Difference between revisions of "Logs:Sun and Snow"

Eastern Bowl, High Reaches Weyr

Ringed by rough granite walls to all sides but one, this end of the huge bowl narrows from the even broader plain to the west, continuing the ever so slight downward slope toward the blue and green of the Weyr's lake and surrounding foliage. More open to sun and wind than the western bowl, but less frequented when there aren't weyrlings in residence, the bowl's grassy tufts keep the topsoil in place and thicken into a bloodstained meadow within the feeding pens that adjoin the lake.

At the base of the surrounding cliffs lie entrances to several caverns, including the dragon infirmary and the weyrling barracks: the former to the northwest near where the spires begin, the latter opposite to the southwest. Both archways are large and dark enough for any dragon to pass through, but it's the infirmary's that is haunted by faint smells of redwort and numbweed, as though over generations they have seeped into the very stone. To the southeast, between the weyrling area and the lake, there are a handful of structures built into the floor of the bowl, standing out amidst otherwise an empty space.

One of the few sunny days left as the seasons make their shift from summer into autumn, today is pleasant. It's chillier than it's been most of the summer, but still fairly temperate for most. Tayte isn't, apparently, one of those most as she's pulled a heather grey knitted wrap around her lean form that has rumples of extra snuggliness on the arms and on her knotless shoulder. She's walking without particular purpose, it seems. Her expression is an easy smile, and her eyes keen to her surroundings rather than distracted by her own thoughts. She watches as a pair of dragons take off and another lands. There's no great surprise or mystery in her face, so dragons, it may easily be guessed, are not a foreign sight to her. Still, there's the attentive respect to the beasts that is bred of long familiarity with them.

One of the pair landing happens to be N'ky and Cailluneth, alongside an older, darker green dragon. The tall teen slips down from Cailluneth's side and meets with the other dragon's rider in front of their lifemates, chatting as the former slips off his riding helmet and gloves. Then the older, shorter of the pair mounts up on his lifemate to take off once more, winging up and away over the rim of the bowl. Both N'ky and Cailluneth watch him go, before turning to walk across the bowl towards the lake. That N'ky is loosening his flying jacket suggests he's not bothered by the cooler weather, and as such he gives the snuggled-up Tayte a curious glance as their paths cross. Curious enough that he stops, smiling shyly at her and running his hand through his helmet-crushed curls to loosen them up a little. "D-do you really think it's, um, th-that cold already?"

Tayte doesn't seem surprised to have the rider stop to speak with her. She has one of those demeanors that just invites interaction, and the constant upturn at the edge of her lips is suggestive of a smile. Blue eyes shift from where they had been wandering to find the rider, her arms folded loosely across her stomach to keep her hands tucked under the opposite arm for warmth. "Colder than Ista was, for sure. Never got this cold, even in monsoon season." Tayte's lips blossom to a smile, "I'm trying to acclimate, otherwise I'll freeze come winter." The blonde's eyes slip away from the rider and go to the dragon, smile widening a touch. "Your lifemate is beautiful, a girl with gumption to be sure." It's probably the pudgy build of the green that leads the woman to this assertion. "I'm Tayte, by the way." She pulls one of her warmed hands from where it had been tucked and offers it to the weyrling.

"Oooh. Ista." That explains it all to N'ky. "I've n-never been, but I hear it's, um, hot? H-hotter than here, anyway." Which isn't that hard to accomplish, really. Cailluneth peers down at the woman, wuffling warm breath over her while resettling her wings to her sides and rumble-growling softly. "She'd l-like to thank you for your compliment." N'ky takes the offered hand in his own, still warm from his gloves. He gives a squeeze that's gentle but not without strength. "N'ky, miss Tayte. This is Cailluneth. D-did you just get here from Ista?"

