Logs:Words of Wisdom
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| RL Date: 6 March, 2013 |
| Who: Kaeden, K'del, Vienne, Wakizian |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Various people converge on the galleries. Vienne horrifies Wakizian, Kaeden fails to deliver a message, and K'del is moving on. Sort of. |
| Where: Hatching Galleries, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 2, Month 3, Turn 31 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Azaylia/Mentions, H'kon/Mentions |
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| Hatching Galleries, High Reaches Weyr Ringing the southwestern side of the hatching sands are ample tiers of carved stone benches, the lowest of which is some six feet off the ground -- just high enough to separate wayward hatchlings from unwary viewers, and vice versa. A metal railing on the outside helps prevent anyone from falling off; it also extends up the stairs that lead the way higher into the galleries. While most of the area is open seating, ropes section off some of the closer tiers when dignitaries are expected; those areas even feature cushions in the Weyr's blue and black. The higher one climbs, the more apparent the immense scale of the entire cavern becomes. The dragon-sized entrance on the ground is dwarfed by the expansive golden sands that glitter in the light. Everything on them is easily visible from the galleries, whether that's a clutch of eggs and a broody queen, or simply its emptiness and the handful of darker tunnels that lead to more private areas than the bowl. Wherever one sits or looks, however, one thing is constant: the overwhelming, suffocating heat. It's only 'snowing' today, not 'storming', 'thunder-snowing', or being otherwise impressive. That doesn't mean the galleries - with their sometimes oppressive warmth - aren't nonetheless a hub of activity, especially while Hraedhyth is sleeping. K'del has not often been a visitor to the galleries, this clutch around, but he's here today, and apparently very deliberately so, since he's sitting so close to the main entrance, where pretty much everyone will walk past. Right now, he's reading rather than looking at the eggs... but that, too, seems somehow deliberate. Vienne pauses at the entrance, snow clinging about her person, melting quickly in the warmth of the cavern. Her mittens and hat come off and are stuffed into her pockets as she looks around the stands. A hand runs through her hair to shake out the shape of her hat and let the snow-damp ends start to curl. It doesn't take long for her eyes to settle upon one tall bronzerider so studiously attending his book. She crosses the distance to drop down beside him, perched lightly in her seat. And she gives him a look, like she's waiting patiently for something. Despite the snow outside, Kaeden is only wearing a light jacket over his usual attire. It was likely donned quickly, as the jacket is left unbuttoned, leaving his white knot crammed forward a little under one lapel. There is a rolled message tube in one hand as he comes up the stairs two at a time. Once he's reached the top, however, he steps off to the side, just one step up from the first level, balancing with his free hand on a railing. K'del and Vienne are noted first, of course, both riders given a quick nod of greeting, but then his eyes are scanning. Apparently they are not the objects of his search. It's easy to guess what duty Wakizian has today when his arrival is immediately preceded by a trio of kids, ages ranging from about 9 to 12 turns old, whose entrance holds clearly constrained energy. "Behave and we'll stay a while," The teen can be heard to tell the three, but he doesn't seem overly concerned that they won't do just that. The three seem fairly excited to get to gander at the eggs and slip right by the bronzerider to find a spot on the bleachers. "Hey Kaeden," The candidate passingly greets his fellow as he pauses at the top, eyes sweeping the Sands first and then the people sitting. His saunter stops when he arrives near K'del and Vienne, and a gesture goes to the bench beside them, not so polite as to just wait for a natural stopping point in the reading. "I was just talking about you this morning. Mind if I join you, si-- K'del?" A polite smile and nod is offered to Vienne with a: "Rider-Harper-ma'am," as greeting. K'del does not glance up from his book the very moment his senses (presumably) tell him that there's someone nearby; he very studiously turns a page, reading on. Finally-- and it's probably because Wakizian's words actually do force an interruption-- he glances up, gaze sliding from the source of those words, to the searching Kaeden, and then towards Vienne. "Afternoon," he says, snapping his book shut and setting it down to rest upon one of his knees. "Guess everyone knows