Logs:Isn't It Funny?
| |
|---|
| |
| RL Date: 16 April, 2014 |
| Who: H'vier, Tayte |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Tayte relates the hilarity from earlier in the day. H'vier inexplicably doesn't laugh. |
| Where: Tayte's Rooms, Vintner Hall |
| When: Day 16, Month 7, Turn 34 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Ali/Mentions, K'del/Mentions, Tahvra/Mentions |
| OOC Notes: Back-dated. |
  |
| When H'vier's boots are heard in the hallway, Tayte's voice can be heard from the main living space at the end of it. "Dinner's almost set up!" She didn't cook it herself, of course. Tayte can't cook. But that's fine if you prefer a liquid diet anyway because she's got the mixed drinks down such that one would forget they were waiting for dinner by the second one. Tonight, however, Tayte has brought plates from the dining hall, with healthy portions of roast along with tubers and steamed fingerroots. Tayte's leaned over the table, Tavi settled in her own high seat nestled up against the table, light eyes tracking her mother as she pulls lids from the plates and sets them aside before pouring from the bottle set in the center of the table. One good thing about being at Vintner? There's always good booze. Tonight's is a red wine that's certain to be aged a good number of turns and of a delicious vintage. His boots aren't heard the entire way down the hall because, after a moment, H'vier is nice enough to take them off, and his jacket, too, before continuing his way toward Tayte's voice in the living area. "Mm, it smells amazing. I'm starving. How are my most favorite and beautiful girls tonight?" The last sort of seems to be directed at Tahvra given the higher, slightly excited pitch of his voice. But he pauses at her mother, a hand touching Tayte's hip so he can try pulling her into a brief kiss of greeting when she stands straight again. Tayte has an extra bounce in her step-- or rather her straighten since there's no time to step before she's pulled into H'vier's arms for a kiss. The kiss she lavishes on him, too, might seem especially loving and bright. Her smile is warmer. Her look less stressed. All of these might be heartening things, except, "We're wonderful, but Vali's up at the Weyr. We had a nice visit with Kas, didn't we, sweetie?" This, to Tahvra, the pitch lilting up. Tahvra, oblivious to exactly the meaning of her mother's words, has nothing but big smiles in answer (big smiles that are probably really for her father's appearance). And it's Kas, not K'del. K'del who's been as persona non grata as anyone ever seems to get with Tayte since Tavi's birth. K'del whom Tayte had been avoiding. Guess that's over! The woman's good mood is a very welcome sight, maybe even surprise, for the bronzerider who is all too willing to enjoy the kiss she greets him with. Any smile that had been growing on his face, however, starts to fade again at the mention of K'del. Not wanting to completely ruin the mood, H'vier plasters his smile back into place as he shifts away toward Tahvra. On the way, he says, "Well, that sounds nice." His smile turns more genuine as he leans down to press a gentle kiss to Tavi's head, then sits down nearby, reaching for a glass of wine with one hand while the other carefully ruffles his daughter's hair. "So I take it you're all happy and friends again?" It's already pretty easy to tell that he doesn't like the sound of that, but his voice is still mostly pleasant. He already knows he doesn't have much say in the matter if he wants to maintain certain privileges with Tayte, after all. "It was nice," Tayte responds with a beaming smile for the big man. Maybe she's too much in her own bubble of sunshine to notice H'vier's momentary clouding. "Yes," the blonde chirps, as she finds her own glass. "It feels good to have him back." Because Havi apparently needs to know; maybe these moments are making up for the months of not mentioning the man. "And Tavi really took to him," she adds with a fond smile over the top of her glass. "You should've seen her talking up a storm and smiling." Not real talking of course, just Tahvra's version they've often delighted over. There goes a good portion of H'vier's wine in that gulp he takes while he listens to Tayte talk about the last person on Pern he probably wants her talking about. He sets the glass down as he glances at the food, but before he can manage to put a bite together, he's glancing at Tahvra with feigned (or feigned feigning) hurt on his face. "Oh, darling. You're breaking my heart, here. It's bad enough your mother and sister like that bastard. You're supposed to be on my side." Despite his one-sided exchange with the baby, H'vier smiles thinly at Tayte. "I'm glad you're happy about it." Especially since he thinks she can't possibly keep going on about it. Smack. That's Tayte's free hand swatting the bronzerider's shoulder. Only when she scolds, it's not exactly defense of K'del, but rather, "Language." Bastard is apparently not appropriate for little