Difference between revisions of "Logs:Awareness"

Sheltered Lakeside Ledge, High Reaches Weyr

The far side of the lake gets much less foot traffic - there's less grass, due to the poorer soil, and the bed of the lake is muddy and not at all as nice to walk in. But a small stand of four willow trees with long branches hanging low and swinging in the breeze provides some relief from the sun during the heat of the day. A pair of small curved benches sit underneath the trees. The ground rises up sharply towards the northwest end of the lakeside, and the waterfall that feeds the lake thunders downwards there, foaming the water and creating a fine mist in the air that distorts the light.

Summer. Finally it's summertime at High Reaches, and if sometimes it's hard to get a decent night's sleep with there being so very little of the darkness, still and all by the lake it's glorious. At least, if you're Solith, who's splashing in the sunshine, and quite possibly even for Telavi, who's got herself a blanket to lie upon not too far from the edge of the lake. The greenrider's drawing, or maybe taking notes, or possibly even... napping. Or, no, her eyes are open again, narrowed at the sketches before her: some long robe, maybe, with a detail showing a hood.

Finally, indeed. The people of the Weyr are certainly making the most of the summer while it lasts, as are the dragons; Iesaryth is not splashing, but is swimming, always content to explore the depths of the lake. Aishani is not watching her queen -- it would be difficult to track her, as often as she's underwater, but she is walking along the shore in a sundress, likewise enjoying the sunshine. She won't shadow over Telavi as she comes upon her, but she does pause close enough for her presence to be felt, squinting at the sketches as well. "I didn't know you worked on your own things," she says, by way of greeting.

Surprise tilts Tela's head up, her bare feet up too, exposing toes still gritty with the sand a brief swipe hadn't gotten off. But she's smiling, leaning to support her head with one hand. "Not always from scratch, but when I get through with them. It's hard to even think about fur right now, though." She hasn't a sundress herself, but a halter top and a gauzy skirt, the latter layers of different shades of orangey-pink like petals.

Sliding one foot out of her sandal to dig her own toes into the sand idly, Aishani nods, still looking over at the drawings with interest. "It's something to do, at least. And I agree with that. I feel almost as if thinking of fur might bring on the cold faster, Faranth forbid." Her nose wrinkles at the thought, the warm weather far too fleeting for her liking. "Have you been enjoying your freedom, now that you're out from under the boot of your keepers?" Her tone is amused, her lips quirking. As if the Weyrlingmasters' boots are so heavy.

"If it could..." Telavi shivers, just thinking about it, and drops her feet back down to the blanket-- or, rather, to just past the blanket, where her toes can play with the sand again. "I have. Freedom..." and here she gives in and rolls onto her side, the better to shade her eyes and smile up at the goldrider, "for everyone, right? And are you going to congratulate me, for riding in the weyrleader's wing?" Only the touch of playful mockery in her voice isn't for Aishani, but for the situation and the conventions.

"I doubt it can... but who knows." Aishani gives the skies a glance, perhaps looking for clouds rolling in even now, but in the absence of impending winter, she slips her shoe back on and kneels in the sand, making conversation a bit easier. Arching fine brows Telavi's way, "For many. Not everyone, I suppose, speaking of the weyrleader's wing and all. I could congratulate you, I will, in fact, but I wonder who did anything to make that so but the dragon and fate, if you believe in it." A little shrug -- it's not her fault that's the way things are -- then a flash of a grin. "Have you been using your freedom for anything interesting? And is Edeline well?" Dark eyes brighten.

Even when Aishani looks up, Telavi ignores the skies, as though if there's a storm coming she doesn't want to know, or maybe it's that she trusts Aishani to warn her. "Thank you. It interrupted my lunch." She pulls a moue at that, before adding, "I heard a rumor that a couple of the bronzes were trying to take Cadejoth out. Does that count as fate?" She pauses to give Aishani her own brilliant smile, though a touch softer about the mouth than usual. "As to interesting... no, Edeline first. Thank you again for sending me to her," though the way Tela says it, it sounds an awful lot like 'setting me on her.' "She appeared well. You know she never says much, but she seemed... cautiously approving, maybe, a little. More so than of the baby, though who could blame her."

"Your lunch," Aishani echoes, with a sigh. "I don't think the queens tend to have good timing." That's not too wry, as she casts a look over her shoulder, out to the lake, but she'll at least follow it with, "We'll see if Iesaryth manages something less irritating when she does go up. I imagine it won't be that long, but who knows, given the givens?" Turning back, she offers Telavi another shrug. The breeding habits of dragons are so not her area of expertise, even though maybe they ought to be. Smirking, "That counts as something. I can't say I'm a fan of how things ended up, but I can't really say there's a way I would have applauded, so..." Who cares? Edeline, though... With a sharp grin, "Not at all. I'm glad you can continue to keep her informed. And well. It's not the Weyr's job to make her happy. Just let her know what she needs to know. She should be aware of her family's progress." Like it or not.

"Yes, put in a request for me," Telavi teases with her own, lazier look lakeward-- only to sit up straight all of a sudden. "You know, I never thought before, but Solith might actually get to Search someone? I hope she doesn't take pity and try and take home a whole cothold or something. It would be just like her." Little does Telavi know. She does have a distinct smile for Aishani's assessment, adding for the Edeline part of it. "I will. Actually, I talked to weyrwoman Azaylia, back when she was Acting I mean, and she confirmed my doing it, so... that was a relief."

Aishani tilts her head, and has to allow, "She might. It's hard to say whether they'll be inclined to actually pay that kind of attention to likely people or not. But I do believe they need a reason beyond collecting strays, if that's what you're worried about." She quirks a brief smile, then nods for the discussion and the relief both. "I can imagine it was, but I can't see Azaylia being against us informing the Holds. Perhaps the spirit behind it, but..." It's not worth mentioning, really. "I hope Tillek is still receiving the Weyr with all due ceremony. I still go, but less often and less officially, if at all possible."

