Logs:Months and Turns
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| RL Date: 8 October, 2009 |
| Who: Hattie, Jiella, Kash |
| Involves: Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Kash meets Hattie, and the pair of them, plus Jiella, talk candidacy and Impression -- and the very real possibility of /not/ Impressing at all, and what that will mean. |
| When: Day 16, Month 12, Turn 20 (Interval 10) |
| It's certainly not the nicest of days to be lingering outside for long, but it would seem that the lack of rain or snow makes this afternoon one where not a great deal of people have thought to seek shelter in the galleries. Of course, there are small groups dotted around here and there, but the place hasn't been inundated with people. Though to be found on the Sands at present, it's easy to see where Hattie has made camp for the past few hours, her jacket, a book, some hidework and a tangle of knitting abandoned in the first row of seating. From certain angles, the weyrwoman might be hidden entirely by Elaruth, footprints left in her wake. Or maybe the candidates are finally busy enough to not fill the stands, or have done enough egg-watching for now. At least, maybe candidates that aren't Jiella. The weather is no deterrent for her, and apparently unencumbered by any serious work, she's made her way across the bowl to slip into the galleries. Though she hasn't yet made it down to the first row, it's easy enough to spot Hattie's former occupations discarded down there - but with no weyrwoman, her gaze turns to the sands proper as the blonde trips lightly down the steps. Nakasha's not one of those candidates determined to spend all of her time egg watching; if Impression depends upon devotion to the eggs, she's a sure miss. But for whatever reason, her duties done for the afternoon, the tall candidate makes her way in through the arch, coming to a halt just inside to linger - at least briefly - on the section of flat stone, one hand still resting flat upon the stone wall behind her. Her expression is unreadable, though not adoring, not intent, just... thoughtful, perhaps? Curious. Any number of things, perhaps. One pale gold wing lifts, folded carefully back to reveal the third of the clutch that the young queen has had hidden beneath it for a while. Evidently she's not been hiding Hattie under there too, but it's not until the weyrwoman ducks round her lifemate's chest and over one forepaw that she becomes visible, seemingly headed to reclaim her seat. It might be an odd sight, how she watches her feet and tries to track exactly the same path back and cover precisely the same steps. Still, almost back to her seat, she looks over Nakasha's way, maybe following Elaruth's gaze. A nod, noticed or otherwise, and it's Jiella who grabs her attention next. "Afternoon, Jiella." Jiella is still taking the stairs, likely giving all and sundry the chance to check her out - while she's not /supposed/ to be doing anything, there's no harm in letting people see what may be available in the future. With her gaze on Hattie, it's easy enough to follow the goldrider's glance back to Nakasha, for whom the blonde has a more enthusiastic greeting than the junior's - a wave and a flashed smile, brief if brilliant. "Coming down, Kash?", she calls quietly - if such a thing can be done - then she turns in a flurry of blonde locks to beam down towards the sands. "Afternoon, Hattie. And Elaruth." For the careful steps in footprints, "She doesn't like the sand messed up?" It may be said that Nakasha's interest does visibly increase as Elaruth lifts that wing to reveal more of the clutch, but it's only so much. She must miss Hattie's greeting, but Jiella's draws far more interest than even the clutch, and the candidate turns, moving swiftly to join her fellow candidate with a bright smile of greeting. "Coming," she agrees, whilst on her way, and, a beat after that. "Afternoon. Jiella. Junior Weyrwoman. And Elaruth." Given the cavern's warmth, she shakes her arms free of her jacket, ungracefuly, draping it lazily on a nearby seat. Finally off the Sands, Hattie stamps her feet a couple of times to make sure she doesn't leave any kind of trail of it after her. "She doesn't like anything messed up, really, I'm just trying to keep the change in her immediate surroundings to a minimum," she says to Jiella, not really looking at her as does, perhaps embarrassed at either sand hopping or how her dragon needs everything kept in order. Back to her seat and she sits down; starts trying to make her little arrangement of hides and so on a bit neater. In the course of doing so, she looks Nakasha over and nods once again. "Afternoon... Kash?" She's obviously not sure about the name, so adds, "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met." Everything a little more in order, the goldrider's gaze flits between both Candidates. "Have a seat?" she offers, gesturing to her row or the one behind. With a bright smile in return for the other candidate, Jiella glances between the pair of women she's speaking with, snapping into introductions at the prompting - and looking a touch embarrassed for it. "Hattie, this is Nakasha. Sometimes, she goes by Kash. Nakasha, this is Hattie, junior weyrwoman and my in-law." Not overly bothered by the goldrider's hopping or the neatness thing, she offers a sympathetic look, but for a moment after, she's only got eyes for Elaruth. Watching the gold, "Heard of a few queens like that. I guess