Logs:Not Even Life Lessons Are Free
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| RL Date: 16 January, 2014 |
| Who: Edyis, K'zin, Rasavyth |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: After receiving an apology note from Edyis for how their last meeting went and an invitation for drinks, K'zin and Edyis meet up. |
| Where: Snowasis, Garden Patio Ledge, Bowl, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 26, Month 10, Turn 33 (Interval 10) |
| Weather: A light rainfall patters on and off throughout the day, making everything slick and gray and muddy. |
| Mentions: A'rist/Mentions, Hattie/Mentions |
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| Snowasis, High Reaches Weyr The Snowasis is rarely quiet, and even then, the high-ceilinged former weyr is kept from echoing by the fantastical booths tucked into its convoluted perimeter. The secluded seating spaces have been shaped from the truncated stalagmites that escaped the smoothing of the main floor, and are both softened and separated by colorful hangings that are thick and opaque enough to make each corner its own private nook. Some of the smaller stalactites still roam the ceiling, their jagged teeth tracing a bumpy, inverted spine to the hearth. There, a thick rug with a low klah table and comfortable armchairs and couches sit, their upholstery and cushions changed sporadically to match the season: bright, light colors in the summer, fresh greens and yellows in the spring, warm autumnals in fall, and clear, rich hues for winter. Small tables litter the rest of the cavern, enough to fit up to four people each, while stools stand along the smooth wooden bar behind which is the passthrough window to the kitchen. Glass-paneled cabinetry behind the bar provides a clear view of the available liquors, the many colors reflecting the soft light of glows tucked into strategic niches around the cavern.
Perhaps it is just as well that Edyis has one of the tables claimed, her usual stick of char coal scratching away in the familiar pages of the journal, Adding notes to a sketch of needlethorn and fellis. His note tucked between the yet unfilled pages almost as a bookmark, but more likely a reminder. She looks up to spot one of the bar staff, ordering another glass of wine for herself as she waits. She glances up, spotting the rider, and sets the book aside. "K'zin." It's a more cautious greeting that she might normally give. "Edyis," K'zin greets as he slides into a seat across from her. It doesn't sound like a particularly ominous greeting, but more distracted as the bronzerider catches the departing server and adds his drink order to save the man a trip. Once that's taken care of, brown eyes fall squarely on Edyis' face, his lips pressed together, but up-turned at the edges. "You know, you really don't have anything to be sorry for. And definitely nothing warranting a note to apologize and drinks." A too sweet smile crosses her lips as she relaxes slightly (or at least appears to) "Years of habit, and practice. I did need to apologize for my ignorance, and I always will." She set down the charcoal stick in the center fold of the book, folding her hands primly in front of her. Playfully, she adds, "Besides, you're easier to get along with when you've had a few." "Apologizing for ignorance really is only warranted when it's reasonable to expect that you should know anything about it," K'zin rebuts, "Which it wasn't, in that particular case. It's not like I spouted my life's story to you the first time we met." The bronzerider has an easy enough manner despite fingers that drum lightly on the tabletop. "And I think most would say I'm easier when I've had a few. Which is a little different. Unless you're trying to take advantage of me?" The young man's face becomes an obvious mask of scandal. His virtue! His virtue! "If I was planning to take advantage of you, I would hardly unveil my intentions so deliberately." Dark humor colors her smile, "I'm not entirely sure there would be anything profitable to be gained by it either." The wine arrives, and she savors the scent of it, before drinking. A hand goes to K'zin's heart and he makes sure to look particularly wounded. "You know, in some circles I'm considered quite a catch. Though, I suppose I can't expect a goodie two-shoes who likes to keep her nose safely tucked into books to be particularly enamored with my brand of dangerous-" He likes to think anyway, "-charms." Then as he observes the wine savoring, "You're so dainty, you'd probably just break." It's possible that he's attempting to provoke her on purpose, or perhaps he's just candid. Either way, the harder drink he starts to sip might help shed some light on his true intentions. "Is that what I am?" Curious, and oddly not the least bit offended. She studies him thoughtfully, "Even so. You don't really want to find out if I would break." It's possible she's thought about provoking him in kind. She may still from that intense study of his features and carriage. Instead, she asks: "Do you want to talk about it?" The it seems rather vague intentionally. "Well, you do like your studies a little much to be otherwise," K'zin answers. If he expected her to be offended, there's no sign of surprise when she isn't. "Wouldn't I? I mean, you are a little young. But we bronzeriders are supposed to be rakish and always taking advantage of the young and innocent. So, you probably qualify as a good target. Old enough, probably barely. How old are you anyway?" All this before he takes a long sip of the drink, "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific about what you think I might want to talk about if you expect to coax anything out of me." The look he gives her is mildly accusing, but amusedly so. "There is a great deal I wish to learn." Thoughtfully she answers, "In four months will be seventeen. Since you asked, How old are you?" With a slight roll of her eyes. Is that a twitch when he catches on? "Last time I got specific it ended