Logs:Try And Get Things Right
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| RL Date: 31 January, 2010 |
| Who: K'del, Milani |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: K'del was beginning to think this day would never come. Sadly, the occasion is somewhat marred by the more serious talk that eventuates. |
| Where: K'del's Weyr, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 25, Month 11, Turn 21 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Ezalea/Mentions, Inviere/Mentions, Saliqa/Mentions, Tiriana/Mentions |
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| K'del's Weyr, High Reaches Weyr Rank certainly has its privileges, and among them are amply appointed apartments. The short flight of stairs from the Weyrleader's Complex opens up into the larger of two chambers, formally decorated and clearly designed to cater as much to important guests as the occupant's personal living. Old, but obviously expensive, llama wool rugs dyed blue-and-black cover the stone floor, leading towards the second chamber, the stairs, and the rush-filled dragon couch and ledge beyond it. A formal seating arrangement - a sofa and chairs, all blue-and-black - sits around a large, tiled fireplace, whilst along the other wall, a finely made, if now somewhat antique, desk sits between a bookshelf and a tall cupboard to which tack-hooks have been attached, riding gear arranged neatly inside. Two tapestries hung from the high walls depict overdone splendour for High Reaches Weyr, one a long view of the snow-covered bowl, and the other a hazy impressionist piece of dragons flaming over a springtime countryside. The inner weyr, made up of a sleeping cavern and a private bathing area, is smaller and cosier and distinctly less ostentatious. An oversized wooden sleigh bed fills much of the space, the mattress piled high with overstuffed down pillows and comforter, their covers dyed in varying shades of navy blue, light blue and bronze. There's a nightstand on either side, both with reading lamps, and against one of the other walls, a tall, heavy wardrobe made from a dark wood that matches the bed. The bathing area is part of the same cavern, a folding screen shielding the toilet and slightly raised, double-sized bathtub built into the stone, and a small shelf holding toiletries, shaving equipment, and clean towels. It's a little on the late side, but not super late when Milani makes her way over to the Weyrleader's weyr and sets up camp on his sofa, dressed in a way that is decidedly not professional or maternal. Green is the color tonight a dark olive shade with a pretty sheen to the fabric and the headwoman has let her hair down. Is it possible that someone's been to the healers and gotten a certain go ahead? Maaaaybe. Certainly things look much like they might have once upon a time before Milani got knocked up, lying on her stomach, feet swinging in the air idly behind her. K'del's boots are near the door, and there are a stack of papers on the desk, but he's nowhere to be seen-- though there's the sound of splashing coming from further within, which probably goes a long way towards explaining where he is. He takes a few minutes more, and while there's no singing, or anything, chances are the bathroom floor is going to be pretty flooded, if the (somewhat muffled) sounds are anything to go by. Finally, towel-clad, he makes his way back out into the outer room, apparently after those papers-- though, of course, he doesn't get quite that far, gaze resting first on bare, swinging feet, then unashamedly working its way upwards. "Fabric shortage?" he wants to know, still stopped short halfway across the room, his voice rich with amusement (and, okay, rather a lot of appreciation). Turning to cast a look of the coy kind over her shoulder at him, Milani lets her eyelashes flutter. "Not this turn. But my mother had some leftovers and got creative with them," she says, rolling onto one hip, book nudged aside a little. "And you're looking mighty fine in the latest fashion statement of the season: the single towel," the headwoman teases him fondly. One hand lifts to beckon him over, smile warm now. "Milandra's fast asleep and should stay that way for a couple of hours. I hope you don't mind, I brought her over, in case she wakes, but she should be out for a while. She's in the bedroom in her cradle." K'del's head turns back towards the bedroom, surprised, as he murmurs, "Shows how much I notice." But care? No, he doesn't especially seem to care; as he turns back, his grin is back in place, and he's already on his way over, sliding over the edge of the sofa so that he can get a better