Logs:There's Been An Accident
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| RL Date: 25 December, 2013 |
| Who: K'del, Tayte |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Tayte reports the accident to K'del. |
| Where: Tayte's Room, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 17, Month 8, Turn 33 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Ali/Mentions, Azaylia/Mentions, H'vier/Mentions, Yvalia/Mentions |
| OOC Notes: Backdated. |
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| Tayte's Room, High Reaches Weyr The peculiar shape of this room suggests that it was unintentionally expanded, cement holding the ceiling together towards the peculiarly shaped alcove build into the back corner. It's larger than most personal quarters as a result, and though the uneven walls mean nothing sits flush, there's plenty of room for more than the usual amount of furniture. The larger lobe of the lopsided kidney shape that the room has might be considered a studio room. A large bed is tucked into the roundest part of the alcove, though there's a gap behind where the straight headboard does not meet the wall. It's piled high with furs and pillows. In this curve there's also a wardrobe, a dresser, and nightstands. Hooks extending from the ceiling over the dresser have been rigged with two layered chain-link that holds a number of bottles of alcohol of different varieties. The highest drawer in the dresser which is bizarrely the largest locks with a key. Opposite it, closer to the door, is a hearth that's had a throw rug and loveseat set in front of it, along with a few low tables. A set of shelves and a small desk sit opposite the curve of the smaller end of the room. Around the curve and into the little lobe, one finds a great change. There's color everywhere instead of the muted things in the front half. Scarves and streamers hang from little hooks installed in the ceiling, their lengths varying, and a crib is set up in the middle with two small boxes that have toys poking out of their not-quite-shut lids. There's a tall table stocked with all the tools a mother needs (well, those that are safe to be at toddler height) and a small dresser and wardrobe. The furniture is all hand-me-downs but in decent enough condition to make the occupants comfortable.
Warranted, perhaps. Liable to cause flailing consternation (at least mentally)? Definitely. The K'del who rounds the door has a drawn, worried look on his face, and Tayte's smile, and the tone of her voice, aren't doing anything to ease whatever wild fantasies he's come up with. "Tay?" He reaches - grabs, even - for her hand. "Is everything okay?" "Yes," "No," "Maybe," "I think so?" There's a breath in between each answer. It started out well, but there's uncertainty at the end that isn't altogether encouraging as her eyes pull down to the hand around hers, and she uses it to tug him gently inside, nudging the door closed with her slippered foot. "I--" And Tayte has to pause to swallow because suddenly her mouth is dry. Whatever she was going to say is set aside in favor of, "Can I get you a drink?" No, Tayte, that's not helping much. "Am I going to need one?" is K'del's answer, quietly beseeching. His hand tightens around hers, squeezing. "Not that I'll turn one down, but... that was kind of an ominous note, Tayte, and you're not making me feel any better about it now." Because the most helpful thing to do next is to not answer the first inquiry with anything but an uncertain look to his hand on hers, that's what Tayte does. Her hand is slipping from his grasp as she turns to move toward the liquor dresser, fingers already fishing for its keys in the pocket of her sky blue wrap-around knit. Apparently, she's getting him a drink. She doesn't leave him completely in suspense, though. That would be cruel. She does chew her lower lip before saying, "There's been an accident." Because that's a good way to start, right? K'del lets her hand go, though there's a reluctance to it, and rather than sit down and make himself comfortable, he just stands there, waiting. Watching. Her answer seems to physically stagger him; his face has gone pale. "Vali-- no, it's not Vali, is it? What's going on, Tayte? What the fuck?" At mention of their daughter, Tayte's expression goes bewildered and wide eyes turn toward the bronzerider. "What? Why would you think-? No, of course, that's what you'd think." Her cheeks are abruptly flushing pink, and then quickly the reassurance. "No, no, Vali's fine." Not here, but apparently fine wherever she