ears. "Fine, I won't tell you the rest." She flops into her chair, mood dampened. "But," she pauses, using her wine glass to punctuate her next words, "It was funny." Then she sips her wine and ignores the bronzerider, leaving him to make conversation with Tavi or have none at all. Those privileges he was worried about keeping? Oops. H'vier mouths an 'ow' even though it more than likely didn't hurt at all. He doesn't apologize for his language, it's probably not the last time he'll say something inappropriate in front of Tahvra. Instead he eyes Tayte, then decides to use the silence to get in a few good bites. But that doesn't last terribly long either. "Okay, fine. What was so funny?" Just asking isn't apparently good enough. Tayte shakes her head as she picks at the fingerroots with her fork. "No, no. You don't actually want to hear about it, so I won't bore you with the details." Any of the details. Silence. Passive aggressive silence. He is in trouble. "Dammit, Tayte, don't be like that. Of course I want to hear about yours and Tavi's day." He'd just, you know, have preferred if K'del wasn't any part of it. Ever. H'vier continues eating, but he practically stares at Tayte while he does it. Speak, woman! Tayte eyes him. Is this an improvement over ignoring him? She's obviously evaluating him, his sincerity, and being judged is never comfortable. "Fine." The woman allows, though the mood is downright muddied at this point. "So there we were, Kas holding Tavi while we were making up," Up. She definitely said up, not out. "And our little Tavi starts making a new noise. You know, one of her repeated ones, only this one had me laughing until I cried, only because Kas was holding her. And of course she didn't understand the significance; she was just making noise, but still. Too funny," She finishes, apparently not realizing that she skipped the one detail that makes it all click: what the sound was. Once Tayte is done judging him, H'vier, of course, listens. Attentively, even. And once she finishes, he waits for a few moments. When she doesn't say anything else, his eyes narrow thoughtfully. Did he miss something? Nope, he was actually listening. "A funny noise, I take it?" "Oh!" Chalk it up to sleep deprivation. "Didn't I say?" Tayte may have truly thought she did. "She was babbling 'dadadadadadada.'" Funny, right? She's smiling. As if on cue, or maybe she was listening, Tavi tries an experimental, "Dadadadada," pause for reaction. Guess who's not laughing! Really, guess. Never mind, it's H'vier. He's not even smiling. Fortunately Tavi distracts his attention from saying something really stupid. At least for a few moments. He does smile at her when she pauses, he can't help that. But he rounds back on Tayte, "Hilarious. So, you've just made up with K'del again or did you somehow forget to tell me you've been making up with him for awhile now?" Sounding a little accusatory there, man. Not laughing. Tayte's pretty face is clouded with confusion that deepens with the tone turned on her. She glances toward Tahvra; maybe the baby can explain it to her! No? Then back to H'vier. "No?" But she sounds uncertain. "Just." This is more firm. "I haven't seen him in--" It's impossible to say since time is so blurred together just now,"-a long time." She concludes, blinking. He doesn't look particularly convinced but at least he doesn't blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. Instead H'vier just nods his head slowly, studying Tayte for a few more moments before he goes back to eating his meal in silence. There's more blinking, of course. Perhaps the flutter of lashes is supposed to somehow fill the silence that grows between them. Tayte looks down at her mostly unfinished plate and then over to Tavi and she rises. She lifts her chair and moves it away from her own plate and over next to the baby where there's a tiny amount of mashed fingerroot and mashed redfruit prepared for her and she takes up the much smaller spoon, gingerly dipping it into the mashed stuff. Thus begins the arduous task of feeding Tahvra, a task almost always reserved for after Tayte herself has eaten, since things can get... messy. He's no doubt been thinking a lot in these silent moments, so it might be a surprise that H'vier still manages to say something pretty dumb once he finally speaks again. "I don't want him over here playing with my daughter. Or any other guys." The last is said like he assumes she's had other company while they've been living so far apart. The spoon hesitating in the air as Tayte levels a look at H'vier were it not for the fact that Tahvra was waiting for that spoon, thank you very much, and emits a shrill cry for the delay. That Tayte has to turn her focus on the baby to forestall more noises like this means she has time to think of the best way to respond. It surely can't be: "But he's her uncle," which sounds a lot like 'Don't be stupid.' "Bullshit," says H'vier, clearly not getting the 'don't be stupid' suggestion. "He's just some random asshole that