look. He's good though - or bad, depending on the way you look at it - reaching for her hand instead of anything else as he asks, "Reckon the towel thing will catch on? Bit cold, maybe, for long term wear, but... so's this, I guess." Her ensemble. "Not sure my mother would ever think to do something like that with leftovers." But he's not complaining, oh no. "You were singing and splashing a lot and I guess Cadejoth didn't rat me out," Milani says amusedly and reaches up to take his hand, tugs him closer. "If it's you in the towel, definitely," she adds, mock-serious and reaches over with her other hand to tweak he towel free. "If that's cold, then you might need warming up." So sarious. No really. "Mm. Well, you know, there's a big difference between a fine, upstanding holder woman like your mother and my greenriding one." Wink. "Cadejoth's conspiring against me," laughs K'del, letting himself be tugged closer without any resistance; the towel doesn't need much work, either, falling away easily to leave the bronzerider naked to his skin, and more than happy to snuggle up against the Headwoman. "So cooooold and alone," he teases, as he leans in to steal - okay, /initiate/, because theft would probably imply brevity - a kiss. "Weyr women really don't know their place in the world... where's the modesty?" "We'll fix that, I --" Kiss! And Milani is not at all averse to losing herself in that one. Her arm slides up around his neck and her other ... well it's got a hand on the end of it that's sliding down all that lovely naked skin to take some initiative of its own. "Somewhere far away from here. Which really, when you get down to it, is something I'm /sure/ you can appreciate," the headwoman says laughingly and tugs him closer for another kiss that breaks on: "Kas ... I've missed you." Initiative must be going around: one of K'del's hands tangles itself in Milani's hair, while the other starts an exploratory adventure of familiar-but-also-different territory. Fair's fair after all. "Just wanted to make sure it was locked up somewhere tight, never to see the light of day again," he teases, after that second kiss, which has him looking pretty happy, it must be said. "Missed you, too," he says, a more serious note to his voice, as he detangles his hand in order to smooth her hair down instead, then trace fingers down her face. Initiative, is a very good thing as far as Milani is concerned. Familiar-but-different is definitely true. She's still carrying a few extra pounds and where before she was all long, lean lines, there's all these ... curves. "I threw away the key," Millie informs him solemnly and her own fingers are walking up to tangle into pale curls. "So, Weyrleader, are you going to prove up on what was under that towel?" she teases him, eyes dancing merrily and aims to draw him down to the couch to put a very long couple of months of drought well behind them. K'del? For the record? Not complaining about the curves. If anything, he seems fascinated by them. "Very good," he tells her, approvingly, though with that teasing, charming grin of his rather taking away from any attempt at seriousness. "Reckon you can handle it?" he adds, as she draws him down, but it's rhetorical: his mouth drops to hers again as, in great detail, he illustrates /exactly/ how much he missed her... and how very glad he is to have her back. "I'll let you know if I can't," is Milani's much more serious answer amid all that teasing, but then it's all about all that lovely detail. There's a moment or two here and there of discomfort, but it's soon sorted out with a little bit of mutual management and the smile on Milani's face in the aftermath is definitely blissed out. Her fingers work through his hair lazily twirling a curl here and there then letting it spring free. "I think the answer to that question," she murmurs, "is that yes, we can both handle it very, very well." Happy sigh. She's quiet for a bit, just enjoying the afterglow, but does finally get beyond being a boneless pile of headwoman and runs a fingertip along his jaw. "So. Did things go any better this time?" she asks him quietly. His head resting on the back of the sofa, his arm trailing around Milani's shoulder, K'del looks exceedingly well pleased as they lie there, afterwards, though all of his good work in the bath is undone given the amount of sweat; no matter. "Do believe you're right," he returns, leaning in to press a little kiss to her temple, though much more movement than that would definitely be out of the question at this point. "She didn't hit me, and I didn't spew, so I guess that's an improvement," he says, after a moment. "Not