter. "And what was your order?" She assumes it came from K'del, since he has the whole buck-stops-here demeanour, and he's the one now making excuses in front of Riorde. "Exiles. Islanders." K'del is trying to make it sound better, but it probably isn't going to work; he sounds a little too haphazard, too placatory. Also, his arms cross in front of him, as though that will make him look more firm; it doesn't. "You're not supposed to leave the weyr, not yet. And it's not because we're keeping you prisoner, but it seems-- we want you all to get used to the way life is here, before we start making things too complicated. That's all. Anyway, that's not the point. There was an order, and she disobeyed it. Willfully. I can't let that pass." "So - we're not allowed to leave your weyr." Riorde has been still so far, like immobility gives her strength and fixity of purpose; staring to ticking things off on her fingers is full of deliberate, staccato movement. "But we're not prisoners." Open derision colours tone and regard. "And you get to decide when we're ready to do otherwise?" The third thing in her list, perhaps pointedly ending with her middle finger of her counting hand bent backwards by the index finger of her other hand. "We're not children, you know." K'del is so misunderstood. His mouth opens and closes a couple of times before he manages to actually get an answer out: "It's just easier for now, okay? Don't think you're children. Don't think--" He trails off, struggling to put the words together for a moment before, "It's not like that. It's just--" This is harder than it looks. "It's part of being a rider. You have to follow orders. It's important." "Okay?" Riorde echoes, nearly mimicking K'del. She sets the book to the side, balancing it on the arm of her chair, and slides to her feet. It doesn't really work as a face-off since K'del's so much taller, but at least punctuates the point that the islander isn't about to sit there and take it. "Even bad orders?" Riorde treads a careful line just shy of open defiance with her caustic questions. A faint pink flush crosses K'del's cheeks, resting there haphazardly despite the way he seems so intent on staring Riorde down. Despite his determination. He raises his eyebrows, giving Riorde a meaningful glance. "/Were/ this a bad order, yes, it would still be her job to obey. But it isn't. Don't expect you to understand; you're not a leader. There's good reason for it, though. And that's not the point. The point is: stay away from Taikrin for a while. Don't make it hard on her, if you really /do/ care." Riorde crosses her arms over her chest - it is starting to appear more like confrontation - and stares back, unintimidated. A flash of anger materialises for K'del's comment that she isn't a leader; misconstrued, taken for a dig at her qualities and capacities, it's taken poorly. "Or what, I get thrown out of your weyr?" The question is rhetorical, asked for its irony, and Riorde doesn't expect an answer before she snaps out a "Yes /sir/" that doesn't mean she intends to take K'del's advice - or is he giving orders? She grabs her book but doesn't leave just yet. "I, for the record," she informs him, voice low and tight, "haven't done /anything/ to cause problems. I stayed put where you put us, and go to my lessons, and help out some - I'm not /ungrateful./" "What? No!" K'del, once again, is caught off guard. He looks genuinely unhappy with the idea. "I'm not going to kick you out, for Faranth's sake. Nothing like that. But if you want her back, soon, then it's better for everyone if she can take her punishment and then get on with it. Just--" He tightens the way his arms wrap about his middle. "No, you haven't caused problems. I don't expect you to. I don't /blame/ you." He struggles to keep his tone from getting too emotional. Finally, quietly; "It's not like that. I'm sorry. But I need to keep my wings in order, and that means... it probably won't be for too long." /Please/. "There shouldn't /be/ a punishment." That's the sticking point that Riorde comes back to. "She was doing something /nice./" And self-serving, which Riorde has to know, but that doesn't lessen her impassioned perspective. "And I should be able to leave for an afternoon." Her regard hardens into a glare before she pointedly looks past K'del, an indication that she wants him to move. "Excuse me." K'del steps out of the way pretty much out of instinct, for all that he looks like he wants to say quite a bit more. He limits himself, however, saying only: "She /broke the rules/. Rules are there for a reason, Riorde. Even if you aren't seeing the bigger picture." But he looks uncertain, for all of that. Not to mention unhappy. |
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