Logs:We Could Do It
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| RL Date: 29 March, 2010 |
| Who: B'tal, Madilla |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: B'tal has a proposal. Madilla says yes! Maybe that'll even mean something, this time! |
| Where: Madilla's Room, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 6, Month 5, Turn 22 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Delifa/Mentions, W'chek/Mentions |
| Madilla's Room, High Reaches Weyr There's something undeniably cozy about this little room off the resident quarters, making it comfortable despite its small size. To the left of the door is a small wooden table with two chairs, the wood covered with a piece of rich, creamy fabric matched in the patchwork cushions set tidily on each chair. A lopsided red vase sits in the middle of the table, usually filled with brightly coloured flowers. To the right of the door, in the far corner, is the narrow bed, made with fresh linens and covered with an oversized quilt designed out of patches of cream, blue and red. A wooden press sits at the end of it, and, just beyond that, several hooks in the wall provide hanging space. A battered, sagging couch sits in the other corner, its tattered fabric mostly covered with another quilt. A few baskets of glows light the little room, but, otherwise, the walls are bare. It's past dinner time on day 6 and B'tal has probably bathed at least twice already today. Not that anyone can tell that just by looking at him, of course, but his hair is still dripping a little bit, dampening the collar of his shirt, when he knocks on Madilla's door so the once is pretty obvious. His clothes are casual but the fabric is a little finer than what he usually bothers with. He's barefoot, too. "Madilla?" he says. And just in case she doesn't recognize his voice, he adds, "It's B'tal." It's a surprised - but distinctly pleased - Madilla that opens the door a few moments later, dressed down for the evening with her hair loose and only a shawl covering her shoulders. "B'tal?" Smiling, she pulls the door the rest of the way opening, inviting the greenrider inside as she steps back to let him pass. "It's nice of you to visit." She's obviously been at work on another quilt, fabric patches of various sizes and colours spread out over the table, with a glow-lamp sitting close to light the work. Otherwise, the room is tidy. "Hey," he greets her when she opens the door, face lighting up from a thoughtful expression. B'tal hesitates to move at first, like he has to convince himself once and for all to go inside before he does. He pauses inside briefly to look around curiously. "Thought it was about time. Nothing's wrong, by the way. Just me. You're making a quilt!" Cause that's not plainly obvious. He seems uncertain where to sit since it's at the table but he moves closer to look without touching. Obvious relief shades Madilla's expression at the reassurance that no, nothing is wrong; she shuts the door behind the greenrider once he's in, then turns back to watch as he approaches the quilt. "It's good to see you," she assures him, warmly, as she follows him the few steps towards the table. Faintly pink, she adds, all pleased and proud and slightly disbelieving, "It's a /commission/. The mother of one of the new weyrlings wants it, for when her daughter gets her own weyr." She seems to find it hard to believe that someone would /pay/ her for her hobby. B'tal looks impressed about all of that and he beams a grin at the healer. "That's great, Madilla! I hadn't even though of what I might get Teris. Not sure she'll need anything, you know? She got me a pocket watch. Well, her and mother." He's rambling. He realizes this after a moment. "They're really nice, though. I bet you'll get more, even." He's shifting away, though, to walk, pace even, though there's not much room to move around in the cozy space. "This is nice." Madilla /does/ look proud, returning the grin with only a small amount of shyness, despite the flush. "I'm sure she'll still need something," she reassures the greenrider, as she turns to watch his progress, though, for the moment, she stays where she is. "Or /want/ something. You must be very proud of her." Her arms wrap snugly about her middle as she adds, "I like it. It's-- comfortable. And /mine/. It was strange at first, but now that I have things set up... I think it's nice." "I am. Really," B'tal admits with a fond, boyish smile. "Whit--" probably shouldn't be mentioned but he doesn't realize that until he already has, "He isn't... thrilled. About it. They don't really like each other." But then he's shaking his head. That's not why he came here. And there was a reason other than just visiting, too. "Anyway. I've been thinking," he begins, but pauses, looking at the floor. Madilla can only smile back, in the face of that boyish smile, though it shifts slightly more towards a frown at mention of the bronzerider. He remark on that subject, though, is