sure she was thrilled with my reminder that Iovniath /picked/ Cadejoth this time, but I got out too quick for her to say much to that." Beat. "Coulda done without the other dragons fighting, though." "Mmmhm, which is good to know, because shells, having to keep on doing without ..." Milani makes a little tsking sound in the back of her throat and snuggles closer. "Well good you didn't get hit," the headwoman says very definitely. "And I guess her not being happy isn't really surprising." Her hand runs lightly down his chest and she tilts a look up at him. "Probably a good idea to beat tracks fast if he keeps running, yes." Sober blue-green eyes seek out his. "I know. At least there's no permanent damage though, right?" Firmly, K'del declares, "Let's avoid the doing without thing. Don't even want to think about it." He wraps both arms around her, squeezing gently as he looks down to meet her gaze. "Right. No permanent damage. /Still/." He takes a breath, then, backtracking, "Not surprising at all, anyway. Too many.... arguments, lately. Surprised... really didn't expect to still be here. But I am. So. Got another couple of turns, maybe, to try and get things right." "Oh shells no. I'm not doing without again until I have another one and /have/ to," Milani answers fervently and presses a kiss to his shoulder. "Yeah, I know. It's better to have a nice 'clean' flight," she agrees and then tips her head back to take in his face. "Arguments? THough yes, it's been ... interesting in the caverns lately too. Holdbred people coming to the Weyr and struggling with the transition for one." K'del looks briefly, and probably not entirely seriously, thoughtful, as though he's debating whether more children would /really/ be worth it, but all he says, in the end, is, "Suppose, in a couple of turns, I might be willing to make that sacrifice." He presses his lips together, head nodding with regards to clean flights, and though he hesitates, he doesn't have much more to say on arguments. "Just-- differences in viewpoints, I guess. Nothing that can't be handled. But, what's this about the holdbred people? Been making things difficult, has it?" "Mmhm. It's only for a little while at least. Healing up and all that," Milani says a littl emore seriously and leans in to drop a kiss to K'del's cheek. "Exactly, different viewpoints," she agrees with him, then shakes her head. "No, nothing /difficult/ not yet anyway. But it's always so hard for them to ... look at how we live and see right in it." K'del sounds rather like a disgruntled teenager as he says, "Really /long/ little while." But at least his expression is fond, and rueful; he bobs his head just once, at least indicating that, yes, all right, he's mostly not serious. "Find it hard to see myself as one of them," he murmurs, moving on and sounding thoughtful. "Though-- guess I can see where they're coming from. You'd have trouble in a hold, too, I bet. Doesn't make it easier for anyone, though. Is it the Crom group you're thinking about?" "I have trouble seeing you as one," Milani tells him, nuzzilng in at his ear. "I know. I think I'd probably go crazy if I had to live in a hold," is the candid answer there. "Mm. The Crom group. Saliqa's. And apparently Inviere too." "Good," declares K'del, letting out a low, contented breath at the attention his ear is getting. "Rather prefer to think of myself as belonging to the weyr, through and through, regardless of where my family come from." He traces his fingernails down her arm as he adds, "Haven't really seen Saliqa and her lot since they came in, but it doesn't surprise me... such a bizarre thing." Being sent as they have been, presumably. "Don't think I've run into this Inviere person, though." Beat. "No, wait... she's the Tillek one, isn't she?" A shiver traces up Milani's spine at the touch of his nails and for a moment she doesn't say anything, just gives his ear more positive attention. "Mm. What /is/ that all about, really?" Leaning back she shoots him a puzzled look. "I mean, seriously, a jeweler for an emissary?" Her head shakes back and forth a few times. "Though I suppose it's better if it's /not/ Crom Blood." Given givens. "Mm, yeah, Tillek and working in the stables." Picking up his cue, K'del's fingernails continue traipsing up and down, picking up earlier explorations albeit with a lighter touch. They still, though, as she continues, and he shakes his head in return, biting at his lip at mention of Crom Blood. "Got no idea," he admits. "And I don't like it. Saliqa... she's smarter than the rest, seems like. One to watch. Particularly..." he doesn't finish that thought, breaking off to