"I hope you're right." Telavi says this the more darkly for the humor that lurks behind it. Though, "Less officially? Whatever would you want to see in Tillek? Fish, fish and more fish? I'm surprised they don't make fish wine, by now. Or maybe they do."

Amused, "It would make things interesting, at least, with the Holds, yes? Something to complain about. I'm feeling they're having things a bit too easy as it is." Aishani smirks, then notes, "Not that I'm thinking of causing any issues. And there's what to see, what not to see... they all need an eye kept on, them, don't they? Any time you turn your back on Holds or Weyrs, trouble springs up like mushrooms under rocks."

"Holes in socks," Telavi murmurs without really thinking about it, it's that much under her breath, but agreement all the same. "You know, come to thnk of it, did you ever find out what was on the ship that the pirates attacked, whether it was anything special? Of course, that was before High Reaches' clampdown," and Aishani did mention Tillek, but she also mentioned Holds.

"Or single socks, or socks going missing, I suppose. One or the other." Which comes first, the single sock or the pair? Aishani is displeased that she has to shake her head at Tela, glossy curls bouncing as she purses her lips. "No. The whole matter seems to have been left by the wayside, but I think that some would rather it that way, and if that's the case, it makes finding out that more difficult. People who have family at High Reaches Hold can visit, but I am certain anyone from the Weyr is being watched." So poking around? Not exactly the best idea.

Telavi's dimples emerge at that, and they linger even through that headshake before fading as the greenrider nods. "After what happened to my beloved wingmates," she says, "I don't especially want to go poking around there myself. Not that I'd be sneaking into anyone's jail, it seems like a way to get stuck there."

Dryly, "Yes, your wingmates. You know why I'd rather not have a weyrleader at all? They're all men or women who think like men, and to men, running off, breaking into our Holds, abusing their prisoners, all of that, is 'initiative' to them. Whereas I would consider 'initiative' to be coming up with an idea and discussing it with your leadership so as not to fuck up what they're already doing. I hope now that your wingleader is Weyrleader, he will continue to consider little side projects as such, and therefore, not deserving of his time or attention." Aishani doesn't seem to think that likely, by her tone, but her smirk for Telavi says she's used to such hypocrisy. "And it is usually the best way to wind up there yourself, yes."

If Telavi hadn't already sat up, she would now, staring at the goldrider with widened eyes. Not that she interrupts Aishani at all, and she ducks her head in a nod here and there, but when at last it's her turn, "Abusing prisoners? What do you mean?"

Bemused, Aishani seems to think this should be common knowledge. The fact that it's not just has her shaking her head, mouth twisting in disgust. "They tried to get information out of them by beating them up. Devaki called it torture, and it's not far off. If at all. I have a sense that they fail to see the issues with the totality of their actions."

"Beating them-- what?" Telavi's looking vaguely ill; if she'd even heard rumors, she must have dismissed them. "Both of them?"

"They planned it together, though my guess it that only one of them did the actual beating." By her tone, it's more because Aishani thinks the other incapable than lacking the stomach for it. Obviously. After a beat, apologetically, "I wasn't aware it was... kept quiet. I would have had everyone know what they did, that it wasn't... what people ought to do off and do."

"Jhorinth's?" Telavi asks warily. Wanly, too; her shoulders have slumped. She's not looking at Aishani now, but rather to her sketch, or more likely past it. "It isn't. It really isn't. I can see why..." she stops, but with the ineffectual lift and turn of her hand, it's not as though she's refusing to talk but rather that there's so much that could be said. It crowds her mouth, leaves her shaking her head.

With a nod, "Likely. I didn't ask for details." Aishani is quiet for a few moments before, "My apologies. I might have said all that differently. I'm glad you know, though, and I am sorry that you didn't." Looking out to the lake from which Iesaryth surfaces, she notes, "It's not terribly subtle. It's all disappointing, and they were angry to be dismissed from their crafts. I don't... It's privilege." Something about that sets her jaw. As the gold pushes out of the water and into the air, "I'll have to oil her soon, I imagine."

"No, it's fine. Next to a cut throat or two... but then I only heard about those." Even so, Tela says it too flippantly, not even a reference to the bashed-in head, only what should be a disarming lift and fall of her tan shoulders. She glances at the other woman, "I'm glad you said differently, though, not that you wouldn't have said it at all." And she has a more-than-certain nod for privilege. Iesaryth, though, when she looks at Iesaryth she remembers how to smile. "There's so much of her, too. I don't know if I should even ask how long it takes, especially if she's finicky. Solith... Solith can have a little while longer, I think." She does straighten the sketch, though, and the edge of the blanket in preparation for a goodbye.

"It's certainly a level of comfort with violence I was unaware of." Aishani doesn't sound as if she disapproves entirely of violence, but of this instance, entirely. Shaking her head a little as she looks back to Telavi, "Oh, as I said, I'd rather people know about what they did. It's not exactly something they ought to think is encouraged. I'd think the Holds can torture their own prisoners, yes?" It's half-a-joke; not that they wouldn't either. She has her own smile for the sunny gold, slow as she is even just in winging across the bowl. "It takes... some time." That's said ruefully, as she rises, brushes sand from her knees and shins with care. "You'll have to tell me about where you've been and the fate of the fur another time."

"Once a sevenday, twice on Gather days," Telavi says brightly, and waves the goldrider on to her chore. "Another time."

"Soon," Aishani promises. "Sooner." And heads off to be slave to her dragon's particularness and size. Fun times.