poorly. It's better to let people ramble on about themselves, far more informative." Smirking, "I really shouldn't have considered you for the job." She muses now twirling that glass, with extra effort to appear even more dainty. "Twenty." K'zin's answer is matter-of-fact. "I'm not saying there's anything wrong with wanting to learn, just that experience is often a better teacher than books. Better than lessons, too." His eyes mimic her roll, "So you were really asking me if I wanted to ramble on about myself? You know, most men would take you up on that." But apparently not him. Although, his grin is wide, so he must be finding amusement somewhere in all of this. "I'd much prefer you tell me about yourself instead, dainty Edyis." Is that a little bit of charm he's oozing there? Maybe a touch. Her head tilts to the side as though considering his viewpoint on academics. "Maybe, it is, perhaps it isn't. I haven't seen enough of the world to find books unsatisfying yet, nor lessons when freely offered." She shrugs at mention of most men, and eyes him dubiously when he seems to try to ooze charm. "I am not all that complex, your typical goodie-goodie holder girl with an insatiable appetite for knowledge. Where as you seem to have far more interesting reactions when poked and prodded." "Maybe that's because I've seen enough of the world." K'zin suggests with a smirk. "Maybe it's because I have more than books and lessons to occupy my time. To make me feel things." Again, with the baiting. "And nothing in life is free. Not even a lesson. Everything has a cost. Sometimes you just don't see it until it's too late, or it's one you're glad to pay, so you don't notice it's being there." He shifts his wrist, swirling the amber liquid in his short glass before sipping from it again. "Some people do not have the luxury of taking the time to feel things, they just have to move forward by doing." Or else you drown. The rise and fall of her chest may suggest that she takes a deep breath and holds it for several seconds. "Everyone has to live with their decisions at some point." Down goes the rest of the wine, and she waves one of the servers over ordering klah, "Speaking from the voice of wisdom and experience?" "You mean some people are too scared to feel things and find a way to continue on?" K'zin counters with a raised brow, evidently disagreeing with her statement. "Probably not wisdom, but experience, certainly. If I was wise, I'd shut myself up in my weyr and never do another thing. Oh, like you do, with the records." He needles, but with a smile, so it's not intended to maim, simply provoke. He swallows the last of his drink and sets the glass on the table top. "Are you finding me easier to get along with now that I've a drink in me?" Maybe it's because she said that that he seems to have become more ornery as the drink was consumed. "I mean that some people have watched a family member burn to death, and get to help with the bandages before infection takes the life out of them. Before they get the chance to grieve they realize that they have to make some really difficult decisions or else their siblings are going to starve." She tones all too calmly, before letting the waiter know to spike that drink before they bring it over. She claims it quietly sipping the drink. "I find you a bastion of charm and consideration." Her smile is too eerie to be sweet. Probably this should unnerve K'zin. Probably, it should make him back down or at least be a little more compassionate. But his look is even, and tone, too, as he answers, "And some have pulled dead men from the bellies of downed and damned ships. Fire is not the only horror. And the young are not spared anymore than the old. Like I said, every lesson in life has a cost. There's nothing freely given or freely learned. Books come the closest to being free because the only thing they take of you is your time." K'zin shifts the conversation toward less painful memories, for them both, or attempts to, "Which seems to be a cost you don't mind paying. Rasavyth either, for that matter. If I'm not reading at least two books a seven, he's on me about it. I swear he'd read on his own if he were still small enough to turn the pages without ripping them." It seems mention of a book reading dragon is enough to pull her thoughts into safer waters. "He seems to have more sense than you do about them." It's not really a genuine smile yet, but the strangeness has gone out of it. "I don't just learn from books. I spend a couple of hours every morning, either observing dragons in the pens, or flowers in the greenhouse. My lunch hour is spent in the Dragon Infirmary. Books are just the easiest forms to access at first, or when I have downtime." More warmth as the topic fades away. "Why don't you figure something out that lets him turn pages? You were smithhall weren't you?" "Oh, he does. I'm just a big dumb guy." K'zin answers with a shrug as if that's a long accepted truth of his life. "I never did much in the way of books before he came along. You wouldn't've caught me reading anything but Smithing books, and even then, only what was required. Spent my time at the forge. In the stables. Anywhere but with books." He rotates the empty glass. As he's already confirmed, yes, Smithcraft, he doesn't bother to say that again, but rather answers, "He can retain it better if I read it. He has sort of a mental filing system, but it's better if it comes through my eyes." Then, "Why are you observing the dragons and learning dragon healing? Do you plan to Stand again?" Mug clasped in both hands she smiles, genuinely. "I see. I feel sorry for him, having to rely on you to read for him." She blinks at him thoughtfully, "Why does it always come to standing with you people? I don't know, but it's been something I've considered as a result of those lessons. Mostly, I started observing them because I figured they would make me less nervous if I knew more about them, and they help with the records I've copied for the