Logs:Full Platters
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| RL Date: 20 August, 2015 |
| Who: Alida, Edyis, Ilicaeth, Akluseth |
| Type: Log |
| What: Blue and brownrider share an impropteau dinner, business plans, and thoughts both light and heavy. |
| Where: Mad Smithcrafter's Den Weyr, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 1, Month 8, Turn 38 (Interval 10) |
| Weather: Warm; cloudless evening; light breeze. 78F. |
| Mentions: Aishani/Mentions, Arvan/Mentions, Azaylia/Mentions, H'vier/Mentions, Jo/Mentions, K'del/Mentions, Leova/Mentions, R'hin/Mentions, Taikrin/Mentions |
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| t's later in the evening when Akluseth's watery tenor reaches out to send blue-green waters to soak over desert sands. « Ed would like you to bring yours by, she even promises food. » The last seeming (at least to Akluseth) to be the most pertinent part. And if they choose to come, the blue pair will find that the great metal door has been wheeled open to let in the cool summer breeze. Akluseth is curled to one side of the ledge, that twitchy tail of his hanging over the lip of the ledge. From inside savory scents waft, and Edyis can be heard humming an old Harper tune somewhere inside. Gritty sands - now touched by Akluseth's waters - transform into sand castles that jut out from a Southern beach, where land, sea, and sky meet. Mica flecks wink now and then in the sunlight, and Ilicaeth's tropically-tinged baritone rasps, « Alida missed dinnertime, so that's good. » A pause finds the blue smirking much like his rider usually does. « She's got cinnamon rolls on the brain. » Likely Edyis can't supply *those* off the cuff, though. « We'll be there bottom uv' the hour. Gotta finish up last uv' the business, right now. » This time, the elder dragon is only 'normally' tired, his yawn a faint thing held under easy restraint as he offers the brown a myriad swirl of images: a minor holding over 50 miles inland from Southern Weyr, where the holding family has developed a growing taste for a certain spiced rum. Give the bluepair another 40 minutes, and they're winking into being above the Rim, and soon gliding down to a backwinging landing upon the agreed-upon ledge, Alida disembarking, then rubbing her lifemate's jaw as he curls up loosely beside the now larger brown. Akluseth's given a bob of head in greeting from the blonde and a grunted, "Akluseth..." before the guard strides further inside...looking all about as she does so. In time to that recognized Harper tune the not-scribe hums, the elder woman offers up a counterpoint humming of her own, designed to complement it, back it up. Though she's not singing, her alto voice isn't bad...and it also lets Ed know she's coming in. Akluseth is patient, though intrigued. « I don't think she has any sweet rolls. » Woe! Edyis's airy soprano doesn't cease immediately, but rather stops at the song's natural end. The former scribe is grinning as she casts a glance over her shoulder at the entry. The interior has changed quite a bit since Edyis and Akluseth took over occupancy. Hung from the ceiling everywhere are liquor, and wine bottles of varying shades and hues, each filled with fresh glows providing ambient light. The lights reveal several stretcher frames with drying hides for parchment hung up out of the way to dry. The once empty shelves now filled with various books, notebooks and tools particular to scribe work and other ventures. The hearth is lit, a pot of stew bubbling away merrily, and Edyis herself is at one of the cabinets pulling out a pair of mismatched bowls and a pair of mugs. "Hope you are up for Ale tonight, I got my hands on a small keg of beer from this Telgari bar that I think you will love." Moving to dish up food. « The holders promised 'er a whole batch uv 'em next time she brings a shipment. » Ilicaeth replies back with some humor, the scent of leftover cinnamon, dough, and icing scentable in the blue's mind. « She missed out by an hour on one. » He still can't figure out why humans like such things, but his lifemate sure does enjoy herself a good sweet treat. Not as delicious as raw, fresh meat, but hey, they're only humans. Now, upon Akluseth's ledge, the burly blue finds his own tail twitching its own counterpoint to the brown's, much like the vocal duet of the females inside. « She's just really hungry. » Something that Edyis shall soon fix. Farther inside, there's some studying of the brownpair's inner digs taking place, Alida glancing over to Edyis as she sheds her riding gear in a small pile upon the floor somewhere convenient and out of