is. She looks back to the now open drawer and pulls out a bottle, swiftly popping the lid. "It's me." Not that that explains further, though her cheeks are getting darker. It should be a relief, surely, this news that Yvalia is fine, but K'del doesn't seem terribly relieved - he swallows, and it's an audible, deep swallow. "What's wrong, Tayte? Just... tell me. Please." He's just... standing there. "I don't know if it's wrong, exactly." Does that help? Tayte chews on her lip as she pours. "It's just... not planned, and something could go wrong. And." She stares down at the drink, and then picks it up and turns to move toward him, offering the drink. "I'm accidentally pregnant." Beat. "Again." K'del's fingers curl around the drink, but it's an exhale that's got most of his attention: a sigh that could be relieved, except that, of course, his mind is already racing ahead. "Oh, Tayte." It's not, at least, as chiding as it could be. He's watching her, now, with something more curious in his expression. "How do you feel about it?" "I-- don't know," Tayte's answer has her hesitating and looking uncertain in concert. Her brows furrow and her eyes search his face, "How do you feel about it?" Because... that matters, right? For a moment, K'del looks bewildered. Then, he knocks back a fair amount of that drink, swallowing it before he can say, "How should I feel? You said you wanted another baby, and so far that, I'm glad. Know it's not what... know there are complications. But. This is what you want, isn't it?" There's lip-biting at the bewilderment. Tayte's eyes don't leave his face, "I don't know. Maybe you shouldn't feel anything about it." Only Tayte's pink cheeks say she doesn't wish it so. "It's not-- how I wanted it. But I want it. Only, I'm afraid to want it. Because it might... not go right. And even if it goes right, it might not go right." There's the briefest of pauses, and then K'del sets down his drink so that he can step forward to envelop Tayte into his arms. "It'll go right," he murmurs. "There'll be no... no drama, this time. We'll look after you, okay? It's going to be fine." And then, "What does he think?" Tayte's sigh sees the tension starting to ease out of her form as she presses her cheek against K'del's chest and slips her arms around his waist. "I'm going to ask for a hiatus from the Hall when the new WeyrVintner gets here." Which by most reports should be any seven now. "And I won't travel. And I'm not even drinking." The last is said a little mournfully. "I'm trying to be careful." For all the good it might or might not do her. Then 'he.' Another sigh. "I'm not really sure. He didn't want to try, and I wasn't ready to try anyway, and when I told him-- I don't know. I mean, I think he wants it, now. But." But. With one hand, K'del rubs gentle circles into Tayte's back. "That's often the case with men," he reminds her, gently. "It takes time to get used to the idea, for most of us. Not... me, but then I always knew I wanted kids. When he's got his kid in his arms, he'll be completely on board; that much I can promise." Can he? But he will, for better or for not. "If there's anything you need, you'll ask?" "It's probably as scary for him as it is for me, given what happened last time." So it's definitely H'vier's, then. "Only we don't talk about it. Not really." Which might be understandable, though it's cause enough to have Tayte fretting silently and she squeezes a little tighter. "You know, I'm sure it sounds really stupid," Because that's always a promising way to begin, and the nervous laugh that accompanies her words doesn't make it any better, "But part of me had hoped somehow that you and I--" -and that's about where Tayte realizes she's starting to show herself as a complete idiot and shuts up. Only, of course, now there's the Awkward in her body, in the way her arms start to loosen and fall away. That it makes K'del awkward, too, is obvious: his body stiffens, his arms, too. But then they tighten, and instead of drawing away and continuing to be awkward, he says, simply, "I know." And, "You and I would've made beautiful kids. But this one... this one will be beautiful, too. Hope you'll let me be Uncle K'del." The tightening helps ease some of Tayte's awkwardness, probably because he's not casting her out of his arms and telling her she's the idiot she's already caught herself being. So the awkwardness turns to gratitude, and the gratitude shows itself in the form of her arms resuming their previous squeeze and nestling her face into his shirt a little more. "Of