Logs:The Opportunities That Present Themselves
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| RL Date: 13 December, 2015 |
| Who: Jo, V'ret |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Jo joints V'ret to warm up his new weyr. |
| Where: The Women-Watching Weyr, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 14, Month 7, Turn 39 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Farideh/Mentions, Irianke/Mentions, Jocelyn/Mentions, Lys/Mentions, Mielline/Mentions, Taikrin/Mentions, T'gar/Mentions |
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| Thankfully for any arrivals, Zoth makes no attempt to lounge out there on his brand new ledge. He's taken up a post there, this evening, watchful, one might say looming. Perhaps he's just keeping an eye on the comings and going of the queens and taking notes for the future, for the sake of V'ret's ambitions? Perhaps. He was at least willing to relay the invitation, but he isn't chatty beyond that. Come over, have a drink? V'ret is waiting inside. Bottle on the table, two glasses, deck of cards. The important things in life. Well, perhaps not so much waiting; he's standing on a chair, fiddling with the hooks holding the hanging that covers the entry. No weyrling's weyr is ever going to arrive in perfect repair, right? It's possible that Jo's been taking her wingsecond duties serious enough that she's been missing in action more often than not. Other than the occasional check up from her bronze fire lizard (if both Zoth and Asaroth had been noticing a fire lizard blinking in and out in their vicinities), the bluerider is at least not around, breathing down the bronze weyrlings' backs. So, when an invitation comes along, Tacuseth sends back to Zoth that they'll be along. The bluepair arrives with no fanfare, landing long enough to drop Jo off before he launches back in the sky and towards the feeding grounds. "Nice place," is her greeting with the hanging in front of her before the entryway - so she must mean the ledge she's on. "Need help?" "I got it." And indeed he does, climbing down and pulling the hanging back; now it moves properly out of the way. Presumably this is new. "Just a few things a bit quirky, but it's a nice place." Then V'ret is gesturing her in. None of it's remarkable, of course, nothing of shocking beauty and space is surely at a premium, but he's beaming to beat all. "Just moved my stuff up this morning before lunch. And I thought, who better to have over than the most delightful of my cousins." Broad grin. With the hanging being pulled back, Jo steps back briefly enough to peer into the place before stepping in. "Bet ya never have a big space like this before," she says as she looks around, nodding her approval. "That places we come from. Yer cousin approves." There's a slight smirk as she turns to face V'ret, pulling free a drawstring bag of contents clinking inside as she hefts it before she tosses it in his direction to catch. "Lil' housewarmin' for ya," is her words for it. "This will be the first proper night I've ever spent without someone else in the same room, presuming you don't count a few times in the caverns where I managed to stay up until my compatriots were already up and gone." The bag is set on the table without yet inspecting its contents. V'ret turns to the bottle, to pouring, and generously. Not that it's the best whiskey on Pern, but quantity can hopefully make up for the absence of quality. "How does it feel, this lil' more bit of freedom?" Jo asks now as she moves toward the table where the drinks are set up. "I remember when I got my weyr. One of the best feelin's in the world, darlin'. Barely invited folks over for the first few months 'cause I wanted to indulged the feelin' of bein' in a space where it was just me. Ain' never had that before then." She nods to the cup in thanks. Once he's taken a seat, V'ret has a sip from his own glass but then turns his attention to emptying the pouch's contents into his hand. Bad form, perhaps, to inspect such a gift, but so what? "I like the space to myself. Even if it's small." Small is precisely what he's used to in his private spaces, but those are precisely that: not even Jo gets to be privy to everything. "But wouldn't want it to be just me, not all the time. Got my eye on a girl. Hoping she'll like it, even if her new place is prettier." Sitting, "Enough marks to get ya somethin' good," Jo explains the weyrwarming gift with a gesture. "A ridin' jacket. Better straps. Shit, ya can even spend it all on booze'n women if ya wanted. It's yers. Got yer eye on a girl." This last gets repeated with a lift of one brow as she settles back in the chair and takes a full drink. "Space is space, darlin', no matter the size of it. What's this 'bout a girl? Lookin' to be distracted already?" with amusement. Even despite the explanation, V'ret seems to need to count everything out before he puts all the marks back away. "Thanks. Means a lot to me." Means, it seems like, more than a jacket would, anyway. He tucks the pouch away in his pocket. "She's friends with Jocelyn. And Farideh." Ticking off on his fingers, actually. "And Irianke, I think, or she worked for her, anyway. I figure, if I'm not going to get anywhere with any of them, maybe this is at least... useful. Silver thread, too." Nodding, "There'll be more where that comes from, when yer ready," is all Jo says on those marks with a grin. Moving on to the girl, she listens in silence, studying the young man before her as he speaks before she takes a drink and briefly sets the cup down. "Not