"Yes," Tayte confirms her voice half a low-squeal of appreciation for the place. "Jungles for miles, it gets a little oppressive in the summers, with all the moisture in the air, but otherwise, it's the perfect place for someone who loves the heat." Like her, presumably. "I highly recommend a trip, when you're able." Since obviously if he were able, he'd have gone already. It's Ista! Or so her tone seems to gently and warmly imply. Her grip is firm, though by no means is she trying to show any undue strength. Just a normal meeting of hands. "Nice to meet you, N'ky. And you, Cailluneth." The woman smiles to both. "We arrived about two sevens or so ago. From Ista Weyr, yep. I'm still learning my way around. This is my first time this far west on the continent, if you'd believe it."

"Oh! W-welcome to High Reaches. You came at the best time." Which, given the gloomy weather they're having lately, might not be an opinion shared by anyone other than N'ky. He, at least, seems chipper enough about the thunderous clouds up ahead and the ever-present threat of rain yet to fall. "I've, um, never left High Reaches. N-not really, anyway." He holds up his hand, tapping off fingers as he begins listing, "Home, here, the Smith Hall, the Herder Hall... that's it." The shrug he gives as he drops his hand suggests he's not overly interested in travelling beyond that. "It's v-very big here, isn't it? I got l-lost for months, b-but you learn eventually. Wh-what do you do here?"

"Did I?" Tayte questions this with an easy laugh. "I'm not so sure. I feel like I might've liked this place best in summer. I've never been much of a snow person. Though it's unavoidable for me-- well, nevermind that." She starts off on a tangent and then waves it off with a hand before retucking it for warmth. "Never? Well, I'm sure you've been told before that you ought to get out and see some places. The world is full of interesting sights, and interesting people." Her smile tugs again at the edges of her lips. "Smith and Herder?" She queries curiously, " Did you apprentice twice?" Then there's a little nod, "It is. And it's different than Ista. At Ista, it's sort of a three-quarter circle and they use both sides of the cliff for the weyr ledges, unlike here." She indicates the protective, sheer walls of the bowl that guard against the winds. The hand immediately goes back into hiding once the gesture is complete.

"No miss, not even once. Not really." N'ky shakes his head in reply to her question about apprenticing. "I was training to be a f-farrier, which meant learning metalworking, learning about runner's hooves, a l-lot of training under my uncle and a bit under some journeymen at both Halls, but n-never an apprentice miss, no." Her description of Ista Weyr seems to both impress and terrify him. "W-wow. That's, um, big. Or i-is it small, so they have to use both sides? I think Ista Weyr is smaller than here, isn't it?"

"Really?" Tayte seems genuinely surprised by this. She offers him another of her warm smiles, this one a little more gentle than the last. "Well, take it from me. When you're able, take that beautiful dragon of yours," The smile gets directed to Cailluneth, "And go have yourself a few adventures. Adventuring does a person good. You'll come back a changed person. Well, or not. Some people don't, but you'll know more than you did before, that's for sure." The talk of crafts is next on her agenda for comments, "Sounds like a smart thing. Sometimes I wish I hadn't apprenticed," So she's a crafter then. "Yours might well have been the wiser tact. No one in particular to answer to about silly things like wearing your knot or not wearing your knot." She rolls her eyes. Her knot is absent. "It's--" She considers, looking around, "Smaller than here, I think, too. Sometimes it's hard to tell, even when you live there. That's why they use both sides. Less available surface area. And they don't have the wind the way this place seems to." In the little time she's been here.

"What's your Craft?" In the absence of a knot N'ky's unable to tell, and Tayte's surely giving away no signs to make guessing easier. "Being apprenticed takes up too much time. Um... m-my family needed me at the Hold, f-for herding and stuff. So g-going away just to learn what I absolutely needed, and not much else, was the best way to do it. I liked it, too. Um... being away from home was hard. F-for the most part, anyway." The thought of adventuring doesn't get any rise in interest from N'ky, and he shrugs. "We, um, l-like it here. I think I'll stay and s-study some more, before we go off exploring."

"Vintner," Tayte volunteers it readily. It's not that she's hiding her craft, she just isn't announcing it to those that don't care to ask. "Apprenticeship does take up an awful lot of time," She agrees. "If I'd had anything like that, something I was needed for at home, I'm sure I'd not have gone to the Hall. But every person is different and comes from a different place. What kind of herds did your family have? Did you like the Beastcrafting classes better or the Smith?" Her questions are not rushed, each measured and delivered with easy grace and simple curiosity. "Suit yourself." Just as easy to his disinterest in exploring. "But you know what they say about all work and no play..." This last is delivered with a lightly teasing lilt to her smooth alto.