more about Vienne than I do, huh? Sorry, Vienne." His smile towards the bluerider is rueful, and quietly repentent. "'Course you can. Join away. How are we all?" He's just dandy, see! It doesn't take much to turn Vienne's attention from K'del, her smile light and ready for Kaeden when he stops nearby in the midst of his search. "Who are you looking for?" Wakizian's arrival, complete with tagalongs, has her glancing his direction as well, watching his approach. She ends up slipping a rather wry little smile toward K'del, telling him with her own apology, "It wasn't a secret." But for Wakizian she supplies an easier name by which to call her, "Vienne." Even though K'del has said now. "Sir. Ma'am," Kaeden says for each of the riders before he lifts the message tube toward Wakizian in greeting. "Oh, just... looking," he answers Vienne, covering the hesitation with a ready smile. "Field trip?" he quickly asks of his fellow candidate before tucking the message tube into his jacket pocket. "They were causing trouble," Wakizian reports to Kaeden as he slides onto the bench beside Vienne, "Those three always are. But the nannies said that they calm down if you get them out and about and they're always good around the eggs." He glances towards the Sands and the golden bodies there, "I can guess why." Being dragon dinner is definitely scarier than being scolded by even the sternest nanny. "Have time to sit?" The Smith invites the other candidate. "Maybe," Waki turns his attention to K'del, "If you'd not learned your geography or any of the other lessons the Harpers try to teach people so well, Vienne would've Harpered you by now. She gave me a much needed refresher months ago." His empty expression hints that not much of that lesson stuck. "Not interrupting, am I?" This seems to be more directed to Vienne than K'del, despite K'del's more obvious engagement in reading. "K'del," corrects the bearer of that name, with a smile for Kaeden that certainly comes across as genuinely relaxed. His long fingers come to rest idly upon the top of the book, and for a time, he's silent all over again, letting his gaze sweep from one person to the next, briefly encompassing the group of children as well. "No," he says, glancing back at Vienne. "It wasn't. Just had my head too far up my own arse to notice. Good to know she's earning her keep," he adds, presumably to Wakizian, his tone taking on that jovial quality in a way his words to the bluerider did not. "I suspect Vienne has questions, or something insightful to say. None of which precludes company." If Kaeden doesn't need assistance, Vienne can be distracted by Waki's remark about geography, which lights her smile a little more. "That's right," the encounter coming back to her. "See, you're just too well-educated," she tacks on aside for K'del with a nudge of her elbow. It's not his fault he already knows where all the Holds are, head up his arse or not. She shakes her own head for Wakizian's worries of interrupting, though. "I just got here," she assures, starting only now to unbutton her wool coat. As for what insightful questions she might have, she does admit, "Nothing that can't wait." That part is a bit more to K'del. More generally: "Would you like me to say something insightful? I don't know that I've ever tried it as a party trick before. How about..." Her eyes roll ceilingward as she tries to pluck a good adage out of the air, mouth caught in a grin. "Be careful what you wish for?" "So you brought the troublemakers here?" Kaeden asks Wakizian, his grin a rather wide one. His expression regarding those golden deterrents on the sands is a dubious one. He waves off the offer to sit, then turns back to K'del with a grin gone slightly crooked. "So you say, sir." And precluding company or not, Kaeden starts looking up and down one row of the gallery after the next. Vienne's adage gets a sloped smile from him. "How about, 'Don't count your eggs before they've hatched'?" Wakizian's eyes don't roll ceiling-ward like Viennes, they just roll. "I think parents the world over might have that phrase reserved. How about you tell me what Impression is like? Nicky pointed out this morning that that is one question," A glance slides to K'del, "That I'd neglected to ask anyone. Who better than a rider-harper-ma'am?" To Kaeden, he siiiiighs, "The nannies swore on Faranth's first egg that they never cause any trouble here. It wasn't my idea. I just do what I'm told." His eyes shoot towards the kids and then back to Kaeden, brows rising expressively, likely showing that he shares the same concerns as the other candidate. "Maybe we can teach that not counting one to the people taking the bets." He suggests. K'del's brows arch in Vienne's direction, as though he's now eagerly anticipating whatever questions she might have prepared for him, but