the way, remarks, "Smithcrafter place...I remember it now from when my class was lookin' fer weyrs." Grin. "Nice work, Ed..." is murmured as the glowlight winks off of all the glass above them. Pause. "Ever think uv' what might happen if we have an earth-shake?" Wicked woman! "Ale sounds fine! Yer stew smells damned good, too." Beat. "You got any bread?" Akluseth offers a rumbling laugh, complete with dancing watery bubbles. Humans indeed! "It had way too much potential to pass up," Edyis admits wryly. "I'll probably get myself cut to ribbons and then have a ton of badass scars after it heals. Provided I don't die of blood loss first." She contemplates looking up at the bottles before she shrugs the thought off. Such is the price of beautiful things. Bowls filled, she moves over to the stool near the wine cabinet where said barrel sits. Filling both mugs with the dark brown liquid that smells at once spicy and inviting. "One of my stepmother's old recipes," Edyis mentions of the stew, "I managed to get my hands on a few rolls." Offering bowl and mug to the blue rider and jerking her chin at a basket on the counter. "I thought about this place, too... then I realized I didn' have enough patience ta restore somethin' ta this extent. My congratulations," Alida notes of Edyis' living area, the blonde shucking off her boots and leaving them behind in order to better enjoy her upcoming relaxation and refueling. "You feel a shake starting, dive under yer bed...if it's hauled up," the blonde smirks only a little wickedly, the bluie soon accepting that licorice-scented ale and taking a testing sip, even as her other hand accepts the bowl of homemade yum. Rolls, too! The guard's practically salivating by now, her grin wide and pleased at everything around her, her long sigh of pleasure at the Telgari beer's taste echoed in dancing green eyes. "First taste's froogin' delicious..." is noted of the brew, the mug set aside in favor of more meaty - and soon roll-y - fare. Omnom! Though she's not a bandsaw, Alida doesn't do the delicate eating thing when very hungry, that's for sure...nothing emerging from her mouth other than little sounds of industrious gustitory enjoyment for what her friend has to offer. In between bites is sighed out, "Ohh... *good* stuff, woman!" Mrphle. "Ever think uv' givin' up 'riding ta become a cook?" Smirkie. And, rather suddenly, there's a small (but slightly widening) golden arrow zipping into the weyr above blue and brown dragon heads, Pyrite chittering eagerly at the scents, sounds, and at the pleasure she can empathically feel her human giving off. Whirring around to investigate Edyis' place for only a handful of seconds, the gravid queen soon enough perches upon the nearest chair back the snorting Alida points to, the firelizard making lots of fey little croons and pretty noises to both women as her blue eyes spin up to a hungry red. Edyis grins, "Rek introduced me to the stuff. There's this local bar there, the proprietor brews it himself." Settling herself with her mug, bowl and rolls onto one side of the quilt covered couch to start her own consumption. "You should have had some of Gretvyn's cooking, that woman could make shoe leather taste amazing." Not that Gretvyn ever actually cooked with shoe leather, mind. There's a low whistle to the perching gold a savory chunk of meat pulled from her bowl between fingers in offering. "Aren't you getting chubby, again." The brownrider teases affectionately. "At least you aren't making your keeper act loopy anymore." A wry smile slanted at the bluerider. For a moment, Alida thinks of giving Edyis a hard (if fun) time over the Telgari brownrider, but she stifles her impulse, only smirking broadly at the other woman when she gives the man that pet name, then giving a little 'click' sound that signals Pyrite to flit carefully closer to Edyis - the gold landing on the arm of the couch nearest the weyrling - and accept that offer of meat with a trill and a delicate nip that won't endanger the brownie's fingertips. While her hungry pet eats with a certain odd fastidiousness, Alida bobs her coronet-braided head, and notes to Edyis, "Sorry I missed out. I'm countin' on you ta keep 'er memory safe with the food you serve." Her own rear now lightly plopped onto the couch's other side, the bluie lifts a silent toast upon the air to Gretvyn, then sips again at her beer before tucking into a roll. With Ed's tease of the always slightly-chubby (and now rounding-out) little gold comes an almost-fatuous sounding trill from Pyrite, and her settling down upon belly as she plies those red eyes upon her favorite