N'ky looks a little uncomfortable talking about home, but, since he's the one who brought it up, he continues. "Ovines, um, woollies, caprines - mostly ovines. We're a w-wool Hold. Herd them, shear them, um, s-spin wool, stuff like that. I preferred the..." He has to stop and think about that, squinting up at the grey sky. "I think the Beastcrafting bit best. I like metalworking, but with Beastcrafting I can help more. And I get on well with r-runners." Rocking back on his heels, he looks up to Cailluneth, who snorts softly down on them both, before looking pointedly over to the lake. "Um... w-we were on our way to the lake. W-would you like to, um, c-come with us, miss Tayte?"

Tayte has a gift for recognizing subtle shifts in expression, so when N'ky's becomes one of discomfort she gives a simple nod for the kinds of animals and the talk of Crafting but doesn't press for more information. "You like riding as well? Or just shoeing them?" This seems a safe enough topic to inquire about. She glances up to the dragon and then over in the direction she looks. There comes a little laugh from the crafter then and she gives a little nod, "Sure. I haven't been down there yet. No reason so far. Do you mind showing me the way?"

Cailluneth begins to lead the way towards the lake, trotting happily along ahead of them. "Oh, I like riding them. I d-don't need to any more since I have Cailluneth, but I'd like to still go to the, um, s-stables, and maybe h-help out sometimes. Like, shoeing, or m-mucking - well, no. N-not mucking. I had enough of that with her," he jerks a thumb at his dragon, "to last a lifetime." N'ky wrinkles his nose, kicking a rock along the way in front of them, until it gets lodged in the sand of the lake shore. "So, um, this is the lake. There's a waterfall at that end - I like it down there, but when it rains, it g-gets muddy. There's n-nice seats, though." Cailluneth waits patiently to have her straps removed, and N'ky complies.

There's another laugh from the blonde as she strolls along beside, but a step or two away from N'ky, "Well, I'd say riding a runner is different than riding a dragon, and each has its place and purpose. And for a dragonman, the purpose of a runner is often just enjoyment." Her shoulders lift in a little shrug that settles the knit more cozily around her neck. Amusement lingers in her face as the man talks of mucking. Her blue gaze scans the lake, taking in as much as can be seen from their current vantage point. "Seats?" She echoes questioningly, squinting as though to see them even at this distance, but she soon gives up. "Is the water very cold here?" Her eyes follow his movements idly, switching between the weyrling and the others dotted around the lake shore.

It's not entirely convenient to have to deal with dragonstraps without the proper hooks to hang them from, and so N'ky has to make do with laying them out on the ground while Cailluneth bounds off into the water. "Um, it gets frozen in the winter? And I guess it's... well, it's p-probably nearly too cold to s-swim in now, if you find this temperature unpleasant." The 'Reachian eyes Tayte's sweater. "But it's ok during the summer?" He steps over the straps, coming up beside the woman and pointing along at the far end of the lake. "Um, there? See the w-willows? There are seats just under them. It's very pretty."

Tayte leans in a bit to better follow the weyrling's pointing finger. She squints still and then laughs in defeat. "I guess I'll just have to go down there sometime to see them. I can't seem to pick them out from here." Not necessarily surprising given the distance and her unfamiliarity with the landscape. "Anywhere else I should put high on my list of places to see here? I've mostly been learning my way around the Crafter's Complex and through the inner caverns. I know where to eat, where to bathe, where the nursery is, and where to work. And of course, where the bar is. Do you go in there much at all? Snowasis, that is?" Her inquiries are again casual and chit-chatty. It seems she's got nowhere to be just now.

