Logs:The Weyr is Familiar
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| RL Date: 2 August, 2011 |
| Who: Elgin, Lujayn, Iolene |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Iolene barges in on Lujayn and Elgin's conversation, and after the goldrider leaves, the two once exiles talk without anyone leaving in tears. Only complete bafflement. |
| Where: Living Cavern, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 20, Month 5, Turn 26 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Rhaelyn/Mentions |
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| It takes a second for Elgin to realize who is before him in his waking stupor, he shoots into an upright position and salutes the goldrider, "Morning Goldrider Lujayn." Is offered before he takes a moment to consider the rest of the conversation, "Yes, well, I think in every situation if something happens human nature is to blame those whom we don't understand." He assumes she's talking about the searching of the candidates and islanders' belongings for a necklace. "Then in all groups of people there are both good and bad, so it is possible." The corners of his mouth tug downward as he studies the woman. "Did you enjoy the rest of the gather?" "True. Break up one disagreement and folks will find something else. Have I misunderstood you?" She teases, wiping sleep from gray eyes. "But really, I did enjoy myself after a time. It felt like I was doing more to keep people from hedging at each other than actually relaxing. Duties first, after all." She looks down to the papers, shuffling through them briefly. "Speaking of which, I have a few rosters here to distribute. Seems a few people are stuck on cleaning the latrines." It's not really a table topic, but the rider continues unabashed. "No one's getting up to any real trouble, I hope. Other than the holders, I - that is, we - you're comfortable?" Is it early for twenty questions? Nah. Two months is a long time to go underground for; to be under the proverbial radar and to go relatively unnoticed except in a conspicuous absence. Particularly for Iolene. But grief and mourning can do that to a person, cause them to disappear without warning. However she's managed to slip just beneath notice of those who know her best, the exiles, something's changed in her two-month morose demeanor as the thin blonde ducks in from the bowl with the glitter of the early morning's mist clinging to her hair. There's an at-peace smile on her face for one and a sudden levity to her stance. Perhaps it's too early in the morning for other exiles to inhabit the living caverns, making it all the more easier to pick out a familiar face in the crowd, and it's to Elgin that Io gravitates, with long, lithe strides, unhesitating in making a fervent, joy-filled declaration, punctuated by a girlish twirl with arms flung to the ceiling, "Did you see? Did you see? I saw the /ocean/ at the Gather," but it's only after she's spoken and spun, interrupting whatever conversation that's going on, that the presence of Lujayn pings in her periphery and a sudden apologetic look flies wide those dark blue eyes, comically shifting her features into a silent 'meep' look to both. The look that crosses Elgin's face, the drawing the brows but the knowing grin, state that he knows what it is like to spend most of the day trying to put out fires than enjoying a party, "Sounds like me at the Turnday celebration here." It was a while ago but Elgin is sympathetic to the goldriders plite. "Am I getting one, latrine duty that is?" Elgin comments at the rosters, he looks confused but his tone holds no protest. His frown deepens and his brows furrow deeper, "Comfortable? What do you mean..." But his thoughts are ended abruptly as Iolene waltzes in. The boy is moved to complete silence as he studies the girl when she approaches. He seems hesitant to speak to her, lest he extinguish the girls mood. Have a moment he smiles slightly, "Yah, I saw the ocean. It was nice." His smile grows, "Goldrider Lujayn this is Iolene." He says in way of introduction, and waving at an empty seat for the islander. "Care to join? We were just speaking about latrine duty." There is a teasing grin. "Looks like rest day for you, unless you want to go asking for work. And I meant," Lujayn shakes her head absently. "I was wondering if it's getting any easier, being here." Then: a girl who apparently loves the ocean. There's no offense in Lujayn's expression, an indulgent smile and the quirk of a brow all that's needed to sum up her reaction to Iolene's enthusiastic greeting. "It's a beautiful place, the hold." Indicating an empty seat, she sweeps a few errant papers into a neater pile to make room for the islander. "Did they take you to the shore? I'm afraid our lake doesn't really compare to the ocean if that's what you're used to. You're going to have to remind me.." Lu scans the top duty roster but doesn't find a name that matches the face before her. The absence of this young woman has apparently done the trick to make the goldrider's keen memory falter. Elgin's introduction neatly takes care of that particular question, however, and Lu nods in agreement with the invitation. "It's nice to meet you. I take it you're another 'yes' on enjoying an outing?" If Iolene catches Elgin's hesitancy, it doesn't manifest in the return of