add, "Tiriana's doing? May have heard something... I don't remember. Haven't met the girl, anyway. Kinda harsh, though. That background, to stables." More shivers until he stops and Millie murmurs a quiet protest. "Oh ... well ..' the headwoman consider that for a moment or two. "Yeah, that would be rough. It was ... pointed out," she says slowly. "So I'll make sure to check up on that and maybe see about ... something else. I mean, there's plenty of work for everyone right now." Obligingly, K'del gets his fingers back to work, an amused little smile crossing his face. "Sounds like a good idea," he agrees. "Always think it's a good idea to keep on the good side of our holders... whatever their offspring or residents or whatever are doing gracing our caverns." He's silent, and then, reluctantly, and unquestionably seriously, "High Reaches Hold is-- expecting hate mail from them any day." He stares moodily away; he hasn't talked about this with Milani, in the past couple of weeks. Ezalea argued with Tiriana and left, that's all. More shivers and her palm presses against his chest. "Shells, if you keep doing that, I don't know how much more talking I can do," Milani confesses with a laugh. Composure mostly collected: "Right, or try to anyway, so long as they don't have their heads stuck up their asses and aren't selling us bad deals," Milani says with a little snort. She falls silent, head tipping back further. "From High Reaches Hold? For what?" "We've had /weeks/ of talking," teases K'del, looking utterly pleased with himself. "Got to make up for it." But he can't keep that smile in place, breaking it off solemnly to let a little sigh escaped. "Ezalea... shells. She found out about something, and she took it back to her family in Balen. Expect it's spreading over the region by now, and pretty soon... Tiriana says it was all for the weyr, but how can it be good for the weyr if it makes them hate us?" He takes a low breath, and then adds, "We sold the meteors and she kept all the marks for the weyr." And he's apparently been holding that to his chest for three weeks, now. "Well yes, but I meant /this/ conversation," Milani says laughingly and makes a little face. "Yeah, I miss her, Ezalea was very level-headed," she admits and then she sobers promptly, sits up a little. When he lays it on her, her eyes widen considerably. "/Shells/. K'del ..." it takes a moment or two but then she's shaking her head. "All of it? But ... even the ones taht were picked up from outside the Weyr? The stuff that was supposed to be rebuild marks?" Given the seriousness of things, it's no wonder that K'del's fingers have stopped; he looks quite out of his league, frustrated and angry and overwhelmed, all at once. "All of it," he confirms. "Think the idea was that they holders didn't know the meteors were worth money... but they do now. And they /should/, but... what'm I supposed to say? And Tiriana just thinks it's perfectly justifiable, because we need to rebuild the star stones." He breaks off, and admits, a few moments more, "Rather wish it was Ezalea who stayed, and Tiriana who left. She meant well, and I kind of get that, but... it's just not right." Listening further, Milani scoots closer again and winds her arms around the weyrleader, comfort on offer. "I'm not quite sure, I mean, yes, need to come up with something to counter, but at the same time, don't want to make it look like the Weyr is at odds," she says slowly, thoughtfully. "Do we really need /that/ much capital for the star stones?" is the next logical question. "I mean honestly, you'd think that anyone would realize that it's not just for the /Weyr/ that there need to be stones. It's for /all/ the people in the coverage area." K'del leans in to that touch, managing a rueful little smile as he takes in a deep breath, then expels it again. "Right, exactly," he agrees. "Can't look like we're at odds; that makes us look weak. But... I don't know what else I /can/ do, either." He continues without pausing, words tumbling free: "They're giving us a discount rate, of course, but... there're still costs involved. And maybe, if we'd asked? The holders would've donated us some of their proceeds to help out, given that it's in their interests, too. But we've just /taken/ it all, and we can't just backtrack and say, oh, oops, our mistake, giving you your money, now. Not now that Ezalea's told her family... which I don't blame her for, of course." Chewing on her lip, Milani clears her throat. "I can skim the marks out to pass back to the holders and fudge the books," she says after a moment though the words sound heavy. "If Tiriana won't give it