Logs:Prying Into the Past
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| RL Date: 14 September, 2007 |
| Who: N'thei, Shanlee |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| Where: Red Butte |
| When: Day 26, Month 6, Turn 13 (Interval 10) |
| Wyaeth> Kaylith senses that Wyaeth informs with a gracious lilt that sounds quite strange with his gruff-and-rumble voice; « N'thei has something for Shanlee, and he says she should come and claim it before he drinks it all. » Wyaeth senses that Kaylith's reply is at first slow in coming, consultation with rider likely the reason. The soft touches of a stream sparkling with morning sun trickle in « Where shall we meet you> » agreement coming in the query. Wyaeth> Kaylith senses that Wyaeth's not very good at providing images of where he is, and even worse at providing them for where N'thei is. The picture that comes through is hazy, generically cavern-shaped with a few people passing through with businesslike rushes to their steps. After a few seconds of trying to perfect this image, the bronze wipes the slate clean and just says, « N'thei's in the lower caverns. » Wyaeth senses that Kaylith's amusement bubbles up to the surfaces of her voice as she tries on the image provided like a hat. Patiently, she sifts through the haze, the 'Ah' moment appearing when the bronze clarifies, as a faint pop of understanding « We come. » Lower Caverns, High Reaches Weyr(#1090RIJs) Sunlight streams into this large cavern freely, the bustle of the day's work taking hold. Lower caverns folk move about the cavern, covering glow baskets, and starting to settle in for the morning's activity. Children dash through pursued by anxious nannies or parents, intent on discovering what there is to play with today, and the late-risers emerge down the stairs, heading towards the laughter of the living caverns. The looms begin their steady clattering, messengers pass through on their way to see this person or that, and the murmured voices of the workers lend an active backdrop hum of life. Passageways lead off in many directions around the cavern, forming a nexus of sorts. An archway opens up into the bowl; a wide tunnel leads out of the weyr; a well worn set of stairs rise up to the living quarters of the Weyr staff; and sounds and smells from the south indicate the presence of the living cavern and kitchen. Shanlee walks in through the archway from the bowl. Shanlee has arrived. Wyaeth> Kaylith senses that Wyaeth adds a mental mumble. « A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes it don't take that many. » N'thei leans just off the corridor to the storerooms, his eyes absently following a pretty nanny-looking girl who struggles to get her hair all caught up under a kerchief. Whistling tunelessly through his teeth, he's obviously been somewhere recently, still wearing a riding jacket and an untied scarf, a wineskin in one hand and a lumpy-looking burlap sack in the other. Wyaeth senses that Kaylith nudges a gentle splash of encouragement « You made yourself understand. » this obviously being enough in her reckoning. « Betweening is dangerous. » there the small warning of concern for the bronze. The lower caverns at this time of day with nannies about, however appealing to the eye they might be, generally mean 'midgets' in Shan's estimation. And its due to this that girl that has N'thei's attention catches hers for an entirely different reason. He hadn't been hard to pick out given that she'd known his location to begin with and that his bulk stood out amongst the others around. Satisfied that said nanny appears to have no charges in tow, the Weyrsecond makes her way over, an amused smirk curling around her mouth. "Thought being a lush was a bad thing?" eyes stray over the bronzerider, to the wineskin, the sack and then up to his face "And yet you send messages of drinking?" she does try to suppress the grin but makes a poor attempt at it. "Perhaps it was only a test to see if you would come for the beck and call of alcohol." N'thei has yet to remove his eyes from the nanny, and the spread of his smile could very well have to do with the fact that now all her hair has just spilled from her kerchief, and she stomps off in a miniature huff. Regardless of its source, he turns the smile to Shanlee a moment afterward; "Praytell, why would Kaylith think she needs to tell Wyaeth that Betweening is dangerous? Isn't that a bit like me telling you that the sky is blue?" Fine brows arch upward at that comment, mouth settling back into that smirk "Or maybe it was the thought of spending time in scintillating conversation with you that draw me here." Shan offers in a tease. N'thei's eyes followed and the huffy nanny followed then leaning closer to give in a low, sly tone "She might appreciate an offer of help. Could be rewards and all." but then the woman is stomping away and the bronzerider's attention is on her. "Ever been to the weyrling memorial?" the