goin' to....yer in no position to fully get anywhere with either of them yet, darlin'. Rat'n ya both. Once yer'n Zoth are free to Between, the world is yers. That means the weyrwomen could be, too. Ya think ya can use this girl 'cause of her connections, or is she a daliance? Or more?" Pause. "I heard ya got Silver Thread, too," she notes, pleased. "I imagine yer takin' a hide from Rat's book in not keepin' off their radar?" "Okay. Let me re-phrase. I have no interest in sleeping with a woman my mother's age, I have no interest in sleeping with a woman who belongs to a friend of mine, and I would not do Jocelyn with another man's dick." Again, the ticking. But V'ret at least seems amused by the notion. "Whatever happens in a flight might happen in a flight, but if I'm to have influence outside of hoping to be Weyrleader someday, somewhere, I have to make plans for that. Besides. She's pretty." Any other reasoning, he keeps firmly under his nonexistent hat, after he takes another long drink. "Didn't ask for the silver, though. Just happened. I'm only taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves." The way V'ret phrases it has Jo laughing out loud. "Ya'll use another man's dick, or yer own if ya wanna be Weyrleader someday," she tells him, trying to keep most of the laughter in and clearly failing. "Ambitious bronzeriders don' have a choice in the matter. Anyway, we'll have to agree to disagree on our Weyrwomen. If only Tac was bronze'n I were a man." She says it as if she would know. As for other women, she snorts on the mystery girl being pretty before she remarks, "It's a trap, darlin'. The pretty ones always are. Well, as long as she don' trap yer attentions too much, who ya trap yer dick in's yer business. How's that bronze of yers? Ain' much of a talker, ain' he? I ain' mad 'bout the silver thread," she tells him as she drinks. "T'gar seems to think this is a good thing for y'all. I'm willin' to watch'n see." "If your dragon was a bronze, you probably would have never needed me. Or Rat." There's a slightly disgruntled hint in the last, as though the duplication does not sit particularly well, but V'ret drowns the issue in his drink. "Zoth is well. We talk plenty to each other; I don't think he finds anyone else's company particularly compelling. He'll do a far better job of letting me know if I've let a woman get too much of my attention than anyone, I'm sure. Might turn out to be nothing, anyway. Last pretty girl turned out to be nothing." "Our uncle would've wanted as many fishin' poles in the water that the lake could handle," Jo counters with a slight smirk. "Just as well. Competition's healthy." Perhaps that's to the disgruntled hint she had detected, the little smile playing on her lips could be any indication. Lightly, "Then there's that Weyrsecond position's no one's managed to land," she adds, leaning back. "A position just as powerful. It's good that Zoth'n ya get along. Gainin' that knot's gonna take teamwork. Rat still struggles with that, I've been told." She drains her cup then and angles it in an aim for a refill as she says on girls, "I've a lot to say on pretty girls, darlin'. Yer the clever sort to not need me tellin' such. I look forward to havin' ya flyin' with us soon. Kait, M'ron'n me." "You in Snowdrift, Kaitlin and M'ron in Equinox--you intend to keep us spread out?" V'ret is courteous enough to pour again, and generously, and refreshes his own while he's at it. "Weyrsecond seems like a long shot in the short term, but in the long, well. In the meantime, I'm trying to comport myself well enough to make good impressions. Just not so well as to be worth remarking on. Anyway, it's all rather a lot of recordkeeping and meetings, it seems like, at this stage. Can't say being wingsecond would seem terribly appealing if it didn't give me more time with my wingleader." "Should I get to wingleader, the spreadin' out will change," Jo tells him with a knowing look. Once her cup is filled with a nod of thanks, "I'd like to have all of us in lucrative positions one day," she reveals to him as she drinks. "Meetings. Do ya get in with the Weyrleader? Your wingleader...." Yeah, she caught that. There's a look of anticipation on her face as she suspends that cup from her lips. "Not to have had any conversations with him of any significance." V'ret cannot quite manage to sound totally regretful of this. Apparently the sacrifices involved in considering sleeping with attractive women, even if he elects not to attempt it, are different than the sacrifices involved in having to hang around with guys he clearly doesn't consider very interesting. "Anyway. My wingleader, for the month, at least. I suppose it's a bit of nepotism, her asking me, but it's not like I'm not working for it. We just wouldn't have any time together if I didn't." And he's happy under these circumstances to leave the implication of what that time together involves be, accurate or not. "Just bein' involved'n listenin' to his meetins'," Jo clarifies with a shake of her head. "Did'ja learn anythin'?" Amusement colors her tone on his answer to his wingleader, what more he reveals drawing a wry, "Well, I reckon ya know what yer doin', Ev. I ain' one of those that'll dog yer every step. I have plans for ya. For Rat. So long's ya stay in one piece by graduation." It's said likely to all revealed as she takes a lingering look about his weyr once more. "I still expect to be swimmin' in Benden white, darlin'. Me'n ya." "You and me," and V'ret raises a toast to this notion. "I'm not intending to graduate in multiple