I'd be fussy and particular too. Not like she's got much else to do, really." She easily drops into a seat, fanning herself with her hand a little. Warm indeed. Hattie's scrutiny draws Nakasha's shoulders back and her spine straight, though the smile on her face doesn't falter. Her mouth draws open in order to answer Hattie, but snaps shut again as Jiella takes up the cue. When she's finished, she adds in, "Kash, generally, yes. And-- no, we haven't met. I got cornered at the meet and greet by one of those old aunties who won't leave you alone, so I didn't really meet /anyone/." By the end of it, she might as well be babbling, and finally shuts her mouth with an awkward snap. "Must be awful boring for you," she adds. "Even with her for company. Just... sitting here." She, too, takes a seat. "Well met, Kash," Hattie says, managing a small smile now that she's settled and everything isn't quite so much in disarray. What was that about /Elaruth/ needing things not to be messed up? "And, well, no, there's not much else for her to do and it /is/ sort of frustrating being here sometimes." Now there's a grin and she jokes, "But she does let me roam about on occasion." She stretches for a moment, not so much as to sprawl. "What have they had you both doing today?" she questions, looking at each woman in turn. "I remember when I was a Candidate, they had us putting together that decoration in the Fountain, you know the one on the ceiling? You'd have thought it was the Smith's life work from how he fussed. Probably was, come to think of it." Encouraging, despite the rambling, "But you're good at meeting people, so that's okay." Jiella grins over to Nakasha as the other girl sits as well. "Though I don't know what is with old women that makes 'em decide you need to know everything about their ailments? It's weird." And a little gross, says the blonde's nosewrinkling. "I can't say as I'd love it either - I mean, being either of you," she asides to Hattie. "And you know, that I probably wouldn't have minded. Sounds less physical than /some/ stuff." Crossing long legs and looking a little smug, "Today was 'academics'. Which means not-so-much for me, but I've been reading stuff in the records room. Just in case." In case someone puts her to work again. "I've been stuck with old people /again/," shares Nakasha, with a wrinkle of her own nose. "Not used to old people. Babies? Not a fan, but at least we had dozens back at home, so I'm used to it. No old people, though, so it's weird. They really /do/ feel the need to tell you everything." Having said this, as she slides her fingers beneath her thighs and leans forward to get a better look down at the sands, she adds, backtracking, "I'd find it /so/ dull, being here. The Smith stuff, though... Jiella's right, would be a little more interesting. And lasting, too, you know?" She shifts her gaze between her two companions, than adds, finally, "Guess I'd always rather something active to just... sitting around." "I don't know, maybe their ailments occupy their minds so much that it's all they can think to talk about?" Hattie hazards a guess, maybe not sure exactly what she means from the little shrug of her shoulders. "Or maybe they think they're passing knowledge to the next generation with their life stories? Could just be doing it on purpose to irritate just because they can." She laughs faintly and shakes her head. "Probably the latter." The goldrider looks out across the Sands. "Academics and old people. What a day," she teases. "You might well look back and laugh if you Impress. That's active. That's sleep deprivation and then some. But worth it, definitely." Jiella only has a grimace for what Kash has been stuck with for the day, for babies, the whole thing. With a shudder, "I've heard a lot of things I haven't been able to forget, let me tell you. Maybe it's vengeance for being young - want us to know what's to come." As Hattie guesses something similar, she grins widely - great minds and all that. But back to the other candidates point; "Lasting, yes. /Different/. I'm not really used to like, labour." Which would indeed make impression a shock for the blonde. Tilting her head, glancing towards the goldrider, "Everyone keeps saying all this /horrifying/ stuff about impressing, then say 'oh, but it's worth it' like it makes it not horrible. Not that you make it sound as bad as most. But still. Is that the same sort of thing as the old people?" To her credit, she's honestly just wondering. Nakasha does not make a third with the same idea, or if she does, she doesn't verbalise it. Instead; "Whatever it is, I hate it. Glad my grandparents didn't live with us, before they died." Firmly said. "I don't think it's the same as old people," she continues, deciding this even as she speaks, from the sounds of it. Her gaze in Jiella's direction is one part sympathy at least, but the rest-- well, her head shakes. "K'del says the same thing. Enormously hard, but so worth it. Reckon I can manage sleep deprivation and mucking and bathing and all the rest of it, for a dragon. Better get used to labour, Jiella." That last is teasing, too. "Vengeance," Hattie echoes Jiella, and, were it not for the laughter in her eyes, her smirk might seem rather cruel or vicious. It fades when she shakes her head again, agreeing with Nakasha. "It's not the same as old people. And if it happens to you, it's not horrifying. You sort of... understand then in a way you didn't before, but you don't