records room. Actually being attached to such a beast, let's say that I'm collecting more information before I make a decision. If I do, though it will be for the right reason this time." "Don't." K'zin's answer is immediate, and the bronzerider is leaning forward with sudden intensity. "Don't ever feel sorry for him. Things are exactly as he likes them. He chose me for a reason." Does that last sentence sound a little bitter? Well, maybe K'zin just needs another drink. He stops a passing server to place the order at any rate. A double this time. "Do you interact with them much directly? The dragons, I mean. Beyond observing." "Define interact. I don't exactly speak dragon, I just ask the riders questions and make observations." She points out, lifting the mug again. She also doesn't say anything of his reaction regarding his own beast, but files it quietly away. "Why do you ask?" "Exactly what it sounds like. I don't mean speaking. There's more ways to communicate than speaking." K'zin is on his feet and marks are being plucked from his pocket and laid in the hand of the server who arrives just in time to hand K'zin his double and watch the man down it in four gulps. "Come on, then," The words are expectant but not really an answer to her question as he heads for the patio ledge. One does not gulp hot spiked klah, one savors it. Oh well, the book is snapped up, and the drink is not too hot to finish off, so she does. Moving to follow the bronzerider to the ledge (and possibly her doom) "Where are we going?" "To get you more life experience," is K'zin's cryptic response as they weave through the late-night Snowasis drinkers and out onto the ledge. It's to the stairs he moves and down into the bowl. At least the drizzle has stopped, so they're just left with the remnants: puddles and mud. In the bowl just beyond the stairs a very large dark shadow shifts and bejeweled eyes unlid once, twice, thrice, whirling a lazy, calm green-blue. "Oh" She really had been making strides, with smaller dragons, though some (admittedly twisted) part of her brain noted that this guy was bigger than Lythronath. It takes a moment for the raw wash of nerves to get tucked somewhere else, and she takes a deep breath before offering a polite curtsy. "You must be Rasavyth. It is an honor to meet you." Her heart is probably pounding ninety miles a minute. K'zin's arms fold across his chest lightly as he comes to a stop some steps away from his lifemate. The man looks to Edyis as the dragon shifts to lower himself, head drawing down, if not so close as to be touchable. "He agrees," K'zin snorts. It's honor to meet Rasavyth; everyone agrees. Except K'zin, apparently. The dragon rumbles in his chest, his wings shifting to reposition their cloak of dull bronze. The dragon is more slender than most bronzes and actually small for the size of the breed, though being full grown, yes, he still out-sizes Lythronath, for now. In the dimness of the bowl, his colors aren't terribly prominent and he's mostly shadow, except for those vivid bejeweled eyes. "What frightens you about them?" K'zin questions clinically. She's met Lythronath? Wait that's probably not a proper answer. "Size, mostly - I don't like feeling tiny and powerless." She points out more candidly than intended. It doesn't really help that she's small either. "Unless you are their rider, you never truly know what they are thinking either, I like predictability." Alternatively, being able to navigate a tricky social situation and live. "Even when you're their rider, you don't necessarily know what they're thinking." K'zin's baritone is too serious, almost frighteningly so. That's probably not helping with Edyis' nerves. "There's this thing that I've learned since Impressing... Maybe it will help you. It was a hard thing to learn." K'zin's brow is furrowed and Rasavyth is staring, not at his rider but at the insignificant girl in front of him. "We, all of us, are tiny and powerless. If we feel otherwise, it's because we're fooling ourselves. Don't get me wrong, it's easier to live life while you're fooling yourself or pretending anything you do matters, but ultimately... Tiny and powerless." The bronzerider shrugs his shoulders. Edyis listens to the words. Brow furrowed she meets those faceted eyes unflinching (even if she feels like her heart is about to explode from her chest.) Those dark-brown eyes move back over to K'zin as he speaks but - her head shakes. "Tiny, yes, but not powerless. What you do may not make a bit of difference, but if that's all that stops you from doing what you can, isn't it a waste?" "I never said it stopped me from doing what I can." K'zin shakes his head, "You wrongly assume that to have accepted that I'm tiny and powerless means, too, that I've stopped acting. It's a logical enough leap, but wrong." The bronzerider shakes his head. "There's a difference between acceptance and apathy." Then he's moving to the dragon's side, reaching up as the neck snakes down, placing the dragon's huge maw on a level with Edyis and K'zin's powerful muscles flex to pull him gracefully up into the riding straps. "We'll bid you goodnight, dainty Edyis." And if Rasavyth breathes out especially hard, enough so that his breath can be felt... well, even the most charming of bronzes can only resist the temptation to harry those unfortunate people who fear them. Soon enough, the bronze is withdrawing a few steps before his large powerful wings unfurl, their underside glinting brilliantly in the dim light, such a stark contrast from the rest of his burnt cinnabar and dull bronze hide. Then up, up, and away into the night sky they go. The scribe listens, and she doesn't flinch, much when Rasavyth blows hot air. She stays on that ledge for a while after she leaves considering the pair thoughtfully. "Intriguing." Musing finally as she settles in at a table, book in hand, catching the impression of the bronze beast taking wing. "Most intriguing." |
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