you let your daughter, my daughter, decide is her father for Faranth knows what sharding reason." He's apparently still a little hung up on the idea that Yvalia is biologically his, even if he hasn't talked about it much in awhile. There's another equally shrill complaint from Tavi to punctuate the way Tayte freezes and stares at him. She solves the empty mouth problem and then H'vier is the recipient of one of her signature 'if looks could kill' expressions. "He is my best friend whether you like it or not. Just because you've knocked me up more times doesn't mean you get to tell me who gets to be a part of my family." For the moment she won't point out that Tavi's hair is starting to brown where Vali's has stayed blonde; not that that matters because they really will never know. H'vier glances at Tahvra and there's a sense that he might be even more stupid if she weren't here as an adorable little buffer. The bronzerider meets Tayte's look evenly and doesn't seem particularly threatened by whatever pain she's wishing him. "I don't like it. And I'm sure you'd just love it if I started spending a ton of time with some hot little piece of-- woman." See, he's learning. "I don't care who you hang out with as long as you're thinking with your head," Tayte's look is meaningful, because baby ears preclude her from completing the statement. "Why are you so threatened by him? It's not like I'm interested in him." Anymore. For the moment. Funny how estrangement has a way of doing that. "He's just my best friend and Vali's Dad." Which for most other opposite-sex inclined people would seem to indicate something very different than it does here. The next screech is forestalled by the spoon. The brief flicker of expression in his face probably says more than he'd manage himself. H'vier is threatened because he doesn't believe any of that 'just friends' stuff. He was quite happy when they weren't talking to each other at all. Instead of saying anything, though, his attention turns to pouring himself another glass of wine, more full than would be considered appropriate in polite company. Tayte should just let it all go. Saying, "I thought I was practically your weymate. Don't you trust me?" is surely not what she'll have wanted to say when she mentally retraces how this night went awry later at a four-in-the-morning feeding. H'vier finishes his wine, entirely too quickly, before he says anything to Tayte. The fact that he says it calmly and quietly probably means something all on its own, "I thought you were, too, until you made it very clear to me that you weren't." He doesn't comment directly on the matter of trust. "By your standards," Not sleeping with anyone else and being together, "I am. It's not my fault that our definitions differ." Scream! Oops. Baby. Tayte hurriedly fills the spoon and makes the offering (largely sacrificial given how little actually makes it into Tahvra's mouth). "You don't even want to be, Tayte," H'vier practically growls, finally standing up even as he reaches for the bottle to pour himself another glass. At least that's better than storming out? Or is it? She's probably known him long enough now to realize he might be working up to that point. Only Tayte intercepts while Tavi watches the spoon go 'too far away' and screams. Instead of the bottle going into Havi's hand, it's the spoon. "Here. Feed your daughter." He wouldn't walk out on Tahvra would he? Not even when screams are quickly giving way to tears that wrench at the average parent's heart? A spoon was not what he wanted. But H'vier only tightens his jaw and scoots his chair closer to Tahvra so he can try feeding her instead. Maybe she'll appreciate his focus, too, because after a brief glare at the blonde, all of his attention is on their daughter. Does she ever! A parent more focused on her dinner than fighting? That's probably not how she really sees it, but there's no more demanding screeches and a lot more mmming and coos so long as that spoon keeps coming. Tayte waits a while, to let Tavi work her magic and hopefully soften him up before she steps up behind her not-weymate and drapes her arms around his neck. "Havi, you know I love you." Her voice is soft and sincere. Tahvra does do a rather nice job of relaxing the bronzerider back into a less confrontational state. There's definitely something about the baby girl that turns H'vier into the sort of guy he never quite realized he wanted to be before she was born. So when Tayte's arms come around his shoulders, there's no protest from him. "I know, baby," he says even while he continues distracting Tavi with that spoon. "I just hate the thought that I might lose you to someone like that." You know, a decent human being that Tayte probably deserves way more than him! "You're not going to lose me," It's easy to reassure him of that now, when she doesn't have other options and when he's not paying other women for sex. Tayte presses a kiss to H'vier's cheek and then lets her hands lightly massage across his shoulders. "I know