light: "W'chek will just have to deal, won't he? But-- what is it, B'tal?" Because him looking at the floor like that? It makes her frown, and take a step forward. "Did you want to sit down?" She indicates the couch, the little table, looking, now, as hesitant as the greenrider. "Tell me?" "Right," B'tal says, glad that she's not upset or anything apparently. He looks up when she steps forward and draws in a deep breath before letting it out as a shaky sort of sigh. "I'm okay. I'm fine." He lifts a hand to push through his hair, leaving it sticking up awkwardly in some places. "I was thinking," he says again, "about us." Looking directly at her takes a moment to pull together but it does happen. "I mean... I don't know what I mean. Are you seeing anyone?" 'Us' makes Madilla frown-- and she ends up looking, ultimately, just /confused/, as the greenrider continues. It's probably not something she expected to hear from the greenrider. One arm drops, to rest loosely upon the back of one of the chairs, as she considers him. "No," she says, finally, and very slowly. "I'm not. What-- I'm not sure what you're getting at?" B'tal glances around and backs up toward the couch to sit down on the edge of it. He glances up at her, studies her carefully for a short while, then tries not to sound like an idiot as he says, "We could do it. Have a..." swallow, "have a baby, I mean. Us." He takes another breath like he intends to keep speaking, but then nothing comes out but a sigh and he's watching her with an intense sort of uncertainty. Madilla's eyes go wide, and her cheeks pink, though neither reaction is conclusively good or bad: just surprised, maybe. Her hand on the back of the chair grips suddenly more tightly, as she gulps in a deep breath, then exhales. "/B'tal/." There's a sharp urgency to the way she says his name, though it's gone as she continues, her voice suddenly barely more than a whisper. "Do you mean that?" The greenrider isn't really sure how to read her reactions but he certainly notices them. B'tal might flinch at some other time the way she says his name but at some other time he probably wouldn't be able to even bring it up. Not initially, at least. His response is only delayed by a thought and then he's nodding his head. "Of course. I wouldn't bring it up, you know, if there were someone. But... it makes sense, doesn't it? If there isn't?" Worrying at her lip with her front teeth, Madilla looks thoughtful, not /quite/ frowning, but still: serious. "It-- does." She says, finally. "It's just... would it make W'chek angry? And... Are you. Um." She waves her hand awkwardly, vaguely, not really managing to make any more clear what she's attempting to get at. Despite the seriousness, there's some hint at /hope/ in her expression. The admission, no matter how serious or uncertain, makes B'tal smile with a hint of... something. Excitement. Relief. The mention of his weyrmate makes him shake his head, though, no matter what the answer actually should be. "I can deal with him. Even if he was upset," not angry, "I think he'd be happy in the end." Whatever Madilla is trying to get at just seems to confuse him and he continues watching her expectantly for some clarification. "He won't--" Madilla's voice sounds a little strangled, and she cuts off before finishing the sentence, only to pick it up again a few beats later, after a few deep breaths. "Hit you. Because of it? Because... I can't." Deal with that, apparently. Her fingers uncurl from the back of the chair, and she turns deep red as she finally makes a second attempt at that other question of hers. "Physically. I mean... With me. It won't be a problem?" And if she can blush this much while simply /alluding/ to it... B'tal doesn't honestly seem sure how to answer the question about W'chek. His face is tilted like he's looking at her but his gaze is off somewhere else, thinking. Then he shakes his head and his eyes return to her. "I don't think so. You know. Bothers him that you know, I think. And I don't think he'd want to do anything else to upset you." It's a lot of thinking, but it's all B'tal has without outright asking the bronzerider. The rest takes a moment to sink in and then he blushes despite an inexplicable grin that shows off the dimples in his cheeks. "I don't know, honestly. Been with girls, but." They weren't her. "Think I could manage." Madilla is silent and still as B'tal speaks, though as he finishes, she manages a fervent, "I-- hope that's so. I haven't spoken to him since--" All of that. She's undeniably pink cheeked as she adds, then, "Well. I-- good. Then. If you think it'll work, then--" She pauses, which lets her bite at her lip again, before a final deep breath is followed by, "I'd like to do this, then. I-- think it makes a lot of sense." He's having a hard time sitting still, restless, but B'tal does manage to stay seated all through this. It's when she offers the final, uh, verdict? It's then that he finally rises, beaming, and takes