Difference between revisions of "Logs:Total Chaos"

It's creeping up on evening and it's cool enough outside to be comfortable in a jacket, which Teris is wearing along with a russet colored scarf hanging to either side of her neck. She's on the edge of the patio at a table by herself, legs pulled up onto the chair with her and a mug of something warm in her hands between her chest and her legs. She doesn't look so much like the proper creature that she used to try so hard to be.

Poor Taikrin has been lurking (some might use the more proper term: sulking) around the Snowasis and environs since early afternoon. As such, she's built up quite the buzz by this time in the night. She meanders outside with the loose-hipped walk of the drunk, cradling a mug of beer in her hands. There's a split-second of hesitation, and then a very colorful brownrider is flopping down in an empty chair at Teris' table. On her face is not only one darkening bruise on her jaw, but a couple older and more colorful ones healing up on her opposite cheekbone. "Hey."

Teris turns her head to look at the sound of someone joining her, frowning even as the brownrider greets her. Brows furrow and she studies the other woman for a minute or so before offering, "You look pretty bad." Probably not quiet so nice of a greeting as the one she was offered but it's the one that she sticks to. "What did you do to deserve that?" Because clearly she didn't earn those colors for being such an awesome human being.

Cheekily, "It's what I get for hangin' around with goldriders. I reckon I still got a bare patch somewhere over here, if you want to have a go." Taikrin is teasing, mostly, even as she waves a hand at a relatively unmarred patch of skin on her other cheekbone. Slightly more seriously, "You get a chance yet to take a hand on that little gold weyrling? 'Cause she's /crazy/."

"Think I'll pass for now. But I might take you up on it some other time." Teris sounds serious about it but she probably isn't. Probably. She takes a drink of whatever she has, cider most likely, and gives a small shake of her head. Curiosity sparks in her expression, though. "I've sort of been avoiding her." Should she be admitting that? "And Iskiveth is not... happy about the little one." Teris shrugs like someone does when they say something like 'boys will be boys.' "Were you trying to hit on her? Is that where all that," one hand moves to gesture at Taikrin's face, "is from?"

"Don't blame you. Girl's nuts. Maybe Tiriana'll straighten her out?" Taikrin drops her mug on the table with a thump, as if to emphasize her point. "No! We were just bein' friendly at the lake, an' then she started askin' all kinds of weird pryin' questions about Riorde-- and next thing I know she's takin' a swing at me! And she kept goin'! Don't she know I'm a dangerous criminal who eats little girls?!" It's not like she can say that last part with a straight face-- or that she would admit to it at all, were she not a little tipsy. "Don't know why we needed another gold, either," she adds in another sulk. "Three's plenty."

Despite her attempts at being serious-faced, Teris can't help cracking a smile at that. But it doesn't last for long. Because violence is a serious matter. Or something. "Did you tell someone? I don't know what they were thinking letting those people on the sands. Especially with a gold egg. They shouldn't have even still been at the Weyr." At least she's not shy about saying where she stands on the whole thing. Even if she's sort of getting off of the point.

"Teris." Taikrin suddenly goes stone-cold serious, even going so far as to put both hands down flat on the table and lean waaaaay across. "I am not going to tell nobody that I let a ninety pound teenage girl knock me flat in the mud." Except, apparently, Teris. And whoever else Szadath has been gossiping with-- because he's probably /right now/ gleefully sharing the image of his rider knocked flat on her face with Iolene towering over her like an avenging... ninety pound little girl.

Unruffled by this sudden seriousness, Teris arches a brow at the brownrider, eyes sweeping over the colors on her face again. "It's not like you would hit a goldrider, is it? A weyrling, no less. You just didn't fight back. Because that wouldn't be right. It would have upset her dragon." See, there's no /shame/ in letting a ninety pound little girl knock you flat in the mud. "You need to tell the Weyrlingmasters. Or someone." Maybe she's ignoring the fact that Taikrin just told /her/ somehow.

Taikrin leans back, but it's only so that she can down a bracing gulp of her beer. "No, see--" she injects between swigs, "This gets out, I'm ruined. Girl's gotta protect her reputation. I shouldn'a let her come at me at all. People start figurin' they can take swings on account of being weyrlings or goldriders or girls and next thing you know, total chaos." The very downfall of Pernese society, indeed. "Anyways, reckon Leova knows. She probably won't tell Meara, though." She lowers her head to rest her head on her hand, sighing dramatically. "Faranth, if this gets out I'm done. Gonna hafta transfer away or somethin'."