really know why you do..." The weyrwoman's voice dips lower as she trails off, then she flexes her shoulders and sets it back to rights again. "Anyway. Some say it's like looking after a baby, but I don't think that's it either. You have to figure out what they need sometimes when they're not clear and yes, there's the mucking and bathing and everything. But it's... They kind of want to look after you too. They love you and want you to be happy... In my experience, at least." With feeling, "Be glad. There's always a ton of them at home." Jiella's expression shades towards a pout - her version of discontent. "Knitting and gossiping. And sometimes, they can be really mean." She might be an authority on the subject of old women, but both Nakasha and Hattie are leagues ahead of her in the discussion of dragons. For the other candidate, she has an amused - and somewhat flattered - grin. "We'll see." But she'll consider both K'del-says and the weyrwoman's words with at least a bare moment's thought before, "So... it's awful, but it's sort of okay because of the bond and it'll be better later." She's still dubious, but she'll allow, "I won't hang up my knot. Yet." If she wore it. "'We'll see?' What does that mean?" But though Kash asks the question with genuine interest, that fades; while Hattie talks about the bond, she can't seem to turn her gaze away from the goldrider. Her expression is one of longing, tinged with excitement. At the end of it: "That just sounds... /wonderful/." After a beat more. "And I really don't see what's so awful about it, Jiella. You're so weird, sometimes." She sounds fond, though, not accusatory. To Hattie, "How long before they hatch, do you think? Ages, I suppose." "It's not awful. Not perfect, but not awful," Hattie insists, patient despite the words being just a little quick. She eyes Jiella for a second, lips twitching a half-smile. "But then, I think you and I have been brought up very differently, so... Maybe what you'd think to be awful of it and what I would are different." Brown eyes angle towards Nakasha as the question is posed her way, yet return to the eggs and eventually settle on the curled-up Elaruth. "A month or so is my best guess at the moment. Perhaps a little less or a bit more. I'm afraid there's a norm, but not much specific about the whole thing." Jiella explains, "'We'll see' like, we'll see if I have to worry about it? Maybe you will too, but I don't think you'd mind all of it as much." Which the blonde thinks Nakasha is weird for, by her expression. Um, /mucking/? Who's the crazy one here? Quietly, "It just sounds a little rough." Even so, the excitement and wonder are a little infectious, and there's Elaruth and Hattie, both fairly impressive on their own. She can agree easily, seeming oblivious of too-quick words, "We've been raised differently, yes. And I don't know. Some people made it sound a lot scarier than you did. The other parts do sound really - wonderful." Timing is an easier discussion, "I guess that'll be nice for you, being off the sands. Nice for us, knowing one way or the other. I'm pretty curious to see what comes out of them." Nakasha accepts Jiella's explanation with a hurried bob of her head, her smile a bright one, her eyes gleaming. "No, reckon I wouldn't." Maybe they're both weird, albeit in different ways. "Suppose it doesn't matter. /We/ don't get to decide who gets the opportunity." Her eyes slide back to the eggs, watching them intently as though she'd like them to hatch /right now/, thanks very much; her nod to confirm Hattie's words is correspondingly a little muted. "A /month/. It's an awful long time to wait. For you, too." She means Hattie by that. "Peirith rose not that long ago, too, right? Because there are weyrlings. So if we don't Impress at this one, it'd be turns and turns before we could try again." "People are making it sound scary? Give me names - I'll fix them," Hattie declares, and there's just no way to tell how serious she is about that, not when paired with such a predatory look. "It'll be nice to be able to go places again, yes. Not that I suppose I /can't/ now, but... don't much fancy going without her, to be honest. Just the awfully long wait for now." She breathes out a sigh, though she's not particularly distressed about the whole thing. "It should be turns until one of them rises again, yes," she confirms for Kash. "Should be. But Elaruth rose young and Peirith rose quite unexpectedly. If it's all out of their systems now, so to speak, then turns it'll be." She looks over both candidates and adds, "But I suspect you'll both be young enough to Stand even then, maybe even twice or-" Whatever she means to say next doesn't get said, for Elaruth's gaze seeks out her rider. "I'm sorry, do excuse me, she'd like me to go look at something." The weyrwoman gets to her feet, another quiet apology offered, then it's down to the Sands for her again. Turns and turns. As the only one with a total lack of draconic understanding, Jiella hadn't quite put two and two together, and now that there's four, she looks over to Nakasha, narrow eyes widening. "That's right, too... I didn't really think about that. Month's not so long compared to /turns/." She might be uncertain about the work aspect, but she's not so unsure given she might be too /old/ in the future. She'd have been happy to give Hattie names, but when the queen calls, so goes the goldrider - so under her breath to Kash, waving to Hattie as she goes, "I