back," she continues. The headwoman's throat clears again. "I -- I did that once before. Hiding things that were coming in from raiding for supplies. When Crom held out." Silent, K'del watches her, but finally, with a deep breath, shakes his head. "Don't want you to have to do something like that," he insists. "Don't care if you've done it before... two wrongs don't make a right. No: we need a better solution. A... /real/ solution. If it's at all possible. Somehow. I don't know... I could offer services, instead? But that would still involve backtracking, sort of. And they just won't trust us." "No, they don't." Milani agrees to that and drops her head back down to his shoulder. "I think that backtracking and re-earning trust might be better than them knowing that it's been taken and letting them think that we just don't care that they all know." K'del's hand lifts to run through her hair as she shifts her head back to his shoulder, and slowly, silently, he nods. "The wings are my responsibility... I can offer them pretty much any amount of extra work, or whatever. And doing something like that at least, um, I guess it's better than hanging around, waiting for them to move against us? I don't want them to hate us." He lets out a long breath. "Guess that's what I'll have to do." "No, not hate, but at the same time, I guess well, everyone doens't always like everyone else?" Milani suggests, arms squeezing around K'del again, comfortingly. "But trying to smooth this out somehow is a good idea. Because if there's too much resentment, it'll cause more problems, like no tithes," she says seriously. Another hug offered and then there's a little fussing sound from the baby and Milani slides away. "I'll be right back, I have to check on her," she says and moves to stand and go make sure Milandra is going to settle right back down. "No," agrees K'del, "But we had a really good relationship with High Reaches Hold, and I'd rather keep that." He breaks off after that, nodding his head, but not saying much more. After leaning into that hug, he lets her go for Milandra, murmuring, "Of course. Take your time." "Hopefully it's recoverable,' Milani says and steps on through into the bedroom. Minutes pass and she returns with a little grin. "She was just hungry," the headwoman explains, hair tucked back behind her ears and she holds her hands out to him. "But we should probably get some sleep. She's going to wake up again in about four hours or so." K'del offers no confirmation to that comment, as Milani steps away, and is silent - but not, ultimately, brooding - during the time she's gone. He even manages to match that grin as the Headwoman returns, reaching up to grab for her hands and draw himself up from the couch. "In that case... yes, we really better." Beat. "Thanks, Millie. Wish I'd spilled sooner." "Yes. I'm lucky I've got so many helpers," Milani says sincerely, "otherwise I'd probably be half-crazed from sleep-deprivation by now," she says with a shake of her head. Then she leans towards him as he rises to kiss him again. "You can talk to me, even if I've been a lot busy lately. You can talk to me, Kas." ANother kiss. "Right now though ... not so much interested in talking," she murmurs and winks at him. Mischievous. With clear intent. K'del opens his mouth, no doubt to make some kind of witty and/or insightful remark about sleep deprivation, and instead ends up met in that kiss, which he returns with pleasure. "Know I can," he tells her. "Just, sometimes, got to work stuff in my head a bit, first." Her last words, though, attract rather more attention - nicely distracted. "Sleep, she says, but no, no, that's not what she /means/... shells, woman." Which is, for the record? Not at all a complaint. "Okay, good," Milani says about talking and smiles at him in a very smitten way. "Mmmhm, I want to make sure we both get the best sleep possible." So serious, but for the mirth in her eyes. Once in bed, hopefully, no complaints at all and Milani curls up alongside K'del, arm draped across his mid-section while she drifts off. Sometime later, she'll be up again to tend to Milandra, and then back beside the Weyrleader for the rest of the night until morning means packing up and heading back to duty. Is it fair that K'del barely stirs but to roll over once when Milani gets up to look after Milandra? Lucky man - this night, anyway. Must be all that exhausting good fun earlier, which, needless to say, resulted in no complaints, oh no. Still: morning no doubt comes to soon, as it always does. Totally not fair. And morning does come too soon. Always. |
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