look that follows this is pointed "Rock...is not a good look for anyone." The Weyrsecond glances back out the way of the bowl "She was simply concerned at the image presented by Wyaeth." spoken carefully for her green's words to the bronze. Carelessly; "Not interested. Just pretty hair." There's a more pointed stray of those twinkling gray eyes to Shanlee's braid, then N'thei shrugs one big shoulder against the wall he's still busy holding up. "We can get from here to there as long as I try hard enough, and there are worse ways to go than *between* anyway, aren't there?" Then, lest the conversation get too weighty too quickly, he holds up the wineskin right between himself and Shanlee. "At Benden, having made a few marks, I thought to myself, 'Who do I know that could really use a drink?'" It is, notably, the same vintage proffered on the momentous occasion of Kaylith searching him. "Pretty hair." Shan repeats, his stray of eyes noticed with a satisfied upward tilt of chin "It's all where it should be." delivered with a wink. The light humor slips a notch at the next "Certainly the least painful I would imagine." though that's not something she wants to do as evidenced by the path of attention swiftly moving to the wineskin N'thei holds up. "Benden. Still such good taste I see. Glad to see some things haven't changed in a few turns of being 'trapped'." this emphasized deliberately. Lips curl around a lopsided grin, head canting to one side in continued study of the 'skin "You going to celebrate or pay me back with a hangover?" when the vintage is recognized and the memory jolted. N'thei's smile brightens on the verge of a chuckle. "You can take the boy out of Benden." The laugh escapes then, at the idea that he was a 'boy' even then. "But you can't take the taste for Benden out of the boy." With showy reverence in his handling, he presents the wineskin so the seal is readily apparent; "I'm merely sharing the wealth, ma'am. If you drank enough of this in one go to get hungover, I think you and I would have to stop being friends." He hits the 'friends' word with an extra inflection-- so-called friends? Certainly that smile is infectious and it shows in the genuine laughter that floats out light and free from Shan "Some things aren't meant to change bronzerider." the ironic twist of words not deliberate. Reaching out a slim hand the seal is brushed over with a light touch of fingers "Unopened too? I'm honored." that hand withdraws and settles over her heart in a 'for me?' gesture of feigned surprise. Here a faint grimace touches across the Weyrsecond's fine features dropping her previously laidback words on hangovers "The Weyrleader will just try to kill me again." was that a shudder? Could have been. Mouth settling into a moue of apparent disappointment "You wouldn't bring me klah and hold my hair back from my face then?" a sly flick of eyes upward "Like any good friend would?" "As much as I fancy the idea of my hands in your hair--" N'thei pauses, files his teeth on his lower lip in a too-obvious expression of checked desire, undermined by the continued brightness behind his eyes. "I'll have to pass on nursing a hangover. But take it. Toast to the Weyrleader's health with a vintage this fine, and I trust that he'll forgive you." The other hand jiggles his lumpy burlap bag; "I even have a few apples if you're in need, but no cheese." Shanlee's expression turns sly and taunting for N'thei's unspoken words, tone turning low "Not such a pretty picture that was it?" A step closer toward him and when it might look she could kiss him - chin lifting, lips parting, just a firm hold on the ground maintained with heels - the Weyrsecond instead reaches for the wineskin on offer. Dry amusement held low in the chuckle "Toasting you lot didn't save me, so..." the free hand spreads out in a helpless gesture. A wingrider stepping into the caverns is given brief attention until its obvious she's not the one he's after "And apples too. Sounds almost like you had a picnic planned?" words lilting upward as the bag is eyed with all its bulges "One should always thank another for a gifting appropriately." N'thei has borne that taunt before. Though Shanlee's proximity prompts him to take a calming breath, he doesn't pursue the tease with anything beyond a look momentarily riveted to those lips. Then, uncannily calm; "Picnic? No. Just parents with an orchard and a few early fruits. --If you feel the need to express your gratitude, I am definitely amenable." Cue the suggestive raising of eyebrows. There's a distinctly pleased cast to the green eyes for that calming breath taken by N'thei, taunt or not. "Mmhhmm - a picnic. But parents with an orchard will suffice too." Shan steps back, away from the bronzerider, bringing the wineskin between them and raising it "Join me?" whether or not she'd noticed that silent, physical query or not - it goes unchallenged for now as the offer of sharing is made.