course. Except maybe Uncle Kas. K'del is a little harder to say." Tayte points out, getting in one more squeeze before she starts to withdraw. "And I won't think now about how we'll explain why you're Vali's Dad and the new baby's Uncle. Not that there aren't some families like that in the backwoods of Crom." Or so the jokes go. She manages a tentative smile. This time, K'del allows her to withdraw - and then reaches for his glass again. His laugh is not broad and bright, but it's genuine, and so is the smile that follows it. "Weyr families," he tells her. "All fucked up. I'm the one with five children by five different women, remember." He could let that hang as it is, but instead, he glances at his glass, and then back at Tayte. "Really am happy for you. You know that, I hope." It could, so easily, become a game of which of them is really the fucked up one when it comes to families, but it doesn't this time. Instead Tayte just smiles, a close-lipped smile that only partly disguises the not-so-cheery emotions behind her eyes. "Good." She takes the step back, looking at his glass since she doesn't have one of her own to gaze at, "I figure that if you had wanted things to be otherwise, you'd have made it so." Since she's already said her piece about how she feels, long ago now. "So I'm glad you're happy for me." Because it wouldn't have been fair otherwise. Even if maybe she's also just the tiniest bit unhappy that he's happy for her. Women. This time, K'del looks rather more awkward, and looks... well... anywhere but at Tayte, really. His cheeks are ever so faintly pink. No doubt he could apologise, or say something else... but he doesn't. Instead, after a long exhale, he says, "You will ask me, if I can do anything? Take Vali, if you need a break, or anything? I'll make time. Anything you need." "Oh, I didn't mean-" Tayte starts when K'del looks awkward, one hand reaching to touch lightly to his bicep, "It's fine-- good really, that--" She's making it worse and knows it, so once again with the shutting up in the form of lip-biting. Then, "Yes. Of course. I'll-- I might ask for your help in smoothing things over with the Hall if I have trouble getting a hiatus approved. Your big knot has to be good for something, right?" She tries for a teasing smile, only there's still some awkward hanging around in her expression. A breath whistles through K'del's teeth but then, finally, he gives a nod, and one of those little, not-quite-wholehearted smiles. Still, his words manage to be firm, and at least a little more comfortable. "Of course," he agrees. "If you think it'll help, you just have to ask. When... when are you due?" Repetition would probably only highlight the awkward, so instead of confirming with words that she'll ask, Tayte simply nods. "A little after turnover. If-" Everything goes according to plan. But that's a phrase she bites back, putting on her 'brave' smile. "A little after turnover." More firmly. "I found out about a month ago. I've been trying to find a time to tell you before I started showing." Does he notice now the slight rounding to her belly that the carefully draped knit wrap is obscuring? It's not yet distinguished itself as "baby" from a woman who's simply put on a few pounds, but now that he knows it's there, it can probably be readily observed. "A turn thirty-four baby," says K'del, sounding abruptly pleased, and for reasons that may not be immediately obvious. His glass gets another glance, and then he finishes it, though the empty one still gets shifted from one hand to the other. "I'm sorry I was so difficult to... catch. Glad you told me. Glad... I'm glad, just in general. Does Vali know?" "I suspect my turnover wish is going to be an easy delivery," Tayte replies with rueful humor. "I was waiting. To get past- well, where things went wrong. But, I am now. And I guess I should tell her before I get much bigger." A self-conscious glance goes to the curve starting to make itself known. "I'll tell her. I didn't want you hearing it from her, though." That too. Along with the late term miscarriage scariness. "And mine," says K'del, quietly. "For your sake, for Vali's, for the baby's, for... everyone's sake. And mine." His smile, though small, is obviously intended to be encouraging. "No, that's fair. It... guess it would've hurt, if I'd found out from her, even if it were because of circumstances and not because you were keeping it from me or anything. She'll... hope she'll be pleased." And not scarred. "So... If--" Tayte hesitates again, ocean eyes shifting up