Difference between revisions of "Logs:A Delight"

Garden Patio Ledge, High Reaches Weyr

Partly sheltered by the curving stone overhang, partly exposed to the weather, the wide stone patio serves as a balcony for socializing or just plain drinking on a sizable scale. The repurposed ledge might once have let two large dragons land, but now there's too much furniture for that: two rustic tables with attendant chairs, plus a couple more in particularly good weather, and a wrought iron bench situated to make the most of the view of the western bowl and the lake beyond.

Other changes include rough little niches carved out of the stone walls to hold glows in colored bottles at night, the climbing plant that's being trained to grow up along the overhang, and the blue ceramic pots of flowers that dot the edge of the ledge as a colorful reminder not to fall off.

An archway leads to the Snowasis itself, housed in the ledge's former weyr, while a few wide steps descend along the wall to the bowl.

The nice thing about Reachian evenings is that they're nice without being hot. Hot weather tends to keep Teris more indoors but right now she's settled outside on the patio and, lo and behold, she doesn't even have any work with her. Instead she has a glass of wine and a book.

Barefoot, his shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbow, the tails hanging loose over his light trousers, K'del approaches from the direction of the Weyrleader Complex, mounting the stairs to the Patio Ledge two at a time. Though his path seems destined to take him indoors, a sideways glance has him noticing the reading Teris, and he comes to a halt; after a moment more, he weaves his way closer, drawling a lazy greeting: "Evening."

Outside. Well, mostly outside. The creature that is Elliem deigns to leave his inside existence for some fresh air, clean and cool. From compressed quarters to space, he stretches while coming from the doorway, arms reaching high to pull at cramped muscles. Another couple of footsteps out onto the patio has him announcing to anyone in particular, "Oh, so much better than in there."

Without looking up, Teris seems to know that it's her that K'del is talking to and not some other random female that happens to be nearby. "Evening," she returns, only glancing up and giving the Weyrleader a quick scan when she pauses to turn the page. Her gaze doesn't immediately fall back, though, she glances past him just long enough to briefly light her gaze on the boy.

"You're not working." K'del's incredulity is pretty obvious in his tone. It could even be easily identified as 'not only are you not working, you're also outside, and in public, and that's kind of weird.' But he grins at the goldrider, letting his gaze rest there for a moment before it slides away, coming to a rest on Elliem in the wake of the apprentice's remark. "Isn't it?" he agrees, raising his tone just enough to be clearly audible. "Reaches summers... just beautiful."

Elliem throws caution to the wind, and his breath, to wander out further from those sheltering indoors and out further into what amounts to the 'outdoors'. Footsteps have him running the gauntlet about the assorted furniture, arriving more-or-less within close proximity to the ledge. He turns a bit in place, flashing a quick and wide smile on to Teris, then along to the man with a dip of his chin in greeting, "I'll trust you word for it, sir. But they seem to be painting a fine canvas so far this evening."

"Iskiveth wanted me to take a break." Teris makes it sound like that simple request was enough to actually make her do so. In actuality, the gold likely nagged her incessantly for an extended period of time and Teris only gave in finally to make it stop. "She hasn't been bothering Cadejoth too much lately, has she?" she wonders after a moment, though she doesn't say why. Then her blue eyes cast back toward the apprentice and she returns his smile with one that's brief but polite.

K'del's surmise, in Elliem's direction, is, "You're new to the 'Reaches, then. But yes-- this evening is a good indication of what we're in for, 'til it gets cold and awful again." Not that the Weyrleader seemed terribly bothered by the prospect of this. Anyway, he's busy sinking himself into one of the chairs near Teris, apparently inviting himself to join her without so much as a word. "Smart of her. We all need a break, sometimes. Cadejoth? Think they talk a bit, whatever. Don't know about bothering. Why d'you ask?"

From beyond his forgotten spectacles, the fuzzy line of a vague knot comes across Elliem's eyes. When squinting and tilting his head doesn't do the trick, his hand comes up to bump against those forgotten glasses. With a thin-lipped sign of annoyance, he plucks them from his nose. Knot recognition is managed, along with a brief widening of his now visible eyes. And now a return trip is necessary, closing the distance to where the pair are -well, becoming a trio now. Remaining standing, he offers a greeting, "Weyrleader-sir? An honor. Wow, you're a lot younger in person than I imagined. Or maybe you hold your age well." A flicked glance is cast to Teris, once, again, and he adds, "Sorry."

"I like when it's cold out," muses Teris, watching as K'del invites himself to join her but, instead of protesting, her gaze shifts out to look at what views of the bowl they have from here. "No reason," she assures him dismissively, only looking back to eye Elliem again when he's coming closer with all his being honored because of K'del. She only offers a small, vaguely annoyed sound after the apology.