"Ruined," repeats Teris with a nod as though she might be agreeing. Or humoring. "Why wouldn't Leova say something to Meara? Doesn't seem very professional of her. I don't know why I'd expect that, though." She shrugs again, finally lowers her legs to touch her feet to the ground and settles her mug on the table. "Just hit her back. Nobody will care if she's being a crazy bitch, if you're defending yourself. I'd like to see that, I think." She sounds like she's had experience with this. The hitting, at least.

"Because-- Leova /understands/. She's, you know, gl--" Taikrin is about to say Glacier before she catches herself, realizes her mistake, and substitutes instead with a minimum of stuttering, "--good like that." She lets out a gusty sigh, then idly rests the cool mug against the bruise on her jaw. It makes talking... interesting. "You think K'del's gonna believe that, if she goes squealing to him? Or, shells, anyone? 'Oh, sir, well you see she came at me, so I punched her in the face and that's why we have a baby queen dragon rampaging around the Weyr."

Teris doesn't catch the cover up. That or she just doesn't care anymore. "It's not good to let people get away with stuff like that. But I don't know. K'del is an idiot." She sounds resigned and almost apathetic about that fact at this point. "I don't think he so much as waggled a finger at W'chek when he hit me. So I wouldn't really expect him to care if she went crying to him. The dragon might be more difficult. I imagine Iskiveth would love to have a reason to get after her." All just idle conversation of course.

"Ohhhhh yes he would," Taikrin insists. "You know he /loves/ takin' potshots at me whenever he's got a chance. Any stupid thing, and we'd be flyin' loops around the Weyr again for another coupl'a sevendays." Because she totally didn't do anything to earn it that one time, they're all out to get her, maaaan. "I'm surprised Iskiveth ain't been after her anyways, to teach her what's what about how things work around her. Make sure the little queen knows her place while she's, you know, little. And squishable."

That earns a frown since Teris can't really say that's not true. Maybe she even thinks she can relate. Sort of. In her own way. "I haven't really wanted to deal with that fallout. She's /wanted/ to, though, trust me. She was jealous at first, I think. But I convinced her it was best to just ignore her. Act like she didn't care." Things that Teris is somewhat practiced at herself. "I could let her loose if it would make you feel better," she offers with a small, wry quirk of her mouth.

That idea is worth careful consideration. Taikrin lets out a low hmm as she leans back in her chair, taking a sip from the mug before resting another side against her chin. "Could be fun, so long as she don't actually, you know, squish the little thing. Szadath said she seemed like the calm sort, but-- kind of boring. Bet she might not even kick up a fuss-- might not be strong-willed enough, you know? Makes sense, what with havin' Iskiveth and Iovniath around. Can't have too many leadership-type queens."

"She's never actually hurt anyone," Teris points out as though it's something noteworthy that someone might forget. "I'll see how she feels about it, at least. She's been a little grumbly the last seven or so." Because that's totally different from usual. "You think Iskiveth is a leader sort of queen? That's kind of a scary thought. Like Szadath being Weyrleader or something." She's teasing, clearly.

"Well, why not?" It's not something Taikrin has given a lot of thought to, either, but while we're pondering concepts-- "She likes to be in charge, and she has a lot of, uh, ideas. And-- what's wrong with Szadath bein' Weyrleader, you mind tellin' me? He's good at drills and does well in a wing and likes leadin' around a coupl'a other dragons in practice! He'd do just fine!" There's more than a little indignance at the teasing, too, as she leans forward again in her chair. "Szad totally thinks they could do it."

"Of course he thinks they could. I'm sure Iskiveth thinks she'd be the best senior gold ever, too. But she wouldn't. She's selfish and impulsive and she likes telling the others what to do so much. Imagine if they'd actually /listen/ to her." Since so many don't seem to. Not that Iskiveth has really tried so hard as she did when she was young and squishable. Teris offers Taikrin a smile, though, and adds, "I think you'd make a much better Weyrleader than K'del at any rate."