victim - er, sucker - er, provider. I'm so *cute* and I'm preggers, and I'm tired and so *cuuute*! "Gah; you've no pride..." Alida snerts at her trying-for doe-eyed pet, the blonde soon neatly tossing the queen a blown-on cube of cooked meat, Pyrite snatching it expertly out of the air in time with her low whistle of appreciation. Omnomnom. The piece that Ed offered her? It's tucked into the curve where her chest and forearm meet up while she polishes off her latest catch. Snerk. "Just fer *that*, if she poots out a queen this time, I'm gonna sicc it on *you*." Though Alida's face is full of smirky humor, something in those wicked green eyes might seem more serious. Zing! Something in Edyis's expression softens at the word memory, but it's gone in a flicker. Sucker Ed must be, because she has no pride about cooing over the little beast, a tender chunk of tuber offered enticingly when the meat chunks are gone. "Funny, and when all her little devils are staring at you doe-eyed and expecting food, I'm going to giggle-snort myself to an early grave." She teases the blue rider back. Finally biting into a hunk of the roll, "You seem like you are doing better though at least." The last offered tentatively. There's a subtle shift of Alida's features with Ed's reaction to the memory of her stepmother, the bluerider more solemn for some moments before the brownrider breaks the silent moments by further indulging Pyrite. That tuber - which usually would rate a pleased chirple and quick acceptance by the gold - now rates only a sniff, a licking-off of the juices, and yet another, somehow pleading look for 'better' food. Alida snickers at her choosey pet, and notes drolly to Edyis, "She's all about the meat, right now...the rawer the better most times, too. Freaky preggo flit." As for those upcoming 'little devils...' "Aw *shells* no!" Sputter. "One's *more* 'n enough." Eyeroll, nom. As for doing better, though... There's a strange little wilting posture from the bluerider, who often is either straight-backed or totally splayed out, her face going somewhat pensive for a few moments before she levels her gaze upon the bronwrider again. "Well..." It's somewhat hesitant, but she'll never get another decent chance like this to spring it on the weyrling. Time for full admission. "I've got too much on my plate, Ed." Nose-wrinkle, nom. After her next bite of stew and roll, a deep sip of ale comes her slightly-thoughtful, "I fall inta bed exhausted way too much, anymore. An' while I've never been one ta slough off hard work..." Sigh. "I guess I'd rather have back a little more down time... when I c'n *choose* ta do somethin' 'r nothin' at all." Out on the ledge, a resting Ilicaeth mumbles a gritty mental comment to Akluseth « Too many irons in the fire...an' she stuck in a few extra, too. » Those ink-dark eyes study Alida intently as she speaks, and even as she doesn't speak. At the mention of meat she wrinkles her nose at the little gold, "Too bad I don't have any scraps left." Fishing out another meat chunk, Alida's mention of a full plate draws some measure of silence from the brownrider for a while. « Maybe she needs a bigger fire? » Akluseth's wisdom at it's finest, but he's not the brains of this operation. Fortunately, Edyis is. "What can I do to help?" Chin tilting then, concern writ gently into her expression. Meat?! Oh yes please NOM. The little gold again accepts Edyis' offering with a croon, tucking into it with restrained relish while her human grins some at their interaction. "I know I'm repeatin' myself, but don't feed 'er if yer not so inclined. She knows how ta get 'er own, an' Mime'll hunt for 'er if she's *not* so inclined." Even Ilicaeth will 'feed' the gravid firelizard with leftovers from his own kills...the blue right now riposting back to Akluseth a rather interesting image: Alida's fire-lit features above a barrel full of aforementioned fire, the blonde adding in poker after fireplace poker until the barrel explodes with a conflagration that consumes her...and leaves of her nothing but an animated singe marking with blinking green eyes that fall to the ground. So much for bigger fires; his rider *is* a fire that tries not to self-consume at the best of times. Snort. Inside: "I think they're talkin' about us..." the bluerider comments around another sip of her ale, her eyes moving back to Edyis' dark gaze again as she studies her former student. "Yer graduatin' very soon. More time, especially after ya get settled inta' a Wing." There's a brief, questioning look given as she mentions that word 'Wing,' the bluie then continuing, "Take up the rum business