"I don't mind the cold, so much. It's just some of the rest-- anyway." K'del doesn't press Teris on her non-answer to his question, and outright ignores her obvious annoyance in order to turn his attention back to Elliem entirely. "K'del, please," he corrects, with a wave of the hand. "Guess it's probably still mostly the former. My twenty-first turnday in a couple of days. And the fourth anniversary of my Weyrleadership, for that matter." Crazy! "And this is Teris, our Junior Weyrwoman. Won't you join us?"

Put into action once more, the teen's hand comes out to snag the back of a chair and from there drag the thing closer, complete with 'nails on chalkboard' screeching of legs against flooring for a decidedly uncomfortable amount of time. Really, only a couple of seconds, but who is counting? He perches upon the edge of it, leaning forward with his weight so that physics lifts the back two legs of the chair a finger-breadth off the ground. "I... Oh." The teen is left to focus back upon Teris, just managing to tear his gaze from K'del. "Delighted, and charmed. Although, to be honest, I really haven't heard anything about you... uhm, yet. Ma'am. Well met." As for joining, yes, he is quite there. "Actually, I have a question, if either of you could answer it? Or have the time? You have the time right?" Assumptions made over porch-sitting. "About your craft complex."

Teris? Is not looking any happier about this other uninvited, at least on her part, person joining them. In fact, she's looking a lot more irritated about it. She doesn't, at least, say anything to the boy and seems as though she'll be perfectly content to ignore his existence after she gives K'del a sharp look. Using her finger as a page mark, she takes a sip from her wine with her free hand, then sits back and opens her book again.

K'del, at least, is friendly enough for two, smiling sunnily in Elliem's direction. "We'd be delighted-- of course!" Beat. "Wouldn't we, Teris." Maybe that's a little more meaningful, something akin to a verbal prod, though since he doesn't glance at the goldrider, or add anything further, it's not more than passingly useful. Not that this means he's not - probably - aware of that sharp look: clearly, he's ignoring it.

Elliem is oblivious to all such glances passed to K'del, or irritation, or anything of the sort -at least outwardly. In fact, in his teetering upon two chair legs, a hand comes out to try to rest upon Teris' chair, keeping a balance of sorts. "You did hit the mark before sir, over my newness. A scattering of sevendays, maybe more. In fact, probably more. But, you know, time, tick-tock, tick-tock." Having briefly become distracted from his query, he'd have happily babbled on about the passage of time if not for the sound of Teris resuming her book. "But yes, anyway. Who designed it? And created through the use of convict labor?"

Teris doesn't respond to K'del's prodding. Maybe she's ignoring him now, too. Such a shining example of, you know, stuff. She'd probably be happy to pretend neither of them are actually sitting here with her but Elliem's hand on her chair makes her turn her head to give him a cold look that might lead one to believe she doesn't want his hand there. Or anywhere near her at all.

Under the table, K'del's foot aims a nudge at Teris', all terribly subtle. But he smiles, still, for all the world having a loving time, and entirely ignoring his junior. /Entirely/. "Ah," he tells Elliem. "I thought so. Welcome to the 'Reaches, then. As for your question..." He looks somewhat abashed. Or is it amused? A combination, maybe. "Journeyman Frandel," he names a Smith, no longer at the weyr now that the project is complete, "Coordinated things, with the miners. Though I admit, a lot of the features ended up being... accidental? Walls collapsing and whatever. But yes, the convicts did the work, for the most part. Groups from the Crom mines."

Oblivious Elliem is oblivious. He is far, far too enraptured with the personable K'del to note any such looks cast his way. Or something. Dark fingers curl around the edge of her chair, taking it in a grip as the pad of his thumb runs up and down the framing edge. But the words are all for K'del, after all, he is responding to him! "Oh, fascinating. I've heard of Frandel's work. I almost wish I was here during the start of the building. Almost. I'd call it a pretty good success so far. Are you pleased with the results? Hoping to continue any further improvements?"

Between the Junior being nudged under the table and having her chair groped by the boy, Teris offers them both a small growl and pushes herself to her feet. In the process she shoves her chair back, probably hoping to dislodge Elliem somehow. She picks up her glass, clutches her book close and says coolly, "Enjoy your evening, Weyrleader," before she's moving to try navigating around the boy she's ignoring and find somewhere else to 'enjoy' her break.