then he's leaning backwards in his chair, shifting his book off his knee and onto the bench on his other side, so that he can stretch his legs out further. "They won't do anything in front of me, promise. I know who they are, and who their parents are." He doesn't spare those children another glance, at this point, but instead adds, "As delightful as your insightfulness is... those adages always bug me. So obvious. Feel like I'm being reminded to breathe air, sometimes." "That too," Vienne says with a cheeky grin, a finger toward Kaeden like a point awarded. But now that she has her coat situated and is feeling generally sounded, she settles in quite contentedly, posture slipping into something a bit less prim, hands winding between her knees. She chuckles at K'del with another shake of her head. "Hey, I don't make them up. If you want insight, give me a topic. I'll see what I can do." But Wakizian's query quiets her smile a little. "Impression is a lot like all the songs say. You just... change. What matters changes. And you have a creature who you can't help but love, even if you don't want to. I think it's... good to prepare for it, but it's also something that's just out of your control." Her teeth catch her lip and then she laughs at herself, shy to have been put on the spot. "How's that?" Kaeden drops down to the first level again so he can get a good look at the sands. It's a very brief inspection, however. Still no sign of his quarry. He starts to give Wakizian a wide smile, but it's halted after K'del's last statement. He doesn't reply, but he does straighten from his searching and starts to button up his jacket. Seems the hunt will have to continue elsewhere. He doesn't leave just yet, though, finger slowing when Vienne starts to answer Wakizian's question. Kaed finally takes a look at the eggs on the sands below, then glances at Wakizian for his own reaction. Wakizian's reaction? He gulps. Isn't there some adage about not asking the questions you're not certain you'd like answers to? His eyes round a bit, and he tries to pass off the momentary display of fear and nerves as something caught in his throat. He coughs a few times, "Oh really?" He manages after a moment, cheeks tinged pink either from coughing or embarrassment. He shoots a look towards Kaeden, silently seeking back up now that he's gotten himself into what turns out to be a pretty scary conversation. Poorly planned, Wakizian. "That sounds... sounds..." He fishes for a word he can't find and shrugs helplessly, turning that man-drowning-help-me look on K'del. Perhaps the adages are so popular because some people need to be reminded to breathe air. "Better answer than any I could have made," says K'del, who seems to have been waiting for Vienne to speak before he makes any remark on the subject. "Not that it's something you can easily prepare yourself for. Important thing is to be conscious of what it could mean. Pretty sure I had no idea. It's-- don't stress about it there, Wakizian. It's worth it. Was for me, anyway." He's distracted, though: his eyes are following Kaeden, studying him, likely because he's noticed the halting of that smile. "It just... is." That sounds quietly uncertain, and after it, his teeth come down to rest on his lip, worrying at it lightly. The silence that meets Vienne's explanation, Kaeden's quiet look to Wakizian and Waki's gulping, has the bluerider's eyes widening. "Come on, I'm not the first person who has said that, am I?" she frets even as she laugh, glancing between the candidates in hope that she hasn't honestly terrified them. Aside to K'del, she winces with a flash of teeth. Whoops. "The point is," she decides to add on to her explanation and the bronzerider's as well. "Whatever happens, you're okay with it. Even if you're not okay with it. Even if it's not what you thought you wanted at all. You still wouldn't have it any other way." She pauses a beat, letting brows furrow before she has to ask of both Kaeden and Waki, "Where you expecting something different?" "No, ma'am," Kaeden answers quickly as he finishes the last button and takes the message tube out of his jacket pocket. "I'd heard similar things before. Just not in the same way. I was told to imagine what it's like having someone in my head. Been trying to." The side glance he gives Wakizian bears a mild expression of amusement. He turns back to Vienne and K'del and gives them each a quick nod in turn. "Ma'am. Sir. Have a good afternoon." To his fellow candidate he murmurs a quick, "See you later," then heads down the stairs into the snow. "Apparently, you don't know your Harperly gifts for painting a vivid picture." Wakizian manages to sound mostly casual after a few swallows, Kaeden's responses giving him time to compose himself. Has she terrified him? Perhaps. He won't be sticking around