Difference between revisions of "Logs:Food and Lanterns"

This hold could best be named, 'Middle of Nowhere' because that's how far out from High Reaches Hold it actually is. It's past sunset on a day that's quite cold and fridged. However the atmosphere doesn't feel that way. It's an event where the small hub of people have come out to celebrate the anniversary of some special happening or another. Even they don't seem to know. 'It's Alberto's turnday!' or 'No, no, idiot. This is the late winter festival!' or 'It's obviously for Jinet and Timaro's anniversary. Don't be so oblivious.' And while there's some friendly bickering, they've welcomed in neighbors with open arms. They don't ask too many questions about where a person is from, the food is ample (probably since they didn't tithe it all over to the Weyr) and hot. Lanterns are hung all over the leafless trees and a small pond has turned into a skating rink. Even though not everyone has skates, some are just slipping and sliding a little drunk over the thick ice. Meanwhile our heros have arrived, having left their dragons some distance out. Their knots are removed and they look like any other young couple that's at the hold. Sabella stuffs her hands into the deep pockets of her heavy coat. "E'sren, it's damn cold. I'm almost looking forward to going to Southern."

Where the dragons wait, Ahruth keeps his distance from Ghislaith as always, polite, but does sit down on her porch to keep watch with her, his tail very idly wagging and big ears twitching this way and that. His rider, also with hands in pockets, looks over at his companion and grins, his breath fogging the cold air. "Agreed. It'll be nice to sleep outside again." Which is a weird thing to say, unless you come from where he comes from. And even though they're both cold, he watches a cart go by carrying more food for the feast and nudges the greenrider with his elbow. "I bet we're eating better here. Come on, let's go get you something warm." E'sren unpockets his hand to put his arm around Sabella's shoulders and carries on with her to where the majority of the people are, to the tables laden with platters and baskets, bowls and boats of food; they pass under those lanterns and he looks up to admire them, commenting, "I want some of those for the ledge."

"Hmm. Sure, what with the huge bugs biting you and the sun beating down and all the spiders. It'll be just perfect." Sabella responds, a remark that could be counted as sarcastic. Except she's flashing him a brief display of a smile before leaning into him when his arm comes around her shoulder. "I bet too. I heard that we're not going to bring anything with us. I think we should steal bread and smuggle sandwiches." She suggests as they approach the tables, what an excellent leader! The greender nods politely to the holders as they get into line. Glancing up, she takes a good look at the lanterns. "They really are nice. They would look good on your ledge. Did you keep them on the wagons or glow baskets?" She asks curiously before pulling her hands out of her pockets and taking up a plate.

Naturally, E'sren lets her get into line ahead of him, and he too smiles thankfully at the holders gathering behind him, and those that are in front of them. He takes a plate after she does, scanning the food offered while replying. "We had both, depending. If it was windy we used glows, if it was calm we used fire. Ours had these oil wicks that would burn for hours. I always liked them better, glows are too green." Even now, in his weyr, he swapped the baskets out for lamps. Once the line moves forward and he's at a point he can start piling food on his plate he does so, a lot of food too. "I've never been to Southern. I'm kind of excited about the bugs." He gives her a grin, squinty eyes and all.

She really has an appetite for being such a slender thing, piling a generous portion of food onto her plate. "I agree. When I lived at the hold, light would at least come in through the windows where they have them. At the Weyr, the caverns are so... dark and close. I don't know, sometimes I miss buildings." When they reach the end where there's hot drinks over a low fire, she chooses the one filled with spiced wine and takes a mugful. "I haven't been there either. Except for when we did our between jumps, not a lot of time to investigate yet." As for him being excited about the bugs she makes an ew face and shudders her shoulders. "No thank you. Are you going to preserve some and put them on the wall of your weyr? I'm not sure I can keep visiting you there if you do." She teases before finding an empty bench under one of the trees.

"Claustrophobic," E'sren adds, also agreeing. "For us it was never buildings. We slept outside when the weather was nice, or in the wagons when it wasn't. But in the wagons, even though it was small, we knew we were under the stars. Not buried under rock and metal." They both choose the wine, and he murmurs a quick thank-you to the attendant there before they move on. "Oh, right. Between." Something he tries hard not to think about, though at least he's stopped shivering at the mention. He's smiling again when they sit for her teasing, sets his mug down and looks over at her. "Okay, I won't hang them on the walls," he concedes with no small amount of amusement. "But only because I'd miss you so much."

"Right, that's the word." Sabs nods when he gets it, putting a more appropriate term to what she described. "I slept outside a few times. But I can't say that I really enjoyed it, but then I wasn't born in a wagon or anything either." She gives her shoulders a gentle roll before carefully placing her mug between them, taking a fork to the food on her plate. "Come to think of it, I slept on one of those too once before. It was a long time ago." That comment comes between bites, her fork given a little wave. A long time ago. She reaches over and nudges him when he has that little shiver, she hasn't forgotten that long moment of waiting either. With a teasing smile, "And you won't put them in glass boxes under the pillows or on the ceilings or in my weyr to drive me out of it. I'm on to your tricks."

E'sren ducks his head when she nudges him, to drop a kiss to the top of her head. They both remember but it all turned out okay, and now here they are stuffing their faces. The next is a wince when she names off what might have been all of the tricks he had left. "I might have actually tried the last one, to drive you out. And into my weyr. 'Oh, there's all these bugs in your weyr, I guess you'll have to come live with me.'" He's joking, but in that way he has of joking where he might also actually be serious. "When did you sleep on a wagon? What family?" Because to him, wagons belong to traders and there's no other explanation for it.