"Oh, um, I like the... w-well, you'd need a d-dragon to go, but, um, the Star Stones has the b-best view of everything. Everything's worth seeing a-at least once, though." N'ky nods, turning his gaze to where Cailluneth has found herself a playmate out in the water; the rough play between the pair of them is punctuated by giant splashes and rumbling growls of fun. "I, um, don't go to the Snowasis s-so much. I d-don't really drink." Now the weyrling shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders, looking back at Tayte. "Do you w-work there? As a Vintner?"

"Oh, really? I'd like to see that. Maybe I'll see if someone can take me up at some point. Cold up there, tho', I'd imagine?" Tayte half-twists around toward the bowl, craning her neck back, looking up to the rim of the bowl walls. "You'd think so," The vintner answers with a wry smile. "I thought I would be, in coming here. But the craft doesn't have a lick to do with the place, other than supply. It's mostly independently owned and operated, as it happens. The Craft wants me doing experiments for cold-temperature mixing methods. Doesn't that just sound like a bunch of fun? Time in the snow and all?" She rolls her eyes and the tone clearly states that it would be her first choice of vocation. "I'm going to see about getting some bartending shifts though. Just have to find the man in charge to make my case. I think my skills will be enough to impress him, if my personality doesn't wow him from the start." Her tone hold humor, but there's confidence there too.

"Oh, um, w-we could take you up, sometime? Um... w-we're on elevator duty, so Cailluneth's used to c-carrying more than one person." N'ky looks out to where his lifemate's splashing around in the water, grinning warmly. "If she wasn't wet, I'd o-offer to take you up now, miss. It i-is cold, though, and windy. You'd need a th-thicker jacket than what you're wearing." He listens to her explanation of her craft, curious about it. "C-cold mixing? What do you mix? I'm... I'm sure you'll g-get a job in there. Bars need n-nice people tending them, right?" And Tayte is, it would seem, a nice person.

"I'd appreciate the opportunity," Tayte's reply comes with a warm smile. "If it isn't too much trouble for you and Cailluneth." He's said it's their duty, but still. She follows his gaze down to the green, smile tugging to widen into something that shows her white teeth as she watches the shenanigans in the water. "The trip might have to wait a bit. I don't have anything that's good for the cold yet. Weyrwoman Azaylia was kind enough to point me to the stores, but I'm having some things commissioned that should be ready in a few sevendays." Then there's the matter of her craft. "I'm the person who makes drinks taste yummy." It's the most direct explanation and most amusing. "I make the kind of things that will knock you on your ass before you even realize you've had a drop to drink. If that's what you're looking for. There are different ways of infusing flavors. I'm researching one of them. I'd rather work in the bar, though. More people to talk to. More interesting." Who needs boring old innovative research? She appreciates his vote of confidence with a simple smile and nod.

N'ky grins, a lopsided affair that makes a shallow dimple form in his rose-blushed cheek. "Sure, miss Tayte. Whenever you'd like. Um, j-just ask someone for me, and I'll be happy to t-take you up." He slips his hands into his pockets, rocking on his heels as he listens to the drinks talk. "I've... I-I've never been drunk," he admits, biting down on his lip. "Um... I've sometimes had beer, but I d-don't really like the taste of it. Or of anything else I've tried, e-either... n-not that I've tried a lot."

A nod-and-smile combo settles the matter of the Star Stones trip. Her brows are rising as she gives him a vaguely disbelieving look, "Never? I mean, it's not something I'd recommend for every day, but every once in awhile, it's pretty fun." She wrinkles her nose a touch, "Mm, yes. Only certain beers have appeal to me. There are some from non-traditional brew sources, like the ones they make with berries, that are pretty good. If you were interested in trying some. Really, I'd say the way to go was with cocktails. Like the ones I make. But then, if it's not your scene, I wouldn't try to persuade you. But if you were interested, once I'm tending bar, I'd be glad to help you find what you like." There's no pressure, just an offer of her expertise being at his disposal.