"I thought you'd never ask." N'thei switches away from the wall now, hefts the bag up and slings it across his right shoulder. "I don't have cups in my bag of tricks, and you don't look like you're carrying any." Merely an excuse to give Shanlee one of those sweeping looks. "To where?" "Never took you for one that would wait to be asked." Shan quips, already turning to lead the way out of the caverns. Raising a hand to wave off talk of cups "Unless you have some weird disease or something?" still walking, she must be expecting N'thei to follow for the Weyrsecond continues to talk "Depends on you. Weyrside or not?" N'thei scrapes his thumbnail across his lower lip thoughtfully, finally to answer, "None that I'm aware of." He knits together his eyebrows hard over continually merry gray eyes while he falls in behind Shanlee, waits several of her steps to take up his own long strides. "I'm not particular, ma'am. A drink is a drink, at High Reaches or Boll." Reaching the entrance and passing through into the sunlight outside, Shan flashes a grin backward over her shoulder to N'thei "Then cups aren't needed are they?" Aware that he's waited a moment or two behind her, that sway of hips is either deliberate or simply the Weyrsecond's style of walk. His last however, halts steps and the redhead turns back to him "I know somewhere better - quieter. You'll like it." the decision made for the bronzerider. Crooking a finger in a beckoning gesture, off she sets again until her green lifemate's side is reached. Shanlee meanders through the archway, out to the bowl. Shanlee has left. You walk through the archway, out to the bowl. Western Bowl, High Reaches Weyr(#880RIJs) Standing on the western side of the bowl, the high crownlike spires of the Seven Spindles on the north wall tower majestically above the roughly ovoid bowl floor. Near you, a large boulder stands, placed almost exactly in the center of the bowl. This side of the bowl is busy with the constant flow of residents and visitors around the entrance to the living cavern to the southwest and the lower caverns to the west. To the north, the large opening on the upper wall leading into the hatching grounds catches your eye. Directly below it, the ground entrance to the same area seems almost tiny. Northwest, the weyrs belonging to the junior queens of High Reaches are accessible from a short set of stairs and a path of carefully laid black marble leads from them to the entrance to the living cavern. To the south, a few ground weyrs remain unoccupied, in case any visiting or injured dragons need them. The morning is quite cloudy, with only a few open patches through which the sun pokes. A light wind blows and the summer air temperature feels comfortable. Wyaeth would have to be less accessible. He thumps over the fence from the feeding grounds, still chews with the back of his maw. N'thei waits, the pinnacle of patience, until the bronze settles nearby; "No one ever tells you about the imposition part of Impression." He buckles on his bag of tricks then looks to Shanlee curiously. "After the pseudo-lecture, I trust you'll be supplying us a crisp clean image of where we're going?" Settling the wineskin into a carrysack at Kaylith's side, Shan's brow hike upward as the bronze arrives still chewing but no comment is made over it. N'thei's first met instead with a chuckle "If someone had. Would you have stood?" Everything stowed, the Weyrsecond makes her way up the green's side and swings easily between neck ridges. Buckling straps into place a smirk forms "No. We're going to make sure that you and Wyaeth end up in a lady holder's boudoir somewhere." eyes roll with the facetious words. The image that is presented to Wyaeth is indeed detailed, crisp and clean. Even the winds that at times whip across the stark plateau's of the Red Butte are shown as are the grassy plains lying far below.
N'thei pulls himself up to Wyaeth's neck, smartly smacking the bronze's ridges with his palm in a loud-clapped gesture of affection, and he answers Shanlee only once he's astride; "At least make sure she's a pretty lady holder, won't you? I like the fair skin, so none of those Istans or southerners." Without pause, Wyaeth returns a gritty understanding to Kaylith, his mind fixed sharply on that image. "He'll lose it if we don't get a move on."