again, Ed-the-Trader. I'll keep up most uv the other stuff I wrangled inta' being on the side...the flavored vodkas, whiskey. Show ya' those, too, since we're partners...an' we might need ta take over fer each other, on occasion." Shrug. "Don't feed the adorable pudgy firelizard.... you realize that's like saying don't pet fuzzy kittens right?" Edyis grins, "If me feeding her is a problem of course I'll stop, but I've never really minded her or been particularly bothered by her." The former scribe admits easily. "Probably." She says of their lifemate's discussion, "Sure, at least I can do my best with it. Here is hoping that it's a wing that will afford that kind of time." She admits, setting the bowl to where Pyrite can help herself and taking her beer mug between both hands, pulling a long drink from it. "I'd like to get our notes together on it, maybe with a little flirting and a few copious trips to Telgar we can add that proprietor to our list of suppliers." She tilts her head again, with an odd smile, absurdly pleased with the idea. "Granted you've more business sense than I do, so if you don't mind being the brains, I can be the muscle. An apprentice of sorts." "Don't feed 'er if ya don't *want* to..." Alida quickly corrects Edyis while the bluie continues to eat, her grin bright as she takes in how Pyrite nuzzles the brownrider's fingers. Mmm-M! "Fuzzy kittens, fuzzy puppies, fuzzy whers and wherries..." Smirk. A quick point of finger to Ed's own re-statement of unerstanding ends with the bluerider commenting back to that latter statement, "They'll get used ta you again. I might run a tighter ship, but *you* visit more often than I could. Get more frequent shipments out...so our favorite rum purveyor doesn' have ta spew out so much at one sitting, an' the buyers don't have ta pay so much more all at once." Apparently, the blonde's worked all of this out ahead of time. "All I've told pryin' parties who've been wonderin' about that lack uv' an Edyis is that'cha've had very pressing personal business ta attend to until now... which is why 'Lydia' stepped in ta help." Grin, sip. "Glacier will." If it accepts her, though why it shouldn't is beyond Alida. A soft churr and a headrub from Pyrite to the brownie's hand presage the little queen's dipping of her head down into that offered bowl so she can nip up and lick off the remnants of beef, the flit's owner listening as she finishes off the dregs of stew in her bowl...Alida nodding briskly. "Got my notes with me, matter-of-fact; out in Ilicaeth's gear, if yer presently inclined." Edyis' off look inspires a rather wicked murmur of, "That brownrider know yer a'dick'ted?" She just *had* to grasp at that straw, this time! A few seconds pause lets her more politely inquire, "Mind if I nab myself another bowl?" She's still somewhat hungry, apparently. As for business sense...well, the bluerider snorks quite loudly. "Well, thanks fer thinkin' highly uv' me...but I'm gonna have ta burst yer bubble. Most uv' my 'accumen's' just a good gut level instinct fer people, plus observin' *real* Traders over some Turns." Sip. "They give sound advice about the art...after I promised 'em an egg some time ago." Smirkie. "I'll fill ya in on what they showed me, told me. Yer much more personable than 'Lydia,' so I think y'll make better connections than she did." Edyis grins a little, her free hand moving to absently stroke the little gold. « Hussy. » Akluseth rumbles although his irritation seems mostly for show than genuine feeling. "Would be good to do actually," Bending to tug a notebook from it's hiding spot under the couch. She flushes a little at Alida's dig, but even that tinge can't hide the smile that blooms, warm and lazy on her lips. "I can think of worse addictions," is her answer. "Help yourself!" She says of the stew, nodding thoughtfully. At the idea of being more personable, though, she all but giggles. "I don't know if I'd say that, I've a lot to learn about people. Instinctive or otherwise. It's a start, though." Flipping open a blank page and taking the pencil in her free hand she notes the date. Food and affection are two of Pyrite's greatest needs, and when Edyis carresses her, the little 'hussy's' churrs reverberate inside the bowl, and resound off into the air around her. Perhaps relieved and relaxed to some degree, Alida reacts to the sight and sound with a low, and rather liquid peal of laughter, the bluerider both amused and indulgent, for once. « More like attention whore... » Ilicaeth seconds in his typical brisk fashion, though his scouring mental baritone is likewise touched with ample mica flecks