pieces, anyway. Rat, I can't speak to. My dragon keeps his teeth to their intended targets." Point of pride, there. Civilized! "I do have a bath here, but it's nowhere near large enough for swimming purposes. Somehow I think I can do better than that. Just... need a bit of time, that's all." And he smiles. Relaxed, comfortable in a way he certainly wasn't during all those sober months of weyrlinghood. Jo toasts to that, her smile opening up in a way it hasn't in months. "I have my trust in ya, Ev," she admits with a nod. "It's why I want ya take care of yerself. This silver thread thing might be a good thing after all. Also, I want ya to let me know when Zoth'n ya are cleared for Between. There's a place I wanna take ya to see. It's far, though. I need to make sure yer ain' dyin' on her gettin' there." That she's proud of his progress since Impressing is evident - like a proud mama. She look exasperated when Rat's name is brought up, the wingsecond frowning as she says, "He hasn' been as open to any of us like you have," she says. "Him, I'm still not sure 'bout. I don' think he'll betray any of us, but, it's obvious to me that he's on his own agenda than our family. That concerns me, but, as long as his agenda doesn' fuck over ours....." This requires a few moments of thinking, some staring into his glass. "I feel closer to you, now, than I do anyone back home," V'ret admits, but carefully. Always carefully. "But I don't see any reason for interests here not to align with their interests. I don't see any reason why what's good for us shouldn't also be good for them." As to who any such arrangement should be better for, of course, maybe that's an open question, but not one he's going to speak aloud, certainly. "But it all could take a lifetime. Rushing isn't going to get us anywhere." Listening, Jo lingers on the remaining liquor in her cup, only drinking it down towards the end. "I want y'all to do well here as well as back in Greenfields," she says, seeming to agree. "I ain' blockin' y'all from havin' yer goals. Shit, I have my own apart from what we do here'n there. I don' want y'all to forget yer loyalties as well. If it ain' with us, the sooner we know, the better. Like with what happened with Taikrin'n the family back home. S'all I'm sayin'. Just don' forget us." She lifts her cup to that and takes another drink. Speaking of, though, "Does home know yer here?" she asks now. "I have... half-siblings, but we were never close. I'm not even sure they'd remember me." V'ret waves off the concern, freshens his drink again, sits back. "My parents are both long gone." In neither case is that true, of course, but it's an old and familiar lie that flows smoothly from the tongue. "This is where I'm supposed to be, not Crom, not Greenfields. They'll have their own lives. If I manage to do really well for myself financially, I'll send something back for them, but not anywhere near there yet." "Family of the born-with type do make things complicated," Jo agrees, seeming to take his lie on his parents in stride. "I do believe ya belong here, the way ya were able to take to this place quickly'n I like that yer lookin' at the future. That kind of thinkin' is what I want to cultivate out of us here in the Weyr." Draining her cup, "Someday, we'll talk more of yer plans'n things ya wanna do once yer able to. Have ya been studyin' the wings? Any that stick out for ya that Zoth'n ya might prefer gettin' tapped into?" This answer takes no thought at all: "I wanted Iceberg. I haven't gotten very far yet with wanting any of the others, now that there's no Iceberg." V'ret even sighs, as he has another drink. "Rest of the wingleaders, I see them giving their reports, you know? But I don't know any of them well enough to have any idea if we'll get on." Nodding, "With H'vier dyin', I saw Iceberg shuttin' down comin'," Jo says grimly. "With other wings shuttin' down, too. Have ya looked into Glacier? Taikrin ain' all that bad. Mielline in Snowdrift ain' either'n that's not from me bein' biased on both. Then there's Taiga if ya wanna get close to the Weyrleader. Well, somethin' to think 'bout. If I get to wingleader myself, ya know I'll be anglin' for ya, even if yer already in a wing." "Do you think it's likely? You getting a wing. Not that I mind," V'ret adds hastily, sitting forward now, "just that I don't want to get too settled if it's going to mean moving again." A grin, for that. "I'll be thinking about it, I'm sure, more as I get more time. Tonight, I've still got work to do before bed. But I thought we should have time enough to catch up." "If it happens at all, I doubt it would be anytime soon," Jo answers on her making wingleader. "Even I'll admit that I've still gotta lot to learn. Didn' realize how much work went into all of it when yer just a wingrider. Might suit ya, too, if yer into the work that comes with it. Somethin' to think 'bout anyway. The path yer on, I've gotta feelin' ya'll get a lot of opportunities yer way." She drains her cup again at the mention of work, the wingsecond getting to her feet as she adds, "I don' wanna keep ya. I'm glad ya called. Now that ya can fly, stop by my weyr sometime. Even in Kait'n M'ron's, they like to have card games in the evenins'. Ya'll let me know if ya need anythin', right?" for she's stepping away from the table and moving back towards the ledge where Tacuseth lands. |
Comments
Roz (18:16, 13 December 2015 (PST)) said...
Ahhhh, this was such a good read. I laughed. I cried.. ok, no I didn't cry, but. Awesome.
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