to seek K'del's lighter gaze, "If he decides not to stick it out, or starts sleeping with whores again," Which for a man who wasn't H'vier would probably just be a jealous exaggeration, "Or something, you'll be there to hold my hand through it?" The delivery. The icky, awful, painful delivery. "We'll try to handle it carefully. She worried, you know, about Ali. Once you told her she was going to have a little brother or sister. Had nightmares sometimes, but she didn't know Ali, so I think it wasn't as scary as it could have been. I-- if she starts having nightmares about me, I might ask you to take her some nights or-- or let Havi stay over when she's here. I--" She bites her lower lip, "I don't really know how to handle that part. She's met him, of course. But having you and him in her life... it gets messy." Bronzeriders. "Is it... is it okay with you if he stays over when she's here?" Something hardens in K'del's expression at mention of whores, but at least he stops short of condemning the other bronzerider verbally. "You bet," he promises, faithfully. "If there's any reason he can't be there, I will be. Promise." He's obviously bothered by the idea of Vali having nightmares, his little exhale coming matched with the closing of his eyes. Still, his nod is a gentle, firm affirmative. "It's okay. It's-- not like I don't trust him around her or anything. It's fine. And I'm happy to take her, if you need time alone. It's fine." His eyes have opened again. He means it. "I don't always trust him around her." Tayte admits with a frown. "He's not very good with children." And yes, yes, that's his bun in her oven. Lucky Tayte. "And I'm still not sure he's okay with you being her dad because she might be his blood. I don't always trust him not to do something stupid." To be fair, though, likely she shouldn't, "Not that he would hurt her or anything," This, she's quick to add, looking now guilty. "I suppose I should have more faith in him." Only... Only... "He's not a father, yet," concludes K'del, though he's not looking terribly encouraged by Tayte's description of how things are. "Even if he's blood related to Vali, he's never been a father." He exhales. "He'll get better. You'll teach him. The baby will. And, like I said... Vali's always welcome." Most of the time. Tayte rocks forward onto her tiptoes and then back, considering K'del's words. "Sometimes, you're too wise. It shows your turns." The blonde teases now with a smile that's warm. "I'm glad you use your talents for good, not evil. But then again," And now she reaches a hand to pluck briefly at his knot, "With great power comes great responsibility. Or so I've heard." She reaches for his glass then. "I'm sorry I upset you with my note, I just really needed to tell you. Another drink?" She offers. "Great responsibility," agrees K'del, though at least he doesn't look as tired, tonight, as he has in the past. His smile, too, is warm. "Who knows, I could be be back to Wingsecond K'del at any time, and then I'll have all the time in the world, and none of the responsibility. Or power." For better or for worse. It doesn't seem to bother him, at this moment. What does is his quiet regret as he shakes his head: "You needed to get me here. Not saying I'd've refused if it hadn't been so urgent, but... still. Wish I could stay, but I do have another meeting tonight. But we'll talk again soon, I hope." The look Tayte gives K'del is a long and disbelieving one. Finally, "Uh huh. Sure." Which is to say, 'yeah, right.' "I'm putting my marks on Cadejoth when Hraedhyth rises this time. And you know I only make Bitran bets," The kind she's likely to win. She steps in and wraps her arms around his neck, one hand still holding his empty glass. This hug is briefer, one of farewell. "So do I." She states her mutual hope before letting go. "I'll let you know if Vali starts having trouble with any of this." It's added, though probably doesn't need to be said. Then again, she didn't speak of the Ali-pregnant-nightmares when they were occurring. But there might have been other reasons for that. In any case, she seems ready enough to release him back to his larger responsibilities. Her confidence makes K'del smile, and so does her hug. "Keep me in the loop," he agrees, firmly. "And I'll talk to her, if needs be. If she wants me to. Thanks, Tayte. For telling me. And..." A waved hand: in general, too. "Look after yourself. Be happy." Glass returned, he'll take his leave after that. Duties - always duties. |
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