and shimmers of humored affection. As for more food and those notes... "Be back in a shake uv' a dragon's tail..." A lazy bounce up from the couch and on to her bare feet, the bluie moves with direction but no hurry out to the ledge, where she wrestles those notes down from Ilicaeth's traveling packs, soon moving back inside after an affectionate slap to her bestest's chest. As she steps quietly back inside, Alida again takes up their former conversation with a cheshire cat grin and a quick, "Damned tootin' there's worse." The neat papers full of notes and such are lightly tossed to the couch beside Edyis, while Alida retrieves her own bowl, and heads back to the hearth for more stew and another roll. "Okay; lemme' put it this way: 'Lydia' can put up with bullshitting an' schmooze talk only so long before it becomes obvious that she either wants ta escape 'r put a divit in the talker's skull." Smirkie. "Edyis' gotta' have better cover than that." Beat. "At least I *think* she does." Snort. Her bowl once more full of stew - sniffed at with a smile - topped by a roll, the blonde strides over and once more reseats herself beside Ed, making sure than her crisp notes are in no danger, first. "Wha'cha got there?" is soon inquired of the brownie's own notes. The affectionate giggle that bubbles up from Edyis at the echo effect created by the stew bowl might be infectious. "I started 'journaling' when I first worked in the records room, but eventually It just became recording observations, things I wanted to remember. Helps me keep all the thoughts in my head organized." She glances up at the shelf lined with five turns worth of notebooks, then. "Really should probably go through and burn them. Or else think of a better way of concealing them. There's a certain danger in keeping records of everything." She admits with a faint frown. "Should have used an alias too, but..." There's a twist of undefined expression. "Seems like people are more open when they think they know everything there is to know about you." An odd note in her tone suggests perhaps that she finds the particular thought strange. They're a pair in their reactions to Pyrite's echoed sounds, then, the firelizard continuing to unhurriedly clean up the bowl while the two women enjoy themselves at her 'expense.' "Knew a guard who did that, too," Alida replies to Edyis words of penning her thoughts for posterity, then nodding knowingly to the once-scribe. "Conceal 'em better. First point in disguise is never lettin' others even know there's somethin' worth lookin' at." Invisibility, even in plain sight, so-to-speak. Nom. "You c'n learn some kind'a secret handwriting 'r shorthand...kinda uv' like the Harpers' drum code. But all fer yerself." And perhaps somewhat like the hand and sound signals that guards can converse in without giving themselves or their intentions away...a 'language' that's rarely seen and even more rarely advertised. A hand waves off the other rider's words of regret over a name 'change' for business. "Too late..." More beer and food goes into her yap, Alida thoughtful at Ed's next statement until she murmurs in understated fashion, "Mmhm." The bluie's expression is ambiguous at best, something strange perhaps chuckling behind her vert gaze. Edyis cants her head, as she listens. "Now there's a thought. Of course, that would mean translating specific sections on ocassion, which involves time, shorthand, though, now there's a thought." The word scratched neatly into a corner to be pursued in depth later. Half crossed between starting her sheet of notes to copy from Alida's and lavishing attention on the lizard. "Might even be handy to develop particular variations, things for messages and the like." Her gaze shifts to the blue rider then thoughtfully. "Mhm..." Alida notes around a blown-on spoonful of stew, the blonde trying not to giggle too crassly when - done with her *own* bowl - Pyrite lifts her neck and head up and burps. "Slovenly female..." the bluie offers in response, the woman earning herself a churr of pleasure from the now-full firelizard before the gold crawls along the back of the couch and drapes her plumping form between both women on the pillow. Happy/full/tiring/peaceful are the emotions she radiates, Alida reaching up with a temporarily freed, off-hand in order to lightly stroke a fingertip along the wee gold's now even-more distended belly... the flit's whirling green eyes slowly lidding. "Little piggie." Snigger. Back to Edyis the bluerider murmurs, "You could always keep a 'key' ta anything ya write in code; but again, y'd have ta hide it well." Shrug. With so many