"Well all she's got to do is boss around other dragons and lay eggs, and she's pretty good at both of those things, so-- how bad could it be?" The world according to Taikrin is pretty straightforward: make other people do stuff, have lots of sex. "She's got you to rein in her wilder ideas, yeah? Reckon you'd have an easier time gettin' people to listen to you 'n I'd have makin' 'em listen to me." But she's smiling at the praise from Teris-- maybe even preening, if one can do such a thing while finishing off one's beer.

"Considering who they have been listening to..." Teris picks up her mug again to take a drink and her little smile lingers through it. "Maybe if you made more people look the way you do, you'd have an easier time of it." Her smile broadens a bit with that. "So I suppose you don't actually want me going and telling anyone else about all this, hmm?"

"Only if you want me to /die/ from all the people who're gonna want to come and take a swing at me. Reckon I can only fight off maybe seven or eight at once, and you know half the Weyr will want in on the action." Because Taikrin is good at making friends! "/Maybe/ if Szad cracks into the firestone we could last a little bit longer."

"Well, if it's just half of the Weyr, you may well be losing your touch as it is. But, no. I don't want you to die. Certainly not at the hands of some idiot." Why Teris assumes it would be some idiot is anyone's guess. "I bet Iskiveth would enjoy that. She might even help you fight them off. And then she'd have a taste for real battle and she'd never stop. And then they'd probably hang me or something for not being able to control her newly realized bloodlust." It's a lovely, organic train of thought, isn't it?

"I know! Could you imagine, the two of them running wild with a sack of firestone? I reckon they'd burn down the Hold and start rooting around in there for shiny bits." And these are the dragons Taikrin thinks would make fine Weyrleaders. She lets out a guffaw of laughter, kicking back in her chair in inebriated relaxation. "Eh, two of us-- we're too pretty to die. So I guess we probably should be keepin' our secret, yeah? Let people think I got it when I was fightin' off a pack of dangerous miners or something."

"I suppose that would make the most sense. So long as no one ends up thinking the pack of dangerous miners was a pack of ninety pound minors." Why yes Teris does look as though she's said something clever. That might have something to do with the cider, though. "Maybe you ought to go pick a fight with someone to make it really believable." A glance is aimed toward the entrance into the Snowasis.

It takes Taikrin a minute to pick up on what Teris is saying, but when she does-- forget all thoughts of picking fights, because she's roaring with laughter. "Are you-- did you--" There's another second until she can compose herself to sputter out, "/Teris/!"

"/What!/" Teris returns with much less sputtering, all feigned indignation. "It's not like anyone would think it was strange or anything. I mean, I suppose you might get in trouble." She pauses for a few moments, just enough to let her mind wander into another idea, "/I/ could go start a fight and you could sweep in to save me or something."

Taikrin barely catches ahold of herself to gust out, "What, you'd do that? For /me/? Shells woman, you're too good to me." And then she's laughing again, and banging her mug on the table in such a way that has a somewhat perturbed server coming over to take it from her unresisting hand. "You know," she tries again, after mustering some semblance of control, "S'my favorite thing, gettin' to sweep in an' rescue the girl."

"Oh, I know I'm too good to you," teases Teris, eyeing the server that comes to take Taikrin's mug away before taking another drink of her cider. "So then it's settled. I'm sure there's someone." The junior actually pushes her chair back and gets to her feet, lifting her hands to tug either side of her scarf more securely against her neck. A smile is flashed at the brownrider before she's off on her way toward the bar proper.

"Are you really going to-- wait. No-- Teris. Teris!" Poor Taikrin nearly ends up flat on her face (again) in her haste to get up: her feet tangle with the legs of the chair, and it's only a lucky hand on the table that stabilizes her enough to prevent an ignominous end. "Wait-- really, y'ain't gotta do somethin' like-- Teris!!"

Nearly to the door already, Teris turns about to face Taikrin, taking several steps back still and then pausing entirely. She almost looks disappointed. Or maybe chastised. Which would probably be better if she didn't look petulant about it. "You don't want me to?" she asks, glancing off to the side where there are several people right out here that she could probably piss off somehow. Particularly that ex-islander sitting there minding his own business that she seems to focus in on. "It's their fault anyway, isn't it? We save them from their stupid island and all they do it bitch and complain. And then they stay and impress /our/ dragons. We should have just left them on their island and let them all get washed away." And then Taikrin's face wouldn't look like that?