a step toward Madilla like he might hug her or something before pausing and just looking awkward in that limbo between her and the couch. He'd probably say something now but the greenrider is kind of busy just smiling like a fool. Madilla manages to take the lead, then, crossing the rest of the distance between them and putting her arms around the greenrider, squeezing, as she rests her head against his shoulder. She looks no less pleased than he is, tipping her head up finally to say, "Thank you, B'tal. I-- I'm glad. /So/ glad." With her arms around him, it's easy enough for B'tal to return the gesture and his arms move to wrap around her, too. Can she hear his heart? It's beating pretty fast. "Don't need thanks. I want this, too. Er... thank you, Madilla." That probably works best. "Do you know--" Beat. "How? I mean, how you want to... you know?" Yup! This is going to work just wonderfully. So's hers. But the smile she aims up at him is nothing if not beatific-- even if her scarlet cheeks ruin the effect to some degree. "I know you do," she agrees. "But if you hadn't--" She breaks off, shrugs, looking shy again. "Um." Her brow furrows as she continues, and she gives him an awkward little glance. "I don't know. I've never-- had to think about the practicalities, before." This is all new! And, oh man, just /wonderfully/. "Those," B'tal says knowingly and somewhat reassuringly, "are simple enough to figure out." He tilts his head to aim a chaste kiss to her forehead. He's a guy. Even if he prefers other guys, he's got the whole how it works thing down rather well at this point. Maybe a more reasonable question would be, "When? I mean... I don't know. You were waiting, weren't you?" Madilla is reassured by this, managing not to look quite so awkward as she nods, though she leans in to that kiss, pleased. "Delifa asked me to wait half a turn," she agrees, sounding thoughtful. "Which-- in retrospect, perhaps was a good thing? I don't know." It makes her bite at her lip again, but not for long, because, "It's been half a turn already. That's the thing. So... it could be any time, really. I'd have to work out when I'd be fertile." Beat. "That is, if you wanted to do it right away. To try, anyway." Back to smiling again, B'tal leans back enough to look at her properly. "Right away. Definitely. If you're sure, I mean." He sounds so happy. "Shells, right now, if you wanted." Though there's a brief hesitation, like he might take it back, then he's back to that smile again. "Do you want-- do you think I should tell him? Or... wait?" "I'm sure." There's no doubt in Madilla's voice: she even nods for emphasis. "Do you want to tell him? I don't-- mind. Truly." She doesn't linger over that answer, though it's obvious she's a little wary about that aspect of the whole thing; instead she adds, "Let me work out when... there's no point trying if it's not going to be the right time for it, right? That would be silly." "I don't know," he admits about telling but he's not going to linger there either for the moment. If she doesn't mind, he can think about it and deal with it on his own time. The rest earns a quick nod of agreement from B'tal and there's a shy little smile pulling at his lips, "Right, of course. That make sense. Of course." Working out fertility probably wasn't one of things he gave a whole lot of thought previously. "Good." Everything's good. Madilla's expression is a little wry for this uncertainty, but she only nods: it's entirely up to B'tal. Finally, after a final squeeze, she lets her arms draw back entirely, clasping her hands in front of her instead. "It should be-- soon, I think. I can work it out." Probably. Within a certain range of error, at least. "I'll-- let you know, and then we can... try." Just think of the awkwardness that awaits them, then! B'tal lets her go, too, when she moves, hands falling to his sides where there is no fidgeting. Not yet. Maybe give him a couple of days for that to set in. "Soon," he repeats with an encouraging smile. "We'll try. Let me know." Nothing she hadn't already said, of course. He glances toward the door. "I should, uh, maybe go." Before someone starts wondering where he is. "Definitely let me know." He's beaming again but he starts moving around slowly toward the door. "Take care of yourself, yeah? And if you need anything, let me know." All smiles - still - Madilla nods her hurried, excited enthusiasm. "I will," she promises. "I--" She breaks off. Probably, everything that she could possibly say at this point has already been said. By one or both of them, at least. Instead, she follows him to the door, presumably to see him out, though of course, the room being as small as it is, it's hardly necessary. "Good night, B'tal. Thank you." "Good night, Madilla. Thank you, too." With one last smile for her, B'tal is through the door and making his way off. People are probably going to wonder why he looks so happy. |
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