to let her find out, however, "You know, I think I'd best herd the kids back to the nannies before it's time for dinner." While dinner is not wildly far off in time, it's transparently a convenient excuse to leave. "K'del, Vienne." He nods to both. "Thank you." He adds to be polite and then he's up and taking the benches two at a time with his wide stride and hurrying the trio of kids back down the stairs and into the bowl. After the two candidates have departed, K'del puts into words what Vienne only winced: "Whoops. Shells, they're sensitive, aren't they? Don't think anything you said was so very out there." His body shifts, gaze focused on the exit, though there's no longer anyone to see there - or, at least, no one relevant. "Never mind. Either they'll Impress, and understand, or they won't. Not much room for anything else, really." He reaches, perhaps unconsciously, for his book, though only to rest it back down upon one knee, now that he's moved his legs all over again. After making polite goodbyes, Vienne takes a moment to hide her face in her sweater, pulling the neck up as her chin ducks down, a bashful noise whining out from inside the downy knit. She emerges again in short time, smiling awkwardly at K'del. "I guess I don't know my own power?" she laughs, letting some of the exagerated discomfort ebb into a more bemused look. "Usually candidates are so quick to assume they'll be happy with a dragon. I didn't mean to terrify them." Her turtle-act now necessitates that she smooth a few pieces of hair back behind her ears and her glance catches K'del's attention to the book. "Should I let you get back to reading?" "It's fine," says K'del, turning to glance sidelong at Vienne, his smile showing definite indications of amusement. "Maybe you don't. But it's information they probably ought to have. They'll get over it." Evidently, he's not bothered by the reaction, or, at least, doesn't intend to display it. Instead, he glances down at his book, then shakes his head. "The book's mostly for show. Not sure I remember what I was reading. I just-- it felt good to do something normal, like sitting in the warm and just reading. How are you, Vienne? Holding up?" At least Vienne seems largely amused by the Impression-waxing mishap, uneasy but amused. And now that it's over and K'del's book is the focus, she has no trouble letting the livelier energy disappate. Hands stay at her hair, idly twisting a lock as her mouth slowly starts to work, teeth nibbling inside her lips. She's just about to say something for all this 'doing something normal' talk, but he turns the question on her and the small bluerider arches a brow at him. Really? But she smiles quietly and tells him, "I'm holding up. It turns out that falling on ice hurts the pride more than the body. I was barely sore after our outing." Just in case he was worried. K'del seems absurdly pleased with himself, for having thought to ask the question at all, and - well. At least he seems to genuinely listen to the answer, too, his mouth twisting in wry amusement. "Glad to hear it," he says. "You up for another try, one of these days? If we're lucky, we've another month before the thaw. Which, I'll grant you, is a certain kind of lucky. Dragons in these eggs'll never get the chance to go sliding on the ice, I guess. Pity." Vienne can see that pride on his face and she smiles rather indulgently for it, letting her glance skim over all that self-satisfied amusement. "Maybe," she answers for the skating. "Though next time we should bring a thermos of something warm." 'Lucky', however, is not something she agrees with so readily. "Yes, the 'un' kind of lucky. I'm trying to stay... positive about it, the winter. I never thought I'd miss the sun so much. I envy those dragons if they hatch just in time for spring." She doesn't really mean to disparage her new home, so she bites her smile a little, apologetic. But with the draw of a somewhat more tense breath, Vienne also seems ready to change the subject. "K'del..." It doesn't seem to bother K'del, that Vienne is less enthusiastic about the winter weather than he is; given his expression, he might have been about to continue extolling the virtues of it, perhaps indefinitely. But Vienne says his name like that, and some of the fun immediately leaves his expression. "What is it, Vienne? Want to ask me if I really believe H'kon murdered my-- Iolene? Want to find out exactly what it was that set this off? Worried about my state of mind?" He doesn't sound bitter - indeed, his tone is quite conversational - but there's something in his expression that speaks of a tiredness he's been keeping hidden thus far. "I'm hardly the only person with those questions," Vienne points out, after all, they were all ready enough on the tip of his tongue and it does seem likely she's not the