her post-meep smile, a beatific thing that, after her own uncertainty in regards to Lujayn, includes both weyrwoman and once-exile in its glow. "I didn't see you there," is her excuse, her shy-hinted explanation for Lujayn, for just barging in on another conversation, "I just- I was just-," a pause, leads to a simple word, uttered with just a bit of wonderment. "Happy." And had to share that happiness that even the mention of latrines or goldriderly confusion can dissipate. "I want to live there. It's almost like home with its rocky shores and the water. /The water/." On the verge of gushing again, a sudden glance to Elgin brings Io back to Pern quickly, again apologetic, this time enough to retrack to the interrupted conversation. "Latrine duty?" Iolene's sudden change in mood is still treated as teetering by Elgin, or maybe it wasn't sudden, but since the last two times he saw the girl he made her cry he isn't willing to skate out on the incase it is thin. "It was beautiful, and the scenery was a lot like home." And while he's smart enough to not bring up the fact that they are not welcome there, and that some of the holders treated them like a freak show on a trader caravan, deep wrinkles across his forehead join his frown and he studies the girl with a sad expression. Still, he cannot bring himself to dash her hopes, "The water was beautiful, I wonder if it just as cold there." Not that it is all that far away. At the girls apologetic look he manages a soft smile and a shake of his head, "No worries, Io, not for me or you." Which draws his attention back to the goldrider's question. "Getting along better? For me, yes. For the most part. I find once you talk to people for a bit they seem to understand that we aren't all that different" There is an emphasis on 'most' but it is said with a smile, as if the slight from these people is already forgiven. Lujayn grins, easily infected by Iolene's cheer. "I'm sure you'll get there eventually, if you really want to." Never mind the temporary ban. Holders will be holders. "We're not exactly tropical waters. It can be refreshing in the summer, though." Not that she does much swimming in the ocean. "Glad to hear there aren't any hurt feelings. These? Just duty rosters for the day, nothing deathly serious."" Shuffle, shuffle. Back to the papers, a ring from her mug evident on the back of one sheet. Not quite in the loop, she can't decide what to make of Elgin's mixed expressions and forges ahead into those foreign waters. "Do you like to fish? I'm afraid that's most of what the ocean around here is good for. Wouldn't want to see anyone breaking their necks on the rocks." "I do," in answering Lujayn first, it's clear Iolene's opted to either feign ignorance or is actually oblivious to Elgin's continued hesitancy. But a quick tip of her head to the exile-turned-candidate sends flickering lashes and a quizzical lift of her brows to the boy, before she's continuing with her response. "I fished for our settlement. I-... The waters around our island were cold too. But cold isn't so bad, was it, Elg? I've never-," she pauses, lips pursed thoughtful, "Never knew the ocean could be warm. Do you? If you weren't a dragonrider, I mean." It is something that both islanders can agree on, "We both fished. It was our job, and Celadion too." He flicks a glance to the girl before addressing the goldrider again, "Celadion and I have been fishing here, when we don't have chores. He made some equipment..." Long fingers wrap around his klah, "Cela's even been taking the kids out to teach them, when the nannies will let him..." He pauses, "He's even talked about trying to learn to hunt with a bow, if the weyr will trust us with one." His mixed expressions suddenly lift, excitement creeps across his face as he updates Iolene on their fellow island-fisher, "Seems like more of us are learning to use our skills to adapt." He returns to the goldrider agreeing with Io's question, "Do you fish too?" "'Fraid not," Lujayn immerses herself in listening about the island lifestyle, fishing and gathering and everything she hasn't had to do - as long as you don't count herdbeasts for the dragons. "I was a runner when I was younger, mostly at Fort. Taking messages and parcels and things between the Weyr and beholden." She explains, unsure if such an occupation existed in the exiles' society. "Rielsath fishes for herself sometimes, but that's just for fun. I wasn't raised around much seacrafting." The ocean is still an alluring unknown, stirring the rider's imagination. "Seems you could be free out there, on the ocean. Just being." The word, "Adapt," is spoken with slowly, the vowels elongating as if she's testing how the word fits out with herself. Then it's repeated, even more quietly in an inconclusive consideration that's broken by the lift of her eyes off the table to find Elgin first and then Lujayn. "It is free being out there. I don't think... I don't think I realized just how free it was." Compared to here, is unspoken, and possibly the insinuation of it isn't even intentional in her wistful words. "I didn't know dragons could fish." Elgin watches as Io tests the 'adapt' on for size the first time, but he gives her privacy the second time she mouths it, instead answering Lujayn, "A runner?" After the explination he nods, "Not something anyone would have