humans lavishing attention on her, it doesn't take long for 'momma' to fall asleep, her tiny apricot claws flexing on occasion as she drifts. "All uv' it depends on how detailed ya wanna get. More detail means better secrecy...but more chance uv' screwin' up, somehow. Balance it off." When she receives that quirk of head, 'lida looks back to Edyis questioningly for some moments, then commenting, "Ya wanna develop somethin' so we c'n share private stuff without fear uv' translation?" "Might be a handy thing to have." She murmurs in agreement. "Little devils are handy, but they can be caught or intercepted," Another affectionate stroke of Pyrite's hide. At slovenly female, Edyis lips twist, "You know they say pets sometimes come to resemble their masters." She exhales then, scratching a handful of lines down. "Yeah, especially with full wing duties coming up, and you having so much on your plate." "Not ta mention if they get distracted 'r scared..." Alida agrees with Edyis of firelizards just before she eats her heaping spoonful of stew. Mmm! "I leave the development uv' any code to *you*..." the blonde soon enough continues around a smirk, green eyes noting the brownrider's carress of snoozing Pyrite, the woman then snorting softly at the weyrling's words of pets. "Well, she'd better get with it, then." The difference between lazing, pudgy gold and her lean, energetic human are rather obvious...not that those make the bluie love her pet any less. There's a longer, more studying look given to Edyis this time as 'lida makes quick work of her next spoonful of dinner, a small wince given as the heat of it stings her tongue. Finally murmured, "You talked with Taikrin, Jo, Leova yet?" "Mm, I'll see what I can do." She says of codes, her eyes going back up to the journals. The statement of differences though makes her smile. "I haven't had the chance to talk to Taikrin, or Leova for that matter. I think Jo put in a good word for me. Snowdrift... has also been suggested." From the lack of a name, probably by a particular bronzerider, if one judges by the twitch of her mouth. "Hard to say at this point what will happen. What should happen. I think there's a few others though that it might be a better fit on." There's another nod between a sip of that licorice-like beer and a nip from her roll, Alida making a small 'tsk' of sound. "Don' drag yer ass any more..." is (rarely) advised of Ed not talking to the brown and greenriders in Glacier, the blonde then shrugging at word of Snowdrift. She's no real opinion one way or another of it or its leadership. "It's *your* destiny; *direct* it." Shrug, eat. "This isn't mine to direct Alida," Her expression growing more pensive, "I have already done all that I can. I don't want to risk coming across as more of a problem than we already are. Especially looking at all the issues we have against us." She exhales then. "Arrogance and overconfidence have done me no favors. It cost me a chance at Savannah. If wherever we end up doesn't fit after we've done our best. Then we'll go from there. I am going to try not fighting the system for once though and see how we do." Those words earn the weyrling a more intent look from the bluie, Alida simply remaining silent, returning to eating her food as Edyis continues speaking. Still... "They haven't? I'm sittin' here with you, talkin' an' eating..." Though, having the bluerider for a friend and confidant is sometimes a mixed blessing, and the blonde acknowledges such with a quick little roll of eyes. "Both have their place, sometimes...if ya know how ta wield 'em just right." Beat. "It's a fine line, an' most can't tread it well." As for Savannah, "*Never* rule out anything. Time an' tide change circumstances, people." She seems serious enough about such. "Even ol' pigheads like R'hin c'n change...a little." Snert. More food and drink finally has the now slightly scowling bluie muttering half to herself, "Yeah; let *me* buck it." That system she once stood so closely by, and now feels such bitterness over. Edyis laughs, "Did I come across to you at first like I already knew everything there was to know?" She exhales then, marking another line, with to-dos. "Fair enough," She laughs. "He's not a pig head, not most of the time anyway." Her smile twisted affectionately then. "What was it about riding that has you so twitchy?" "Nope. Y' came across ta me like a young woman who knew 'er mind about certain things, while searchin' for others." And, as it often is with someone like Alida, finding such a mix of things in another was at least somewhat intriguing...enough to make the often indifferent