Logs:Still a Candidate
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| RL Date: 30 May, 2015 |
| Who: Paislie, Lilah, Kaelige |
| Involves: Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: The junior weyrwoman with her younger sister present pulls Kaelige aside in regards to continuing to Stand despite the events of the prior night. |
| Where: Kitchens, Fort Weyr |
| When: Day 12, Month 12, Turn 37 (Interval 10) |
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| Despite everything, life goes on; the kitchens bustle with activity between breakfast and preparing lunch. Lilah has been set aside by the head of the kitchen, put to sit at one of the tables there as she pours over the requests for supplies for them for the week. A brush of sleepless bruising darkens under the goldrider's eyes, her hair in a messy bun but at least it is clean. She is clean, though not rested. Indeed, life and chores. Chores continued to get assigned day by day for those candidates who remain stationed in the barracks. Thinned out by the selected twelve, perhaps even fewer for those here or there that opted to leave given the devastation of not being chosen or having to witness the hatchling's demise. That they didn't sign up for. One of the bunch seems unphased. Entirely cold to the situation. At least, to his credit, Kaelige is working this morning. Assigned to the stockrooms, he appears in the kitchens with a large bag of tubers slung over his arms. Despite his lankiness, he carries it with an almost impressive sort of ease. A redhead is spotted. Oh for Faranth's sake. The tubers are dropped with a thud- more than a few will be bruised at that, as he sheds the sight of being useful. His hood's up. It hadn't come down since he'd been forced to be so 'revealed' in white on the Sands. Disturbing that. "Good morning, weyrwoman." Comes from across one set of preparation tables. "Kaelige," Lilah greets, her fingers pressing against the hides spread before her as she lifts her gaze to the young man. Her gaze slides to observe that knot, first, though she likely knows his status before it and that of those who have quit. There's a weariness to her reaction to his hood, to his shedding of the work. But there's a command in her voice as she indicates the bench across from her, "Sit down." With some of the candidates having become weyrlings and busy with their new charges, Paislie is one of many general purpose people helping to pick up where their absence is being felt. Amidst running errands, the small redhead notices the junior weyrwoman, her sister, sitting over there where she is. She even almost starts in her direction, but Kaelige's approach is noted, making her hesitate in her approach and perhaps consider not approaching at all. She glances toward the caverns, but she has to step out of the way of some of the kitchen's legitimate workers, and those steps bring her even closer to the table while she considers. Escape routes? Negative. Blue-green eyes scan the exits with a vague sense of hope and in the same breath, loss. He sighs, leaving his discarded parsel in the middle of the walkway and following the commanding voice without much retort. There isn't room for retort, Kaelige is wise enough to know that much. More red hair is seen in his gaze's venture across the room, and he gives an awkward nod to Paislie. A chin-up sort of nod that would be better suited for a bromance than welcoming the weyrwoman's young sister over. He slides like a shadow into the seat, leaning with hands folded like a 'good boy'. It may be too much. "How can I help you, ma'am?" Kaelige's nod towards Paislie distracts the weyrwoman briefly as Lilah follows his gaze to her sister, the hint of a tired smile catching at the corners of her lips before it disappears. "Have you eaten?" isn't a question for Kaelige, but for her sister, concern there spilling out onto the younger woman. She gestures first to a kitchen worker, and then to Paislie to join them, before her attention finally returns to Kaelige. "You are still a Candidate." Paislie doesn't look directly at Kaelige for more than a few moments, so it's fortunate that Lilah's question draws the younger woman's attention. "No," she answers, still hesitating to fully approach but having fewer excuses not to now that she's actually been acknowledged. "I don't think I'm very hungry," she says, moving to join her sister's side of the table reflexively. "Do you want me to get you something?" she asks Lilah. It's pretty obvious that the question isn't being extended to the young man. He's on his own. "I Stood, I didn't Impress." Kaelige starts, as if that's all that happened on those Sands. His gloved fingers unlace to motion idly with some sort of whimsy at the dramatized dream unreached. Not quite spirit fingers, but they wiggle. "There's no clutch..." He trails off. He knows that Eliyaveth flew, of course, as everyone did. But he's not noticed the rounding of her belly. He slips his attention to Paislie as if including her in this candidate conversation. "Yet." He adds, almost so late that it doesn't coincide with his last words. "But