You leap into the sky.
Black... Blacker... Blackest! You suddenly emerge... Sky Above the Red Butte(#6544RJe) The rolling plains of central Keroon spread below you in a hundred shades of green and brown. The wind sweeps across the sea of rolling grass, rippling the green in waves of shining silver. From this height, the land looks fairly flat, but meandering patches of darker green mark valleys and seasonal streams. Overhead, the open sky arches wide, unobstructed from horizon to horizon. The Red Butte rears up from the surrounding land like an island rising from the sea, green vegetation breaking on bulwarks of red stone. Its circular shape is strikingly apparent from above, as are the crevasses and channels that spread from its rounded summit. Encircling sharp ridges drop gradually lower, leaving the center exposed, and darker green traces the lowest points of the maze of radiating ridges and channels, ringing the butte in rough, spreading circles of jumbled, wind-smoothed stone. The Red Butte dominates the landscape, towering above the plains in a sudden and surprising uplift visible for miles around. The terrain atop the butte below is rough and broken, but there is a relatively flat area where a few dragons could land.
You wing downward to land in a relatively flat area on top of the butte, careful of the rough terrain. Red Butte(#6545RJ) Far from any hold, the timeless, monolithic ridges of Pern's Red Butte rise sharply from the rolling plains. A hundred dragonlengths across at its widest point, the massive butte towers above the surrounding plains, dramatic in its isolation. A few hardy plants twine gnarled roots into nooks and crannies of the speckled red granite to cling to the butte's steeply sloping sides as the harsh wind whips past with a hollow sound. The summit of the Red Butte is rocky and treacherous, a relatively flat expanse of reddish stone cut deeply by radial crevasses. Overlooking spreading plains and rolling green-brown hills, the butte offers a magnificent vista to the horizon in each direction. The vast sky arches overhead, majestically empty of all but the lonesome wind. The only way off the butte is by dragon.
A thumping bump like that will likely tremble the rock itself. Kaylith is unconcerned, Shan turns with a blink of surprise "I know only of one other dragon that thumps and bumps into a landing like that." there is wistful smile that follows these words. N'thei's words met with a roll of eyes "Not bad? Sharding spectacular I'd say." The petite greenrider moves off away from the dragons now, wineskin in tow until she's standing right at the edge of the drop off "Come here to think." "He is, as they say, not graceful." N'thei shrugs in helpless surrender of Wyaeth's quirks, and the bronze slopes off the edge of the rock to have a look around this new scenery. Unbuttoning his coat, he shuffles to the edge of the precipice himself, just at Shanlee's elbow, and peers downward; "About what? Plummoting to your death?" Kaylith curls her tail tightly around her and takes to watching Wyaeth's investigation of the area. Her own jacket still buttoned, Shan chuckles low "Actually. I came up here once with Th'res and the wherry threw himself off. His brown caught him but...not amused." Having to look slightly more then to the side to catch N'thei's eyes "Just life in general." No, she's not giving anything away on the topic of her thoughts just now. Here the 'skin is held out to the bronzerider to do the honors of its uncorking. N'thei takes the skin wordlessly, turns the neck between his fingers a couple of times, pads his thumb across the impression in the seal; "Not exactly self-preservation at its finest. I assure you, I will not be jumping." He breaks the seal then, keeps his eyes askance in return to watch Shanlee in a rare-seeming mood. Quietly, a good old drinking song, he barely voices the tune; "Now everybody's died, so until our tears are dried / We'll drink and drink and drink and drink, and then we'll drink some more..." "He said something about doing it to make me angry with him or something." Shan returns with careful nonchalance, watching as N'thei expertly frees 'skin from seal. The drinking song flickers a dark shadow over fine features "Haven't heard that sung in turns." Turning upper body toward the bronzerider, a hand staying the fringe that the wind continually whips across her eyes that carry a contemplative expression "From the Harper Hall. Where did you go next?" N'thei asks with a grin, perhaps a pointed effort to counteract her darkening expression, "Do you think they teach drinking songs at Harper Hall?" He shakes his head, serious except for laughing eyes and the remnants of a smirk. "Is there some kind of leeway where a person