first person to ask, even if she hasn't actually asked anything. But the signs of weariness already have her mouth pinching small with apology and concern. "I want to understand. You don't have to explain it just..." She trails off there, leaving the thought unfinished. "I'm not worried about your state of mind. But I do want to know if you're..." She hitches a weak smile. "Okay." Okay being relative. K'del lifts his hand off of the book on his knee, and uses it to run through curls that probably need a trim sometime soon. He exhales, lengthily, letting his gaze sweep out over the eggs. "Yeah," he says. "I know. No - I'm okay. Better than I have been for a long time, maybe. Clearer. Don't really mind talking about it." He will, however, take a deep breath first. "Azaylia found Io's pendant on H'kon's ledge. Know she had it the day before she died. So how did it get there, if he wasn't involved? Don't know what happened, and maybe it doesn't even matter. But he can't be trusted. He consorted with murderers. He... don't even know what he did. But - see?" Now, finally, he gives her a glance. His expression is surprisingly even. She could probably ask for more detail, especially considering how little she knows about the events that transpired and who played which parts in them. Instead, as Vienne studies his face, a hand inching free from her knees without any other destination, she wonders, "What changed? You say she found a pendant but..." Her brow furrows over thoughtful eyes and there's hesitation as she tries to explain, uncertain. "You're very... calm about all of this." As opposed to all those other events for which he was markedly more distraught. "I'm angry," admits K'del, exhaling again. "I'm upset. I just don't want this to define my life forever. She's been gone a turn, now - it was the anniversary, and it hurt. But-- she told me in my dreams to let go, and I'm trying." Now, his words aren't much above a whisper, and his gaze is so, so serious, but there's determination, there. "The pendant was my gift to her. It was... felt like a sign. Especially being found when it was. As if she made sure of it. To remind me." His gaze falls towards her hand, then lifts again, sure. "I've never lost someone like that," Vienne murmurs back, weighing his words behind her eyes. A few long moments pass in silence, with her hand finally putting it's freedom to a purpose, ready to lay on his leg and then changing direction to reach for his hand. "I think you're brave," she tells him. "I can't pretend to know what your dreams mean. All that matters is you know." There's another twist of thought written on her face and she asks, "This pendant, Azaylia just found it? Just recently?" K'del's hand shifts, as Vienne reaches for it, but only so that he can take her hand in his, instead, and squeeze it gently. It's a silent gesture of appreciation that is otherwise missing from his demeanour; he's so serious, so sure. "It hurts," he says, quietly. "It's hard. But I can't-- maybe she'll haunt me forever, maybe she'll always be there. But I have to look forward, not back." It has the ring of something he's repeated - if only to himself - often enough. He seems relatively unemotional, still, nonetheless. "The other day, yes. She went to visit H'kon, found it, and came straight to me." "Maybe she will," Vienne supposes. "Maybe it won't be a bad thing, just a piece of her that you can carry with you. Maybe, someday, it won't hurt so much." Her fingers squeeze back in his. She doesn't interrupt his mantra, though she might not be any more convinced by it than he appears to be; a resolute acceptance rather than a whole-hearted embrace. "Did you speak with H'kon or..." The faint shake of her head alone seems to suggest the possibility that such things are just not on K'del's to-do list. Barely above a whisper, K'del may be talking to himself when he says, "I'll never let her go." It seems the opposite of what he's been saying, at least in some interpretations, but it seems to both soothe and reinvigorate him; his voice is cold when he continues. "I have nothing to say to him. It doesn't matter. He had the pendant. All this time." Guilty. Guilty, guilty, guilty. Vienne allows him his private moment with those words, which hardly seem to do him any harm, though the coldness in his voice has her drawing his hand toward her own lap, where she can hold it in both of hers. Her gaze drops as she rubs a thumb between his knuckles. Maybe that small tug of his arm, the negligible movement, will be enough to pull him away from the guilty chant. "Okay," she accepts without hesitation. "So forward. Tell me what it means to you. Forward." It certainly seems to help, that tug. K'del doesn't offer any pullback to that motion, though his gaze drops to track it, and watches her thumb thoughtfully. Her