done full time on the island, we just weren't that spread out...That seems like freedom too, being able to move between places." Not being kept in one. "She fishes?" This is an intriguing concept, "I would love to watch that!" His brain is turning, always turning, "Maybe there are parts of how the dragons do it that we could use." Lujayn surveys the two before her, quietly taking in the wistful tone, the quiet words, the care with which Elgin responds. "It's a mess right now, I know. Things will work out, you'll be able to move around more. I miss it too, some days. Going, doing what's natural and familiar in your life.." At the prompting, she returns to the thought of fishing before the nostalgic air can be encouraged too much. "They swim, fish, make nuisances of themselves, sure. Just about anything they get stuck in their mind could happen," Lujayn elaborates on dragon behavior, always willing to spare anecdotes for education. "Not so much for feeding themselves as for the fun of it. It would take a lot of big fish to sustain even a weyrling." A big smile for fun, one of the goldrider's weak spots. Maybe bigger than freedom. Lujayn and Elgin's exchange draws her further out of her still sad memories and, unbidden, a smile floats back to her lips as she recognizes the signs of the other teen's brain churning away; learning to fish from the sea monsters carries some irony after all. But despite her own yearnings and the momentary distraction of dragons fishing, Iolene piques to what the goldrider says in response, a turn of her head finding the unfamiliar woman and listening to something beyond just what she says and perhaps more how she says it. "What," she begins, "What's natural and familiar for you?" The question is posed a little confused, as if the idea that one of their jailers could desire the same, or at least similar, things as herself, foreign. Elgin makes no comment, his eyes drift quietly between junior weyrwoman and newly re-emerged islander. A slow smile draws across his face, it is small. A recognition of the look on Iolene's face that he has seen dawn on so many islander and non-islander faces alike. That quizzical look that cannot be hidden as the realization that beneath all the difference the same longing occurs. A realization that cannot happen in talks of politics or grand parties, but that is found in the simplicity of life, the small conversations of what brings joy to the life of the other. And so Elgin is silent as life carries out a process that takes only a little nudge in the right direction. Still all of this is unheard, Elgin's smile, both on mouth and in his eyes, his slow content sip of klah, the only indication of what is going on inside. Maybe some time ago her response would be different, but the junior weyrwoman's response is bona fide Weyrfolk. "After ten-odd turns, being a dragonrider is what I do best now." Lujayn gathers her empty mug and makes a presentable stack from her mostly pristine papers, distracting herself with the fidgeting work of tidying up. "Rielsath is familiar, the Weyr is familiar. It's my home and my life." As if to sum up a more formal discourse, more thought put into her words. "It wasn't always. I guess I adapted, too." That could be regret behind her softer smile, yearning for something more in her eyes, but there won't be time for that just now. "It was good to speak with you two," She exhales contentedly before standing, lingering after pushing in her chair. "Try not to worry too much, okay?" Is her parting encouragement, obviously reluctant to leave such a discussion. Duty is duty; those papers won't deliver themselves. She sidles back into the crowd with a wave. "I'll see you around." "Goodbye," says Iolene, unable to mask her disappointment at Lujayn's answer, as if she expected something else; something that would humanize the goldrider to something more- more familiar for herself. As the goldrider departs, Io turns to Elgin once more, still standing as she was when she approached. "Did you really get to see the ocean?" she asks, latching back on to the event that had her floating back into reality. "Wasn't it beautiful?" Disappointment edges on Elgin's face as well, but for other reasons. He turns back to Iolene with a soft smile and a nod, "For a moment, it was beautiful...But I didn't stay to look at it long." He admits as an after thought. "She's right, someday you may be able to move there." He tilts his head slightly, he pokes his white knot slightly, "I, however, may be stuck here." He waggles his eyebrows as if being stuck may not be such a bad thing. "Io..." He ventures carefully, softly, "It is nice to see you smile." For his knot and all that it entails carried in the waggling of his brows, Iolene smiles though it doesn't /quite/ reach her eyes this time. "I remembered what home was like when we went up to the Gather. I remembered a lot of things I thought I had forgotten completely. How salty the air smells and how, even in spring, there's that nip in the air. I almost forgot how the winds feel cleansing. It was nice. It was like home." But, in the small turn of her mouth corners down, it's clear she realizes it isn't really home. "I wish they would let us leave. I'd like to get far away from here some day. Wouldn't you?" "Yes, it did remind me of home, in the way the wind felt, the way