And it really is good to eat in a situation where you don't have to worry about eating too much. Catching that wince she laughs under her breath, taking that moment to drink a generous gulp of that hot wine. "And it might have worked too! Right up until I realized they were all dead. And what a coincidence, they look just like those ones we saw at Southern." And when he uses that 'might also actually be serious' voice, she doesn't pursue it. If he decides he wants something he'll have to actually' be all the way serious with her. Sometimes she's funny like that. Damn women. "What family?" Sabs purses her mouth, eyebrows wrinkling together as she thinks back. "I don't know. Between Crom and Greenfields, they were a small group. Husband and wife. They had a little kid and then, there were a few other adults with them. But I got the impression the others weren't with the family all the time. But they all knew each other? Or were related? I'm sorry, it's about five turns ago now."

They laugh together at that, and really Sabella and E'sren laughing together is a pretty common thing. It looks as easy to the holders around them, to them they really are just some young couple here visiting family or something like that. Beyond their little bench, around a big fire, some dancing has started up, the music a little distant to them now but perhaps growing louder as the musicians get more into it and their fingers warm up. "Could be the Kaspers then," E'sren says after thinking about the location she mentioned. "They're a smaller family. They're actually blood relatives of ours but it's really vague like... my grandma's cousin's cousin or something." How those things so often work. "Where did you go with them?" His turn to take a drink.

"I feel like I would stop considering someone a member of my family after they were so many grandmothers and cousins removed from me. After awhile they're just friends you know really well. That you don't marry." Sabella is close to polishing her plate off, because she's a damn speedy eater and she can do that while they're talking. Which she has been. "They took me to Greenfields. They didn't want to take my marks, what I had." She smiles ruefully for the memory. "I watched their son for them along the way. I left my payment with them anyway, when they weren't looking. It only seemed right, they fed me. If I'd traveled the road alone it probably wouldn't have been such a safe trip." She looks past the fire to the people dancing, losing some of her attention to it as the music begins to pick up. "They wanted me to stay with them, but I didn't." Obviously. Because now she's here, rather than with them on the road somewhere.

Like usual, she's done a lot sooner than he is, so E'sren watches her finish off the last of her food with that fond little smile on his face he has so often for her. And maybe he feels like he needs to finish too, because he sets his mug down again and starts eating instead. While he's chewing he listens, and when he's done his furrowed-brow is coupled with a thoughtful quirk of his mouth too. "To us, family is a network. It's a spiderweb, and each one of us is important to all the others. Ma could probably tell you exactly who those people were, if they were our kin, right down to birthdays. It's crazy. And... so is this." That didn't make a lot of sense so he clarifies. "You didn't stay, and now we're here. If you stayed, we might have never met." And the way he says it, he doesn't like that concept too much.

There's probably a reason for why she always finishes so quickly, but that's more than likely a story for another day. Regardless her plate is completely empty rather soon. But there's still that mug of hot wine to enjoy and so she curls her gloved fingers around it. "Again with the insects. Is your family emblem a big crawler?" Sabs teases between sips, listening with an easy smile. "I don't know about that. Maybe we would have met anyway. But instead of meeting in the barracks we would have met at one of your family's big gatherings. And I would have had to convince you that I wasn't your cousin or aunt or something. Then we'd have known each other for turns instead of just one." Her smiles splits into one more entertained. "Life is crazy."

"Yeah," E'sren answers quickly, about his family emblem. Like that's obvious. And when she recounts how the alternate dimension versions of themselves might fair, he takes another forkful to chew on while he listens, and at one point he almost grins but can't because his mouth is full. So he swallows and, with the back of his hand pressed to his lips at first, nods. When he can talk he says, "I kinda like this version better. In this one we have dragons. Because if I had you all that time ago there's no way I would have gone with them when they came for me." When he was practically forced into Candidacy. "Anyway." Nevermind him while he scarfs down food and washes it down with more wine. The dancing has really picked up in the last few minutes and now a laughing group spins circles around the fire.

"That's true. I don't know about Ahruth, but Ghislaith has really grown on me this last turn. That and the being able to go wherever we want, whenever we want. I suppose that's the upside." Sabella reasons with a quirky smile, wrinkling her nose before she swallows down the rest of her wine. "Otherwise we'd probably be married with kids and a wagon and some big smelly animal pulling it. Dragons are way better. Come on, we should go dance. I'm sure it's much warmer by that fire too." She piles her mug on top of the empty plate, carefully placing the drained mug on top of it. Then of course, begins the pull on his arms to get him to get up too, faster.

Don't mind E'sren, he's just looking a little like he might be into that concept of them, as a family with kids and a wagon. But just for a minute, and then she's getting up and he remembers that they're not traders, they're bad-ass dragonriders, and that's all it takes to suck him back into this reality. Her pulling on his arms helps, and as she's doing that he's trying to finish off the last few bites. His mug is still full too, so he's holding his plate in one hand when he stands, and is tipping the mug back with the other. And also trying to take shuffling steps after her. Somehow he manages it, it must be all the juggling he does. They get rid of their dishes, there's a place over there for that, and walk hand in hand to the dancing circle, where at first they stand on the sidelines, grinning and watching, but then a moment in they're being pulled in by the merry-makers.