acceptance seems to surprise him, though; he seems to have expected pushback. "Forward? It's too late for him to be convicted, even as an accessory. The pendant's the only evidence there is, and that's--" Let's ignore the fact that he no longer actually has the pendant. "Far as I'm concerned, he can go between and stay there. But I won't chase it. I'm moving on, remember?" "Right," Vienne agrees in the end, a small but decisive, encouraging nod. Her thumb goes still, hands restful but still wrapped comfortable around his. "There's nothing to do about H'kon. So what does moving on mean for you? You want to come out the other side, looking forward. What do you mean your life to be now?" And maybe she gives him enough time to answer, or maybe not, but after a pause she tacks. "Would you like to come with me sometime? To the Hall?" Which might not make any sense to him at this point but leave it at that. "To the Hall?" It clearly doesn't make any sense-- but it's something easy to ask, something that doesn't require the same amount of self-questioning as everything else. His knitted brows ask the question, as much as his words do. Instead of waiting for an answer, though, he says, "I'm working with Azaylia. If nothing else, she is going to be the best weyrwoman she can be. In case." There's still a faint edge of hopefulness, there, but it's moderated: he'll wait and see. "I like to go back. They let me sit in on classes -- not like kids learning to play the pipe." Just in case K'del is envisioning some kind of horrible chorus of squeaking instruments. "Older students, journeyman, politics, theory. Mostly I just listen but... It's interesting. Sometimes it helps me get out of my head, makes me see something new." She gives her narrow shoulders a faint shrug. As for Azaylia, the small bluerider frowns faintly. "Isn't there value in her being the best weyrwoman she can, even if there's no 'in case'? I think everyone does her a disservice, talking as if she isn't still a weyrwoman, as if it's all or nothing." K'del's mouth twists at the idea of kids on the pipe, though the rest of what Vienne seems to please him more genuinely. "Think I'd like that," he says. "If you think they wouldn't mind me being there." But for Azaylia - he shakes his head, once, twice, and then a third time. "It's not like. Far as I'm concerned, she's a perfectly capable junior. She just needs to learn more about how to deal with the politics, and that is something I can help her with." Her smile spreads wide and eager as he seems to like the idea. He might be concerned about being allowed into Harper's classrooms, but Vienne just shrugs again, though it's excited this time rather than making light of her own suggestion. "The Hall isn't really full of secrets. Not the way people think. They would probably be happy to have you. Though they might ask you questions," she adds, a hint of something impish showing up. "Not personal things just... You have a unique perspective." Which dovetails rather nicely into what he says of Azaylia, and for that she encourages him with another squeeze of his hand. "Yes, you can." She shifts to stand without letting go just yet, though, sadly, standing does not allow her to tower over a seated K'del. "People always ask me questions," says K'del, which is evidently intended, given his shrug, to indicate that he doesn't especially mind. Most of the time. "Figure it makes sense, really. Though if anyone writes a ballad about my doomed love affair, I am out of there." He's probably at least half teasing. Vienne's stand has his gaze shifting, even if this still doesn't mean he needs to look up especially far. "That's the plan," he says, with an exhale, long and low. "Ignore the things I cannot fix, as much as I'd like to, and focus on the ones I can." There might just be a little twist to Vienne's smile that suggests he's too late in avoiding having his tragic love life immortalized in song. But if he hasn't heard it, she's not going to bring it up now. "Focus on good things, on things you can change and progress you can make. And let me know when you want to come with me. I'll get it set up." She frees a hand so that it can brace briefly on his shoulder when she leans in that too-short distance to kiss his forehead. She squeezes his fingers one more time before releasing him altogether. Whether or not K'del reads anything into that twist is hard to tell; perhaps he's simply avoiding thinking about the possibility, despite having raised it in the first place. To her words, he nods, his shoulders straightening abruptly, like they've given him momentum to do so-- but his expression softens, too, especially as she leans in. "Thanks, Vienne," he says, as his hand drops back towards his lap. "I'll do that. All of it." |
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