"N-never," N'ky confirms, looking a little shy about the fact. "Back home we didn't really have much alcohol, and, um, h-here, I... I just never really drank it." The weyrling ruffles his fingers through his curls, brushing them back only for them to spring wildly back to life again. "When you're in the Snowasis, miss Tayte, I'll come visit you for a drink? Um... m-maybe we could do a swap. A ride to the Star Stones, for a... a drink that you think I'll like? It... i-it doesn't have to have alcohol."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with not drinking. But if you like it, it can be fun. Sometimes, it's just the right thing, and different drinks can make you feel different ways. It's different for every person how it impacts them." Tayte smiles, "Sounds like a fair trade, though depending on how breathtaking the view is, I might owe you a few drinks. If you want them." She looks down the beach towards Cailluneth where she plays. "What's your lifemate like, N'ky?" It might seem random, but turns of tending bar at a Weyr lends to knowing that every dragon is different and that riders often enjoy speaking of their lifemates.

N'ky's pleased with the accepted deal, and holds out his hand to seal it. "The view's nicer when it's s-sunnier, but when there's another c-clear day we'll go up, ok? A-and I'll try whatever you give me, um, so long as it's small." His gaze follows hers out to Cailluneth, and his expression fills with loving warmth. "Oh. Oh, she's... she's e-everything. She's moonlight and r-rainbows, and soft and fierce, and... my Heart." When he looks back to Tayte, his eyes have an almost hazy look to them, though there's a big, soppy smile on his face. "She's everything," he repeats.

"A clear day, as soon as I've clothes for it." It's agreed and Tayte's fingers, her sweater-warmed hand meeting his. "Small is fine. Some of the best things in life come in small sizes." She laughs, though the exact reason for the humor might not be easily grasped. "Actually, I'd go so far as to say my favorite things in life are small." There's a grin for the greenrider's talk of his lifemate. "The everything I would expect. But moonlight and rainbows? That's different. Soft and fierce all at once seems to make for a powerful combination." She looks out to consider the dragon, eyes appraising, but not unkind to the sight they take in.

"S-small and, um, not too alcoholic," N'ky's quick to add, remembering that there are such things as shots - small but deadly shots! "Moonlight and rainbows," he confirms, looking over to Cailluneth. The green gives a raspy growl-croon towards the beach, then starts paddling her way in. "Like, um, if there w-was rain at night, and the moonlight could make rainbows? Like that. E-everything's silvery and soft, and beautiful and just k-kinda hard to describe. Over there, Cailluneth." He points the dripping dragon aside, and she pads off to shake herself like a canine, sending a spray of droplets as far as where N'ky stands with Tayte. "S-sorry," he says with an apologetic wince. "She, um, likes to do that. N-normally when she's closer to people."

The qualification for the drink meets with a chuckle. "Of course. Wouldn't do to have you sloshed before you've tried a few things." Tayte answers, though it sounds as though she might be gently teasing the man. "Mm." The noise is one of consideration, weighing his description as she watches the green in question. But then here some comes, and she smiles. The fact that the green is dripping from the lake is not lost on Tayte and despite the friendly smile, she steps back a pair of paces. There's a grateful smile to N'ky for the direction. Likely, from her reaction, Cailluneth's not the first dragon she met with a penchant for getting people wet. "I appreciate you asking her to move away. I'm already cold, I can only imagine what cold and wet would do to me." She shivers, whether it's a show or not, she gives a glance back toward the bowl. "I should probably take myself inside to warm up somewhere. But I'll see you around, N'ky? And Cailluneth?" The green may be farther off, but her voice lifts to carry; it's a voice that could cut through a noisy bar to be heard if necessary, a strong, clear voice.

"She's sorry if she got you a little," N'ky says, turning his gaze to look adoringly at his lifemate. "W-would you like us to walk you, um... wh-wherever you're going, miss Tayte? I've just gotta put Cailluneth's straps on real quick first. Now that she's shook the water off herself, Cailluneth pads over to stand behind N'ky, leaning down over him to snort a soft breath over Tayte.

"Never fear. A little water never hurt anyone." At least not to Tayte's knowledge. There's an appreciative smile to the offer, but her words decline him, "Thank you, N'ky, but I think you've humored me quite long enough. Besides, if I don't start to learn my way around on my own, I'll be lost when everything's covered in snow." On that cheery note, she's smiling her farewell, heading back toward the bowl with a wave offered to man and dragon.