might not be. Depends on how many turns." Nakasha doesn't have a chance to say it before Hattie makes her departure, but she notes, sounding thoughtful; "How awful, having a dragon so you can go /anywhere/ you possibly want, ever, except... you can't, because they're on the sands." Her expression is serious as she turns her attention back to Jiella, nodding unhappily. "You can't be /that/ old, can you, though? That you couldn't have at least /one/ more chance." She exhales lengthily, adding, "There's not that many eggs. And a bunch of us. Kas - my brother - Impressed his first time, but lots of people don't, I guess. Least I still have-- eight turns. Until I'm too old." But it bothers her, anyway. Distinctly bothers her. Almost too thoughtful for Jiella's usual demeanor, "Never thought about that either. I mean, I just think about how everyone'd want to meet you and be nice to you and give you things. But I guess it would be really difficult to be-- trapped in a way." Brown eyes have a bit more sympathy for Hattie's plight, glancing down over the eggs. "I'll be twenty, next turnday. So, I guess it'd have to be a really long time - but I'm as likely to be married before then, so." She doesn't look all that impressed with the idea, but has to tell Nakasha, "Eight's not bad. But - I guess it would kind of feel weird to not, with your brother right off - and being a Weyrleader." Yeah, hard act to follow. "No worse than being married to someone and stuck in a little hold somewhere forever," points out Kash, but it's kind of half-hearted: both sounds pretty awful, if her expression and tone are anything to go by. "You think your father will still marry you off, even if you've been here?" That seems to surprise her; perhaps even concern her. "I figured coming here meant I was safe from being married. Make my own choices, now." Letting another low breath escape she adds, then, "Right. He Impressed /bronze/, younger than me, on his first try. And now he's Weyrleader. Can't really beat that. And it's not-- not a competition. But. Sucks being the youngest. All the comparisons." Jiella seems to be totally in agreement with being married off sounding awful, but; "He might, he might not. Depends on what he can get out of it, is my guess. I wouldn't worry about it too much - I mean, unless your father's going to lay a big guilt trip on you to come back, I'm sure you'd be fine, find something to do that'd keep you here." Because Nakasha has skills, unlike her. A bit diffident about her own future, she just shrugs. With a wry grin, "Don't know, Kash. I have to say, it's a special kind of fun for your younger sister to have a big old fancy wedding when you've got nothing lined up, and two pissed-off older sisters. And yes, not a competition... but it's /annoying/." Nakasha's frown lengthens as Jiella speaks, the purse of her lips speaking volumes about what /she/ thinks on this subject. Marrying off! Bah! "Why /did/ he choose your younger sister? That's the one that married Hattie's brother, right?" Kash has, evidently, been paying close attention to all the different things tying the people around her together. "Can't be that she was prettier." Compliment! "Super annoying," she adds, finally, as an after-thought. "I'm not ambitious or anything, but..." She squirms. "I'd probably hate being married into a family like yours, wouldn't I? Politics. And not actually /doing/ things." With a nod, "Eidee, right. She married Hattie's brother. And like I know. We don't get told much. You know like they say about mushrooms - keep 'em in the dark...." Et-cetera. Jiella smirks a touch, shrugging over at Nakasha - and that smirk softens into a smile at the compliment. She knows she's pretty, but prettier than her sister? Win. "And I know! It's not as if I were all /that/ interested in getting married--" Really! "Or am that ambitious, but it'd be nice to have... something." For the last, with a wave of her hand, "Oh, you could do stuff if you wanted. I just rarely want to do /much/." Nose wrinkling; "/I/ wouldn't want to be a mushroom. That's just dumb." She draws her hands away from her thighs, now, resting them briefly in her lap, then lifting one to toss a curl behind her ear; the smile her compliment brings draw an amused one from the Tillekian girl. "Something. Right. Something that's /yours/." The answer to her question? Yeah, that's making her at least a /little/ happier. "Ah-hah. That's..." She breaks off, distracted, then launches herself without warning towards her feet. "My brother is coming to visit tonight, supposed I should go get ready to see him. Hope--" She breaks off, glances at Jiella, then shrugs as she reaches for her jacket. "A month. They, maybe, we'll have /something/." Jiella has to agree, rather wearily, "It's pretty stupid, yes. But no one listens to /me/." The anguished cry of the middle child. For the sudden bounce to standing, she blinks up at Nakasha, confused - then seems totally enlightened at the response. "Ah, right. Well, hope that's a good visit, and hope he's terribly impressed with all the good stuff you're doing here." The pause and the shrug have her a little bemused, but she offers, sincerely, "Maybe. But that's not the only way, Kash. Just the only one so far." Who knew she was an optimist? With a little wave, "I'll stick around, see if Hattie comes back. Sort of nice to have a chance to talk to her more. I'll see you later." |
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