"Teris--" begins K'del, sounding frustrated and disgruntled, turning his attention away from Elliem in order to follow the goldrider's progress to her feet, and away. But that's as far as he goes to try and stop her, though he glowers after her. He does manage to be smiling again before he turns his attention back to the apprentice. "It was pretty intensive," he tells him, with a note of apology to his tone. "But yeah: we're pretty pleased with it, I reckon. Dunno about more improvements. Guess that depends on what ideas come up. So far, seems like we can just let people settle in for a while. Let things calm down."

Elliem didn't expect that. Physics being what it is, and balance and such, the teen is left with a near to toppling chair and momentum forward. Well, at least he didn't pitch into K'del's lap face-first. But it is a near thing as he spills forward, near to scuffing a knee, but keeping to his feet. Hands dust off on his sides and he looks after the woman. "I like her. She seems a delight." Spoken with all honesty. His voice lifts to follow after the young woman, "Nice to meet you, ma'am." He does slant a glance to K'del and adds, "It's a good place. I met a weaver yesterday. She called my ideas silly, but she probably had a point."

K'del /does/ raise a hand in preparation, just in case Elliem does go toppling in to him, but he really did seem to be rather more interested in talking. Terribly nice of him. "Nice? Teris? Hah. She's almost as bad as the Weyrwoman, sometimes. S'pose we /did/ interrupt her reading." It's as if he realised this only in retrospect, not that he lets himself linger on it. "Glad you like it, anyway. I do, too. What kind of ideas did you have that she thought were silly?"

"Interrupt?" Parrot Elliem. "Now, I didn't intend that. I was just trying to be sociable, and she didn't say anything about shutting up. A pity should couldn't stay longer. She has very nice eyes." Focus returns to K'del, a phantom of a smile just ghosting at the edges of his lips. "Oh, it was nothing. More of a suggestion of a diaphanous screen between where I was and the weaver. A sprung spring flinging into her work area was involved. She had pretty eyes too." That last bit almost sort of tacked on following recognition. And then, another belated comment. "You do too." Awkward dithering ensues.

K'del's 'pretty' eyes grow just slightly wider during that response from Elliem - or maybe it's just that his eyebrows have raised so high. "You have a thing for eyes, huh?" he asks, though it's likely enough that it's a rhetorical question, really. "Anyway. Reckon I was the one who interrupted her; just dragged you in with me. My fault. No doubt I'll pay for it later." Which doesn't especially seem to bother him. "How's it going, sharing public working space like that? Aside from springs flying at weavers."

"Gateway to the soul and all of those fancy phrases that the harpers enjoy setting music to." Elliem responds, his hand coming up to pat at the vest pocket where his spectacles are contained. "I suppose it doesn't matter how fancy your knot is on your shoulder, you still can get ripped up one side and down the other by a female." Commiseration moment. A sigh fills the brief silence before wind is gathered and he speaks again, "Well, when I can concentrate. And nobody bumps my table. It's a... it's the little careful details I must keep an eye on. Clocks are finicky."

Laughingly; "Ah yes, harpers." It's not disdain - just amusement, albeit set to a faint roll of the eyes. "Mm. And you'll find a fair few women around here inclined towards ripping things. Not all, though; most of 'em are great." There's something faintly conspiratorial in the way K'del says that; something satisfied, too. "/Clocks/. Mm - can see how that'd be problematic. Suppose that kind of work doesn't need to take up space in a specialised workshop, and yet... Hm."

"Precision, sir. Lots of precision and care and attention to detail." Even if he does have his moments about being oblivious to a weyrwoman's annoyance cues. He reaches a hand up, brushing back dark hair from his gaze to nod to the man, "I do like your craft complex though. I hope maybe my interactions with the other crafters might bring about some more ideas. Positive thinking." He taps a finger to his temple, then takes a step back. "You have a nice Weyr here too, sir. Of course, this is the only weyr I've been to, but it seems nice. But I should probably let you be. Time marches on." Har. Har. Har.

K'del looks genuinely pleased. "I'm glad," he tells Elliem, firmly, perhaps in relation to several of the apprentice's statements, though it's hard to tell. "No, no-- of course. Ought to get back in, myself. Things to do, people to see." Smiling, he inclines his head forward. "I hope you're right, on the sharing of ideas and all that. Anyway: nice to have met you. Good night."

Elliem bobs his head to the weyrleader and then moves to maneuver back towards the door, naturally finding a chairleg to trip his foot up against. What would normally be a rather simple exit becomes a loud and raucous affair as the chair tips, clatters against a table, and rocks back down. "Err. Yeah. Well met." A salute of sorts, and out he shuffles.

K'del, in the end, merely looks amused, shakes his head, and then slumps back in his chair. So much for getting back to things.