the beach looked." Elgin's turn to look wistfully at the girl, "But the people here remind me more of home." He sets his mug on the table as he leans forward, "It is Aella, and you and, Rhae and Cela...it is the people that make home." He bites his bottom lip, "I mean, I suppose if it wasn't everyone here I would leave but no, I am home here, because the people I care about are here." There is a soft shrug and a returning smile, "I will do what I can here to make this place a home for us." He hopes this makes sense but still he winks at the girl, "But if you left, and when to the hold I would love to visit so that I could have a reason to see the ocean too." "Shimana always said the sea was in our blood. Blood or not," the capitalization of the latter is heard in the slightest emphasis as Iolene looks to her hands. "We always laughed at her. But I understand now." Too late is that understanding. "I agree. Home is where the people you love are. But I've lost my mother and father. I've lost my grandparents. I lost-," some of her good cheer fades, drawing paleness to her cheeks and a waver to her lower lip that she stalwartly, with a shake of her head, tries to keep away. Instead, a small smile tenders itself to her lips, curving slow up along her cheeks to grace her eyes with a tiny little sparkle. "Do you remember the story you told me of your first love?" Elgin laughs softly at the mention of Shimana with a nod, though it fades quickly at the mention of 'blood' with a capital B, though he manages to keep the frown at bay. "We all lost individual people, but the people -the collective of people- that I love are still here." He watches her face with a frown, and happy at the change of subject that returns a happier look to the woman he nods with a smile, a soft blush coloring his face as if, perhaps, there has been a sequel to the story recently. "Yes, one doesn't forget sharing such an embarassing moment." "I lost my first love too." It's said with a finality that not only speaks of months of mourning drawn to a close, but of a wound that will never heal completely. But still, Io smiles, an empty blank one as she muses on memories too near and the spark it brought to her eyes lingers only briefly. "Let me get something to drink and we can sit and catch up. I feel like I'm waking up from a bad dream to find life's still moving around me." Elgin is quiet again, a trait that he has picked up in the time that Iolene has been absent. The new, musing, Elgin nods with a jaw set in understanding, though his own losses can't add up to that. There is a smile at the catching up request and a different nod, one of accepting an invitation of an old friend turned new person, and he waits for her to return with her mug quietly, offering only, "Moved, but not so far that it left you behind." "Oh, Elgin," words that could sound so patronizing are punctuated with a wider smile that displays itself when she lifts her chin to spy out the other exile and the end result is a relieved little sigh. Her continued, "I don't think life could ever really leave me behind," is a rare awareness of her own being and how it might be construed as a charmed life. "I would never let it." In the end, and with those words, Io traipses to the feeding troughs and pours herself a mug of juice before returning. "Did you get Searched or did you ask?" is asked upon her return of the white knot that rests on his shoulder. Elgin does not seem offended by the words, he studies her as she leaves and returns, a gaze that leaves her only to sip on his klah absently. The question is pondered, the difference not considered before but he smiles lightly, "I was searched, though the thought of asking had crossed my mind when we started taking classes with the candidates - It is my understanding though, that chances of impressing are higher with those searched." He shrugs, not including weyrfolk in that assessment, "Though I suppose it is possible that those that ask would have been searched, but there is no need once they ask." "I see." Iolene sinks into a chair with those words and wraps her hands about the juice mug as if it might have the warming influences of a much hotter drink. "I don't think I'm allowed to stand. Not since," she has the grace to blush, looking down upon the rim of her mug, "Not since we hurt an egg." Never mind it wasn't her hurting eggs or girl fighting in the sands. "I thought that becoming a dragonrider would help fix some of my problems. Like her," the direction in which the now departed Lujayn went is given a chin jerk, as if that might help Elgin know which her Iolene is speaking of. "It seems like with a dragon, you can go anywhere you want. You could even return to the island sometime, when you were feeling particularly lonely." "Don't think?" Elgin questions quietly, "Have you asked? There isn't really any harm in it." Though his gaze is considering his mug of klah, he's looking elsewhere. "Besides, it can be harmful for them not to search someone their dragon suggests, even if they aren't sure of the person." His gaze marches upwards to meet the girls, "Dragonets can hurt themselves, if they want someone in the stands, or if they can't get to them they can die." This seems to be information gathered from a person with knowledge of the workings of hatchlings, "You should put yourself in