you don't like it, but K'del is part of my family, this family. So you have to find some way to make peace with that." Or not. "Tavi will know, when she's old enough to understand that you are her dada, not Kas. And he cares about her because he cares about me," That's surely going to help, "But he's happily making babies with Ali, so you can really stop feeling threatened by him." Because men can only make babies with one woman at a time. Especially bronzeriders by reputation. Hey, he can totally get laid without having to pay for it. Paying is just, you know, easy mode. "I know, I know." It's easy to say that right now while he's feeding his daughter with his partner touching his shoulders. "And stop calling it threatened. I could bust his face if I wanted to." Never mind that that's not the sort of threatened she's talking about. He probably even knows that. Especially since he adds, "And I'll do just that if I ever find out he's trying to get his hands on you." Despite the threat, H'vier stays nicely relaxed, even smiling at Tavi as he tries to get another spoonful into her. "You won't ever do that if you expect to get between my legs ever again." Tayte's voice is stern enough that even Tavi stops mid lip-smacking to look at her as she pulls her hands away. "He's my friend." And therefore is under her protection. "I don't go around punching your friends, do I?" Does he have friends she could. "My friends are men." Which means he doesn't sleep with them. At least not those guys that ride female dragons that he sometimes involuntarily ends up with. And never mind that there's probably no one that would actually consider H'vier a friend in any sense of the word that Tayte would accept. The bronzerider avoids looking at Tayte, instead trying to tempt Tahvra back into eating. "I won't punch him, okay?" "Okay," Tayte doesn't need to reiterate the consequences; they've just been said. The blonde settles at the table once more to actually eat her food. In the meantime, Tahvra's tiny tummy has filled up and so now all the spoonfuls are largely rejected either outright or into her mouth and right out onto her bib. When Tahvra decides she's had enough, H'vier starts cleaning up around her, glancing at Tayte on occasion without commenting further on the subject of her best friend. Once he's finished cleaning her off, he picks his daughter up and settles her on his lap, careful not to jostle her in any exciting way that might make any of that food come back up. And now that he can, he uses one of his hands to pour that drink he'd been trying to earlier. As long as the drink pouring isn't a prelude to his storming out, Tayte won't stop him. Some would tell the woman to quit while she's ahead, but Bitra bred her to press her luck. "Can I ask you something, Havi?" The bronzerider takes a drink before setting his glass back down so there's no chance of Tahvra wiggling out of his grasp. He glances over at Tayte as he responds with his own questions, "Is this a Question or a question?" Did she ever use all of those up? He probably should have kept better track. Then again, he should probably just answer all of her questions honestly. No! She's been saving those for important moments... which this apparently is. "It can be a Question if it has to be. Though I hadn't intended it to be. If I had, I wouldn't have asked if I could." But whether or not this deducts from her outstanding balance, Tayte poses her question calmly. "Why are you so sure Yvalia is your daughter?" There were, after all, several others to consider. Judging by his expression shortly after she's asked her question, H'vier hasn't had quite enough to drink to just answer it. He frowns and looks down at Tahvra, which makes him frown a little less soon enough. Dang babies. "I'm not," he admits with a small, dismissive shrug. That's enough about that. In his dreams. "Then why do you always insist she is whenever K'del comes up? If I hadn't reconnected with you, would you want us to be alone? Without a family? Do you hate him so much that you would wish that on me?" Tayte follows up with deliberate consideration. "Of course I wouldn't want you to be alone. I clearly recall telling you that you should be with him more than you should be with me." He did say that, right? Maybe he just thought it to himself enough to convince him he did. "I do hate him a lot, though," H'vier adds like it's an important detail. Tayte rolls her eyes in answer. "Look, he can be just as much of an idiot and a jerk as you can. So erase that thought all together or I'll be forced to explain the times he has been and you won't like it." Threat or promise? "You didn't answer the question. If you're not sure she's your daughter, why do you insist she is when Kas comes up?" The look H'vier gives Tayte is one of his 'I don't really one to talk about it' looks. But he also knows Tayte well enough to know that she'll just insist he say something anyway. So after a few moments he allows, "Because there's at least a chance that I am." There's