could get out of the wind, or are we going to risk losing wine this fine to a gust?" Shielding the mouth of the skin with his palm, he holds it toward Shanlee. Biting back a chuckle Shan follows N'thei's attempt to keep the mood light "I'm quite sure Masterharper Rodric would know a fair few himself. Would he teach them? Perhaps you could enlighten me." she manages to make that last construe to more then just drinking songs. With a wave of hand in the direction of the dragons "It lets up sometimes, but maybe if one of them wouldn't mind? Kaylith makes a pretty good windbreak when needed." the little green utters a snort of disdain at this. The only way the greenrider is going to be able to drink without losing wine to the wind, is to either bring her mouth down to the 'skin or his hand up to her mouth. Either way it seems to pose a dilemma for her. And Wyaeth is still away, exploring in whatever way it is that Wyaeth explores when he has free reign. Dips, turns, shadow skating across rugged terrain. Still quiet; "We'll dance and sing and fight until the early mornin' light." N'thei takes a sideways step to help block the wind with his own bulk, enough to keep it clear of Shanlee at least, and lets her figure out the drinking problem on her own. He grins over the end of the song, hardly the sort of thing for mixed company. "Then we'll throw up, pass out, wake up, and then go drinking once again." Yes, Kaylith must have been slighted, for she's not moving to offer any help and neither is Wyaeth. About to make comment on how handy his bulk was proving to be, Shan refrains, laughter instead filtering out as he ends the song. "Aye! To flowing grog, good times and bad memories." the toast of older times given easily in return. Perhaps it was the laughter, the song or a mix of both for without thinking, the greenrider reaches for his hand to draw the 'skin and its contents closer to her mouth "You might just prove to be more interesting then I gave you credit for." "Me?" N'thei shakes his head again, grave for comedic purposes only. To his credit, and very probably owing to the many times he's been foiled in the past, he does nothing more with his hands than their utilitarian intent. "But if drinking songs turn a man interesting, then I could probably make like I was fascinating. Nice toast though." Covering N'thei's hand with her own to direct it more then anything else, Shan takes that first long satisfying swallow of wine with just the barest brush of lips against fingers. Green eyes watchful over the activity of drinking and set on the bronzerider, she then seeks ownership of the wineskin with the other hand too once its clear his body saves having wine thrown back in her face. Low laughter spills out, with a slow shake of head "No N'thei. What interests me, is that you avoided answering my question. Didn't you?" brow arcing with the query. N'thei brushes the knuckle of his index finger across Shanlee's lower lip for a mere moment before his hand drops away, evidently rapt enough with that to delay any recognition of her question. Then he's smiling down at her in a questioning way, head tipped and all; "Did I? It's entirely possible. I have been known to do such things from time to time. But lips-to-fingers isn't necessarily conducive to intelligent conversation." That mouth that's briefly touched and watched turns up into a deep smirk as Shan holds the wineskin out to N"thei "Need a drink?" the question asked in the most convincing of innocence. Tapping a finger to her mouth in thought, the Weyrsecond tilts her head up to his downward movement "Well then. Perhaps I should stand over there." an area somewhere behind her indicated "And you can just shout the answer once you've oiled your throat, hhmm?" Indeed a step backward and out into the wind is taken "There's no one here to hear of whatever wickedness you perpetrated you know? Just me." spoken in the most beguiling of tones. Now a sly grin forms "Or....we could trade secrets. You, however. Get to go first." N'thei shakes his head at the wineskin, fingers waved to further dismiss the offer. After all it took to get out here to a quiet place to drink, he doesn't even want the drink. But he does give due consideration to Shanlee's suggestion, all the while watching her step out into the wind with those twinkling eyes; "A secret, hmmm? I tell people--" Like it's some grand confession he's making. "That my favorite color is blue, but it is actually lavender." Having turned her back to the wind just long enough to swallow down another mouthful of wine, Shan turns in time to catch N'thei waving off the wine. Suspicion edges in and is batted away, his eyes watched for guile, nothing but humor found there for the moment, the Weyrsecond's