a position to be searched if you want it." He doesn't suggest what that position might be, stand in the bowl with your arms flailing? He curls a leg up underneath him, "If that's the only reason you want to impress..." He pauses, he has his own reasons for thinking impressing is a good idea, "I mean, you could befriend someone who has a dragon, and they could take you, but it does seem to cure the loneliness problem." He grins, "I haven't heard a dragonrider yet say they were lonely." "They're not allowed to." Iolene replies. "We're not allowed to leave." In spite of herself, there's a note of growing mutiny somewhere in that quiet intonation, one that's quelled by a sudden shut of her eyes. It's by sheer will and a growing amount of self-control that when they open, she's brought herself back to a more placid state. "Why do you want to Impress?" Since to her, it's clear Elgin doesn't think much of her reasons for Impressing. Elgin notes the tone with a twisted grin, but doesn't comment on it. "They'll let us leave eventually, the gather - there will be more." Jaw opens slowly and snaps shut, he considers the girl for a moment, eyes close and pupils roll upward in thought, he opens his eyes the right words found, "Not just me, I think it is important that as many of us impress as possible...so that, so that we can leave if we want. So that you can leave and go to the hold if you want." Will the thought process be followed, he doesn't explain it. A sip of her juice is taken, the sweetness of it savored in her mouth as it gets audibly swished around, then coats her lips as she licks them clean of any remnant juice. "And you? Do you want to go back to the Hold?" Iolene's follow up is inquisitive. "I want to help us..." Elgin pauses, "And the best way to do that is try and impress. So no, I guess I don't." He looks at her thoughtfully, "Will you go when you are able?" "So even if you Impress, you wouldn't want to go visit?" There's a certain bemusement coloring Iolene's face at what she surmises of Elgin's intentions. "What /would/ you do? I mean, besides wanting to help? I mean, how would you help as a dragonrider that you can't as ... just you?" The blonde teenager leans forward, an elbow finding the table so her balled fist might prop her chin all the more nicely. "What are your dreams, Elg? A dragon? A home?" Pause. "A girl and five children?" The last carries in it the lightest hint of teasing that brings some iota of merriment back to Iolene's face. "Oh, to visit? I would love to go visit." Elgin chuckles at the miscommunication, "My dreams?" Elgin's eyes sadden at the thought of a girl and children, but then there is also the hint of something else, a coloring to his cheeks, conflict. "Sometimes some dreams have to be set aside for others. Sacrifice of one for another." His eyes close slightly, "Not that I can see Rhae running around with children anyway..." His eyes brighten as he meets Iolene's merriment with his own sly look of contentment, "No, I think when I fell for her I gave up a normal life anyway, so a dragon will suit me just fine, if it wants too." Then he answers the middle question, "Dragonrider rule this place, Io." He leans in as he entrusts part of his plans to her, his voice falling to a whisper, "Especially bronze and gold...The more of us that stand..." Is she following? "The more likely we are to have some say in what happens to us, to the weyr, to how we live...If I have happen to impress a bronze," He shrugs, "But it's an odds game, the more of us the more likely some of us will impress." He chews on his bottom lip again, "If helping all us means giving up a family, I'm in." A beat passes. A very long one. "You and Rhaelyn?" Iolene's eyes widen and her nose flares a little as she tries to imagine the two of them together. "She... she'd eat you /alive/," is her horrified conclusion. What he insinuates about dragons and their color fly right by her head -- it is, after all, a foreign world and concept -- while the idea of Rhaelyn and Elgin, two people she's grown up with. "Does she... does she care for you in return?" The idea of Rhaelyn caring for anyone other than herself seems to befuddle Iolene's sense of the world completely. "It's true, in the end she probably will, but maybe that's part of the draw." Elgin's eyes glint mischeviously and there is an affectionate smile crossing his lips, the dragon conversation allowed to slip away, "Yes, she does -" There is a pause, "In her own way." Sometimes, the smallest things will turn a person's world around and the idea of Rhaelyn in a loving relationship seems to do that for Iolene. So much so that the girl rises with that glazed look as if in a dream. "I-... I guess I'm so happy for the two of you." Whether the elders know is not a question Iolene is about to ask, though the hint of that curiosity flickers her eyes from Elgin to the door, far past which their elders now reside. "It's good to be in love and happy. Enjoy the rest of your day, Elg. See you around." Without excuse or reason, Io begins a very steady walk back out into the bowl, juice mug in hand. It should be noted that her steady walk carries in it a tense control, as if she has to will one step in front of each other until she's out the archway and into the fresh, misty air. |
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