Taikrin isn't precisely graceful in her haste to get over to Teris and reach out to take her elbow; she's all heavy steps and loose limbs and awkward strides. "No, I-- I reckon I got enough trouble for the time being, yeah?" She glances to the side, shooting a quick glare at the gaping occupants of a nearby table, then lowers her voice. "They ain't all that bad, they're just-- hard. Some of 'em are a little crazy. But I ain't sorry we brought 'em /back/, I just wish they'd be less-- obnoxious. You know?" It probably helps that Taikrin is (or was) sleeping with one of them.

She might get grabbed by the elbow but Teris still tries to smack at the guy she singled out on her way back past him. "They're all horrible," she insists. "If they weren't horrible, they wouldn't be off getting murdered in our weyrs. Or attacking us for no reason." At least she considers Taikrin one of 'us' instead of a criminal or something.

"Hey, hey-- they ain't that bad, c'mon. I was just blowin' off-- Riorde's good, and I'm sure there must be a coupl'a others who ain't totally useless," Taikrin insists quietly. She pauses once they're near the table again, peering curiously at Teris. "You ain't drunk, are you?" she ventures carefully. "'Cause we can't both be drunk, terrible things'd happen. Who'd stop Iskiveth an' Szadath if they decided to go burn somethin' down?"

"Riorde," repeats Teris, eyes narrowing slightly as she looks at Taikrin. "Was she one of the ones that messed up one of the eggs?" It was an R-someone, at least! Maybe. Okay, it's possible that Teris has had a bit more than she's really needed to drink. Which hasn't been all that unusual these past months. "I'm fine," she assures the brownrider, trying to stand up a bit taller, a bit straighter. "Everything's fine."

"Uh-- I dunno. Hey, why don't we sit down? You hungry? We can order some food." Taikrin's quick to change the subject, and even quicker to try to flag down a server (all of whom are steadfastly doing their best to ignore her). "You sure you're okay?" It's kind of like the blind leading the blind here, what with Taikrin and her technicolor face and clumsy steps. "Y'seem--- dunno. Kinda wound up?"

"I'm not hungry." But Teris does sit back down, poking at her mug and the bit of cold cider left in the bottom of it. At least she doesn't seem intent on lingering onto the egg thing. Another indication that she's had more than she needs, no doubt. "Just... restless, I guess. I don't know. Maybe I should go home. Take a bath." Or have some wine. Something like that.

For a moment it looks like Taikrin will go back to her seat, but as she lingers over Teris, frowning down at the blonde head, some idea or another pings around in her head. All at once she's crouching down at Teris' side, while Szadath oh-so-casually meanders his way towards Iskiveth's ledge. Just to see if she needs entertaining, mind. "Hey-- yeah. I'll walk you back? Maybe have a glass, if y'feel like it?" She's awfully solicitous all of a sudden.

Blue eyes meet Taikrin's gaze as Teris tilts her head to look at the brownrider. Another study of those bruises makes her frown but she refrains from reaching out to touch them. "You don't need to. I know the way. But, sure. If you want." It's probably not entertaining that Iskiveth is all that interested in but she's not going to go chasing the brown away. Not yet, at least. That dull glow in her hide no doubt makes her look a bit more pointy than usual, though. "I think I still have some of that red that I like from Southern."

It's a good thing Taikrin has Szadath mucking about in her head, or she might never have figured it out; but the brown knows what's-what. He's ready with all sorts of bluster, recounting the latest fights Taikrin's been in (with real opponents; likely the source of most of her other bruises and /not/ a story she wants told), prizes they've won, that sort of thing. Which leaves Taikrin to manage Teris with, "Never doubted you did. Reckon it's more fun to go together, though-- y'know?" She flashes what might usually be a charming smile, but is rendered rather more ghastly than anything else by all the splotchy colors on her face. "Sure we can find some way to amuse ourselves, yeah?"

Iskiveth is content enough to listen and demand details here and there, though if Teris is restless, the queen is doubly so. "Sure. Better than alone," she can agree with easily enough. She's alone a lot so she kind of knows what she's talking about. That smile earns a flicker of one from Teris but it doesn't linger. It's hard to truly smile at that face, after all. But she gets back to her feet after that and lets Taikrin escort her home.