full attention is fixed on him for the mocking words. Eyes narrow "That wasn't the question I asked. Why would I want to or need to know that you prefer lavender to blue?" the wine now loses her interest as a step closer is taken "You keep evading that question I'm going to assume you were up to no good. And if it's not being answered out of the simple arrogance that a 'nice' girl like me shouldn't hear such things. Then you're more fool then you pretend to be." watching, waiting for the slightest 'tell' to come now. N'thei's only tell, if it is one at all, is a deepening smile and a look down at the ground to accompany it, a smile at once tolerant and amused and playful; "I give you due credit for stubbornness, ma'am." For a second, it seems he's even formulating an answer, a studious cast to his expression, but then he looks up with his head tilted to eyes Shanlee crookedly. Sincerely curious, "Why do you want to know so badly?" That smile isn't enough to satisfy Shan as evidenced by attention that hasn't shifted off N'thei once. Watchful as a firelizard of a tunnelsnake "Because that song is usually only heard on caravan routes and in seedy bars. Not in the Harper hall or most holds." An irritated toss of head sets the braid to swinging against her back his eyes met unflinchingly "Its what I do....did...." the slip covered over "You don't get to be as guarded and wary as you are without having something to protect." finally given with a defiant tilt of chin. Earnestly, the playful smile gone, N'thei steps toward Shanlee, hands raised to lay along the greenrider's shoulders. For all the times he's touched her flirtatiously, this is nothing of the sort, only very serious and very placid; "Have I ever pressed you? Have I ever tried to take more than you wanted to give?" He shakes his head in answer to his own question. "Why are you doing it to me?" Shanlee stiffens looking set to step back out of his reach with the memory of the last time he made a move still clear in her head, but she doesn't. Arrogance or sheer stubbornness makes her stand her ground. The Weyrsecond doesn't deny N'thei's first for she can't but his last is met with an evenly voiced query and not a reply "Why won't you tell me?"
N'thei's shoulders sag, the point he was trying to make obviously not driven home. Absently, he smooths his hands down Shanlee's collarbone, like the brief lay of his fingers might have wrinkled her some, and then he smiles helplessly. "When a person hits rock bottom, he doesn't usually spend a lot of time describing what the gravel was like." Behind him, with plenty of room to avoid kicking up dust at Kaylith, Wyaeth thumps another landing. Unmoving, even for the brush of hands over her, Shan's reply is simple and quietly spoken "Thank you." she'd likely gotten what she wanted. Reaching for one of his hands in a gesture of friendship the heavy landing of the bronze distracts the action but not the words "The description of the view is unnecessary but sometimes the journey to and from is what bears the most importance to the measure of one." Now the wineskin is remembered and brought to her mouth once again. "And sometimes." N'thei removes his hands to re-button his coat, to smooth down his own collar in a little show of vanity. "People just don't want to talk about it. --You enjoy that wine, ma'am, and thank you for showing me the place. If I ever find myself in dire need of a windburn, I'll keep it in mind." Heavy and long, the sigh that filters out and is tangled with the wind. Shan's eyes betray nothing more then an odd glint "Aye." singular, agreement without argument. N'thei readying himself for departure doesn't have her following suit. Moving back toward the precipice to settle down in a cross-legged posture on the ground "May you find your place of contemplation one day bronzerider." Fine brows knit "Faranth knows we all need one." he may or may not have caught those words that whip away from the small distance now formed. Attention out to view and no longer on the big rider "Clear skies, N'thei." tone flatter then earlier. N'thei answers with a chuckle, lingered long enough to watch Shanlee's new posture, "No, we don't. Just some of us." Wyaeth drops off to one side with his rider mounted, the two grazed well away from Shanlee's spot before they disappear to *between*. Watching the bronze pair drop off and leave 'her' area of solitude "Not buying it." Shan mutters in an aside to herself of N'thei's reply "Not for a second." Kaylith grunts a reply of her own. The green pair will likely spend the last half hour here in silence, until the Weyrsecond has to be available for the next meeting back at the weyr with her colleague. |
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