I'm not going anywhere unless you kick me out." Light smirk pulls one side of his lips as he leans forwards on his elbows, to ensure she knows he's kidding and, hopefully, not to act on that just yet. "Not everyone Impresses the first time. I didn't; I kept Standing until a dragon chose me and I would have kept Standing until I was too old or they kicked me out as well," agrees Lilah, dark eyes studying Kaelige but not returning any hint of a smile as she considers him. That seems to be all that she wanted from him, since she is easily enough swayed into addressing Paislie's question without returning to the previous conversation, shaking her head. "They've already tried to feed me. Are you feeling well?" "I'm fine," Paislie says with the hint of dismissiveness that's usually there when she answers questions like that. It may not be the truth, but it's what she's willing to say. A quick look is spared Kaelige, uncertain as she makes a quick study of his demeanor. It's still Lilah she's talking to when she says, "Eating is important. It makes all of this easier," she says with a general gesture at her work. Pay no attention to how thin Paislie is. "Quite the perseverance." Kaelige offers, more as an inappropriately said compliment than generalized comment. "I'll be here." There's random beats of hesitation in that statement, as if it's not entirely his choice to do so. "That statement implies they failed. I don't think it's good for anyone if you go hungry." His hand again gestures, this time at her younger sister and her words of encouragement. "And what about you? I didn't see you on the Sands. Don't you want to try?" "I am quite stubborn," is a reply to both talk of perseverance and food, or perhaps just a general statement from the goldrider. But Lilah studies Kaelige for that hesitation, trying to put a finger on it though she never quite seems to before his question distracts her towards her sister. This, she doesn't press, but her gaze does fall on her, before she offers, "We can take breakfast in my weyr, together, then. I will eat if you do." "Oh. No." Paislie looks from Kaelige to the table. "I don't know. I thought I might, but..." After that hatching? She only shakes her head. But then Lilah's idea seems much more preferable to what's happening right now. "I think I can agree to that. So long as I'm not away from my duties for too long." Paislie doesn't seem to consider that it might be rude to leave Kaelige here, she's already moving to get back to her feet. Lilah wanted to leave right now, right? Kaelige takes this as an invitation to push himself away from the table, standing as if he has oh-so-much to do today. "Don't forget all the good in light of the bad." Cryptic, and yet at the same time obvious in what he means. There's even a smile with it, less a smirk. Almost... comforting, if any part of the shady kid could be counted as such. Paislie's response earns a quiet, throaty chuckle. Inappropriate sound in regards to the content of her words, but it's there nonetheless, "History repeats itself only if the same mistakes are made." Too wise for his age, to smart of a mouth for the company, greenblues slant from Paislie to her older sister as he backs out of reach for safety. An appraising look comes on the heels of those words, as Lilah watches Kaelige retreat. She even agrees, it seems, though her murmur to her sister is a simple, "Eliyaveith's children will need riders. If you were one of them, your husband--." A keen ear might overhear that, for all that the goldrider murmurs it quietly under the din of the kitchens to conceal it, underestimating Kaelige's hearing, perhaps? But, then she's standing and moving to order food brought to her weyr, for them both, before leading the way to it. "I know," is a quick murmur from Paislie, but that's all she says on the matter here and now. The younger redhead follows her sister once their food has been ordered, only glancing back for a moment in Kaelige's direction. Whether it's a habit or something that actually has to do with him is less clear. Kaelige's trained hearing is just that, keen, doesn't miss much. What he hears is tucked away in a back pocket of his mind, more because he doesn't know of the significance, the secrecy alighted to it. But all information is sacred. So for his part, he makes no obvious response to the comment, and makes a dramatic bow, a hand over his chest, the other out to the side. And then he departs back into the store rooms, the quiet, the dark. And without his sack of tubers left precariously in the middle of the room. |
Comments
Kaleidoscope (20:01, 31 May 2015 (EDT)) said...
I really enjoyed this scene. I loved Lilah's taking an active interest in the candidates for Eliyaveith's eggs in light of Elaruth's hatching, and Kaelige's wisdom and pointing at Paislie. I can't wait to see more of what's up with Paislie and I really loved her immediate rejection of the idea of Standing in light of the hatching (which I hope will change!) and the sisterly concern she and Lilah showed for one another through veils.
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