bluerider look again at Edyis. As for mention of R'hin... there's a faint snort and a low chortle. "Lemme letcha' in on something: the older ya get, the more inflexible y' get, overall. Even now, it's a struggle fer *me*. Gotta keep remindin' myself that only the strong and ADAPTABLE survive." Sigh, nom. At the weyrling's inquiry, there's a faint expression of confusion, and finally Alida's clipped, "I don' getcha." Edyis laughs, not at what is said, but something in all of it, her agreement perhaps. "I mean..." She exhales softly, studying the bluerider then. "People aren't just born that bitter, that angry." It's soft. "But there's more of you, you aren't only that person. Not really. It's like you've wrapped yourself up in barbed wire." There's no judgment in the words, just a gentle curiosity. His swift support and gentle prodding are mixed together like they more-often were when the pair were weyrlings, Ilicaeth not having to take control of his human this time, like he did Turns ago, to keep her from imploding or exploding in various ways. It still takes enough effort even now, though, the blue focused completely on his lifemate, helpfully smoothing her emotional turmoil and evening out her sudden mental cacophany just enough to make Alida capable of something akin to studied indifference when speaking of her past, instead of utter vitriol. Slow and steady. (Ilicaeth to Alida) There's some intense studying of...her food, when Edyis lays it out like that before Alida, the bluerider's features quickly schooled into impassiveness as she cogitates over a lot of Turns of her past. Heavily lashed eyes are hidden under their pale fringes, concealing all of what the woman is thinking and feeling. Until, like long-rusted gears that are finally given a cursory lube, her mouth starts to work...in hitches and starts...the bluie's expression and her tone still as devoid of life as a stone. "My dad was an asshole after my ma died. She was nearly 'is everything, so 'e tossed 'imself inta the Guard like nothin' else mattered." Including her. Shrug. Asleep on the couch, Pyrite twitches a few times. "That was some uv' it." Apparently she's mastered showing anything, because those cool green eyes lift to Edyis again, and then slowly drift to one of the weyr's rocky walls beyond them, behind the weyrling. "I did all I could ta be the perfect Guard...ate, drank, breathed it. Talked the talk, walked the walk...had ta honor the asshole's memory, after all." There's not even a sneer from the usually emotive blonde. "Found out that bein' 'the perfect Guard' wasn't what some uv' the others above me really wanted." Mindlessly, a long sip of beer is lifted to her lips, the mug finally lowered to let out a grunted, "My attitude didn' earn me lots uv' points with enough uv 'em, but even that wasn't really important, in the end." Beat. "Everybody's got their own agendas, their own plans an' ideas. An' when an 'old school' teen female throws lots uv' wrenches in the smooth gears uv' corruption an' the old boy network..." Well, ugly shit is bound to happen, and a certain wide-eyed teen's expectations and dreams are nearly-guaranteed to be not only shattered, but twisted and gutted, re-formed...much like Alida herself. Edyis listens, quiet, as fingers idly trace circles on the sleeping creature sitting between them. "So that's why you have trouble, because you still feel like you are stuck in the middle of that good ole' boys club? Even all these turns later?" She surmises softly. Something deeply respectful in her tone. More silence reigns while Edyis talks, pets Pyrite, the little queen sighing softly in her sleep, her twitching dying back some as the brownie lulls her some with those gentle touches. Alida remains rather distant in aspect, tone, presence as she again mechanically lifts her mug to lips, moistening her dry mouth in order to be able to speak again. "There's networks, corruption, ass-kissing, dirty deals done *everywhere*. Seen 'em, stood up to 'em...done a few. The Weyr's ultimately not much different, really. Our current boss might be more a straight arrow than enough others, but 'e's caved before, fer whatever reasons, likely." A sudden and dark bit of a frown spreads over her features for a moment before the blonde returns to inscrutability. "While I don' believe Azaylia was a perfect ray uv' sunshine, either..." Why should she, after all? "...she was close enough. And look what happened ta her." Sip. "Aishani had 'er own agenda...so does H'vier, Jo, even me." Shrug. "An' most'll do what they need ta ta' make sure what they want happens." Hook or crook. "Truth