more, surely, but instead of saying it, H'vier coos at Tahvra. She's safer than her mother. "There are more chances that you're not," Tayte answers quietly as she reminds him just how big a slut she used to be. She's stopped eating again and is, instead, moving things around with her fork. "Do you love her?" The possible daughter. The fact that H'vier has to think about that question at all probably isn't a very good sign. He at least doesn't point out anything else about his chances. It's clearly not the bigger issue here. He glances back up at Tayte, but mostly watches his daughter, "I care about her." Same thing, right? "She deserves to be loved by her father." Tayte's alto is again quiet, but now firm. "K'del loves her. They've loved each other practically since they met. Maybe it was just timing, with Kas wanting more children but not being 'with' Ali yet," Exclusively anyway, "And Vali's little friend who didn't have a dad just like her finding out he did and her wanting one too..."She puts down her fork and reiterates. "She deserves to be loved." H'vier doesn't say anything to protest the idea that Yvalia deserves to be loved. But there are clearly other things he isn't saying. And instead of saying them, he rises with Tahvra, turning as he says, "I think she needs to be changed." Tayte watches the bronzerider, look turning suspicious. "What aren't you saying, H'vier?" Uh-oh. Full honorific, not just Havi. The bronzerider pauses, shifting Tahvra and maybe trying to decide what to tell the woman. But when he turns back to Tayte, he only says, "Look, if you want me to stay tonight, just drop it. Okay?" "Why can't we ever talk about this, Havi?" At least now she's not looking suspicious. At least now Tayte sounds like she's pleading gently with him. At least now when she rises and takes a hesitant few steps toward the man, it's clearly not done aggressively. "Because you don't want to know the answers. You think you do, but you don't. And I don't want to have to explain myself, because it's not going to change how I feel and it will just make you upset." And H'vier has been trying to do that a little less these days. Not always very successfully, granted. "But I do!" Or thinks she does, anyway. Isn't it sort of the same thing? "You want to know why we're not weyrmates?" He probably does not think he wants to know this and does not actually want to know this, but Tayte's going to tell him anyway, "Because there are things we can't talk about. That we won't talk about. How am I supposed to commit some significant chunk of my life to a relationship that still has topics that are taboo?" Her look is frustrated, and something else. The kind of thing that now realizes this may have not been a good thing to say out loud. Oops. If nothing else, this will at least get Tayte the answer she thinks she wants. Which, admittedly, might have been the point all along. He doesn't quite yell, but his voice is raised. "I resent her for it, okay? For making him a part of your lives forever. And I hate that you let her make that decision." H'vier doesn't linger there for her reaction, he takes Tahvra to go change her. It's good that H'vier makes a quick exit while Tayte is still stunned. Good, because if he'd waited, he'd have to see her cry instead of just hear the sobs coming from down the hall. Good, too, because if Tahvra had seen Tayte cry, it might just set her off as an act of solidarity. Even after enough time has passed for Tahvra to be changed, H'vier doesn't come back. It's not like he's proud of his feelings. And he more than likely doesn't want to face Tayte and have to try defending himself. Or maybe he just wants to hold off her kicking him out for the night a little longer. So he'll just hide with their daughter in her room. Tayte isn't about to come look for him, either. So eventually, it's Tahvra's 'milk' cry that prompts any movement on either side. The blonde moving quietly toward the bedroom to fulfill her motherly duty. Either H'vier heard Tayte moving or he'd still rather sit here than hand off the increasingly restless baby to her mother. When Tayte comes into the room, though, he rises and gives Tahvra to her. He kisses his daughter on the head and tries to do the same with Tayte. "I'm sorry." The apology robs Tayte of her opportunity to ignore H'vier, since it comes so close on the heels of her taking Tahvra from him which requires acknowledgement of his existence to some degree. When she looks up at him, it's with reddened eyes that have a guilt-inducing sadness to them. But she nods, silent, and moves over to the bed, settling herself to solve the fussing baby problem. H'vier turns as Tayte settles onto the bed and he watches for a few moments. But instead of moving to join and watch for longer than that like he might usually do, the bronzerider gives the pair some privacy. Tayte might even hear him let himself out of the front door a few minutes later. At least he thought to take some of the dishes to the kitchen? |
Leave A Comment