enough, no one is without their motives." The unspoken but, hangs in the air, amid the crackle of the fire and Pyrite's soft sounds. "It is a daunting thing isn't it? All the secrets and machinations that move the world." And yet, there's something sparked in her aspect with those words, an intriguing challenge. She studies the bluerider thoughtfully at that moment, "So choose the people you let in cautiously. Even then hold them at arms length." There's a softness in her voice. "Remind me to remain on your good side." Noted with a little more emotion now that her 'crisis' point has passed, Alida mutters, "Even the best motivations can be subject ta...warping." She ought to know. At Edyis' words of daunting, the bluerider's eyes spark with some kind of controlled irritation...which she soon enough banishes with another thought, 'lida's plaited head shaking a few times. Those latter words of the brownrider's earn her only a knowing look, and a small wrinkle of nose. "I don' need *anyone's* pity." Just in case Ed is offering some. The blonde is still fiercely independent and proud, apparently. Snert! "If you've got half a brain, y'll know that an' remind yerself well enough, on occasion," the blonde replies with mixed dark humor and tartness. And now that the story is told (abbreaviated as it is), the elder woman slowly allows herself to relax her stiff body, and start eating again. Edyis laughs then, an airy and lively thing. "In all the time you've known me have I ever spared you an ounce of pity?" Dark eyes glinting with amusement then. "I have no need of reminding, your keen to show me anytime we spar." That smile of hers is turning affectionate. "Fortunately I think I've figured out the secret to staying in your good graces." The tease light and airy. "Nope; so don't start *now*..." the blonde notes briskly back to Edyis around a mouthful of delicious stew. As for their training bouts, "Yer opponent ain't gonna' show ya pity in a real fight." Alida only reinforces the 'reality' of this when they train...though she doesn't move their spar sessions into a beating party, either. Firm...but fair, is the guard. The way the brownrider addresses her makes the prickly blonde roll her eyes hugely, and grouse out, "I think I'm gonna *throw* up if ya *keep* that up." Ugh. Secret? Snork! "If it'd been 'feed me,' I'd've been done in Turns ago." Edyis laughs. "Of course it isn't only to feed you, there's beer too, and I figure Ilicaeth and Pyrite will always put a good word in for me." She laughs. "So, taking over the rum, sharing our contact lists is a start." She taps the paper again with her pencil, "What else can we do?" "Beer's in with 'feed,'" Alida notes factually, looking over at her snoozing pet to see Pyrite is once-again quiet in her sleep, though one of her wings hangs limply open from her previous fussing. Damned empathic bond. "She's practically yer second skin..." is noted of the little gold, the blonde snerking softly. "Ilicaeth's a *dragon*." Dragons all seem to try and at least tolerate those closer to their chosen human. More beer presages the 'ex'-guard's loft of one brow, and her low, "What the fuck else *needs* ta be done?" Beat. "Yer lookin' fer more causes, 'r more income?" Smirk. Edyis chuckles a little, "Point well made then." The younger woman offers. "No more causes until there's one worth fighting for. But a little extra income never hurts. Mostly though I want to help you get a little more freedom back." Indeed. Alida finishes up her stew as Edyis speaks, the blonde tucking into the last of that second roll, and only now murmuring, "Needs a bit uv' butter..." before the bread goes down her hatch, as well. "Choose all yer battles as wisely as possible..." the guard mrphs, nods again, setting aside her empty bowl and used spoon in favor of lifting the remnants of her mug aboard her midsection...Alida slowly slumping backwards into the couch as she relaxes further. "Thanks fer that delicious dinner," is sighed out around a bit of a smile, green eyes closing slowly, though the woman shows she's still alert with her answer of, "Ya just did. Yer takin' over the meat uv' the business, again. Gives me enough time ta sit on a beach now an' then." The bluie doesn't note how she used to schmooze around Pern at least once a sevenday, of course. "You are always welcome to pop by for food or drink or whatever you like Alida, and to stay as long as you like." Edyis then states with a wry grin, "Just make sure to knock first." She glances over and starts copying notes, content to relax in good company. |
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