Difference between revisions of "Logs:Perceptions"

>---< Hot Springs, Fort Weyr >-----------------------------------------------<

                                                                            
        The hot springs are contained within a high domed cavern, the walls 
  perpetually glistening with a combination of condensation and mica. Steam 
  drifts through the cavern from the surface of four different-sized pools. 
  The largest takes up most of the cavern, big enough to hold three         
  full-grown dragons and is easily reached through the archway from the     
  bowl. Three smaller pools, more suited for human use, are clustered near  
  the entrance leading toward the inner caverns. Also located near the inner
  cavern entrance are a set of shelves and benches, fully stocked with pots 
  of soapsand and towels for those without the foresight -- or means -- to  
  bring their own.                                                          
                                                                            
   While the dragon pool is a natural creation, the human pools are the     
  result of Ancient ingenuity and have been constructed with hewn steps and 
  seating. The water in all of the pools is warm to hot, and are a perfect  
  place to bathe young weyrling dragons or for residents to relax after a   
  long day of work.                                                         

 -----------------------------< Active Players >-----------------------------
  Edyis        F   20 5'4"  athletic, brown hair, brown eyes              0s 
  Lilah        F   26  5'5  Curves, Red hair, Brown eyes                 23s
 ---------------------------------< Objects >--------------------------------
  [Eliyaveith]                                                                
 ----------------------------------< Exits >---------------------------------
                              Bowl  Inner Caverns                           
>-------------------------------------< 14D 3M 37T I10, spring afternoon >---<

After the damp morning fog that lingers through drills with Hematite, it is no surprise to anyone in the Weyr that the junior gold pair has retreated to somewhere warm. Whether by design or coincidence, they have the hot springs to themselves for the moment. Lilah's riding leathers have been shed and trousers have been rolled up as she sits on the ledge of that dragon pool, hair still wing-blown and messy from drills. She has nothing on hand to distract herself, no work or hides or any of the usual things, except that the expression on her face would be enough to drive most others away from attempting to engage the goldrider. A mirror of contentment against her rider's obvious temper, Eliyaveith has already sunk into the warmth of the pool, doing slow, careful laps in the warm water.

"It looks like the only thing that is missing from this picture of relaxation is a really good red." Edyis's soft soprano lilts, grinning as she spots Lilah and Eliyaveith, in one hand a bottle and the other two glasses. A bag slung over her shoulder and the slight dampness of melted snow might suggest she has only recently arrived from High Reaches. "Someone told me I could find you in here, though it looks like you have something on your mind?"

There is a sense that Eliyaveith recognizes Edyis, her greeting caught in a low, warm warble in her throat as the gold paddles closer to the side of the dragon pool and casts a blue-green gaze over the young woman, before she draws away again in the currents of the pool. Lilah snorts, at her dragon, at that offer, at the question. "No, it's nothing," she replies dismissively, waving a gesture of invitation to the stone beside her. "What brings you all the way to Fort? Getting away from the cold?"

Edyis smiles at the warble, offering the gold a curtsey before setting down the bottle long enough to kick off the boots and roll up the legs of her pants, that done she reclaims the glance, settling near the redhead with an arch of her brow. The former scribe teases, "Doesn't seem like nothing, but then again I could be completely misreading the fuck off sign that was painted above your head in bright letters a few moments ago." Tilting her head as she starts unstopping the bottle. "It is nice to be someplace warm for a change, though there were a few items of business I wanted to look into." Waving it off as she claims the glass she pours for herself offering the other to Lilah.

Eliyaveith returns to her slow, lazy laps around the pool, though her attention seems to be drawn in watching her rider and Edyis there with her. She seems in no hurry to leave the bathing pool. Lilah accepts that glass with a tip of her chin, answering lowly, "No, it's--. That particular sign was directed towards a particular wing." She glances around the cavern, sweeping a careful look to make sure no one has snuck up on them. "Fuck Hematite." But then she is able to take a sip of her wine, before offering, "Anything that I can help you with?"

"Seems like there has been quite a bit of gossip about that particular wing of late," the once-scribe comments thoughtfully. Her glass is sipped and as always, the vintage is of a high quality, and probably questionable origin. "Possibly," dark eyes shifting out to the paddling gold. "I am looking to expand my horizons a little, find ways to make an extra mark or two. I'd like to make new contacts; Vinters, craftsmen, traders, looking into goods and information."

If Lilah has more to say on the subject (and given the way that her lips press together before she takes another sip from her wine, she does), she remains silent for the moment. It's instead that answer that gets her attention, the quirk of a brow upwards before she presses, "Why?"

Edyis chuckles, "Does a woman of your talents really need to ask?" Her chin tilts, as she studies Lilah pensively. "Call it ambition, or boredom; both apply equally. " The glass is lifted again, "So what has the whole of Hematite done to foolishly arouse your ire?"

"A woman of my talents can't help but ask. Ambition is always something to keep an eye on," counters Lilah lightly, though dark eyes meet Edyis's in a weight of her own even as she offers a hint of a smile. "And trading in information-- Well." She rolls a shoulder upwards, dismissive for all that she doesn't look away from the younger woman. "They are assholes. All of them are just so, so... And usually, it doesn't matter except that Hattie has decided I need a lesson in walking in E'dre's shoes."

The once-scribe's lips curl in a smile, amused perhaps by the suggestion itself. "Spoken like a true weyrwoman." There is a snort at the word asshole, and her brows lift speculatively and not at all unsympathetic to Lilah's frustration. "Hardly seems like a fitting use of your time at first glance and yet." A beat, "It does present you with a unique opportunity does it not?"

That seems to catch Lilah by surprise, catching briefly in the goldrider's expression before she invites, "Does it?"

Edyis nods, "Think about it, every wing has its own unique set of politics involved. Not only do you get a chance to steal a glimpse from the other side. If you don't play into what they expect you have a chance to alter perceptions, and - just maybe begin to build the foundations of alliances you might need in the future." The lift of her shoulders is slight, "Of course that's just one scribe's opinion, take it with a grain of salt if you like." Edyis adds, "All while under Hattie's direct instruction."

"This isn't Hold politics," Lilah counters, that single sentence infused with annoyance for said politics as the goldrider tips her glass up for another sip. "Alliances, perceptions--. All that doesn't matter in a Weyr. Only our ability to lead and whether or not our dragons rise and mate at certain times." There's a hint of dryness, a hint of exaggeration, yet there is a belief settled there. "They already hate me, anyways. Hematite. It isn't like I am going to change their opinion with smiles and-- whatever."

"A closer look at the History of High Reaches, would beg to differ." Is her bland reply, though she adds more thoughtfully, "I never said to smile and bat your lashes at them, just use their expectations against them." It is after this though that she really looks at Lilah, as though taking in a canvas waiting to be stretched to a frame. "You really believe that it is all out of your control? Your fate?"

"I know about Tiriana and her ousting. Even the Oldtimers from Fort and High Reaches both--. But, those are rare exceptions. And they failed the ability to lead," replies Lilah dismissively, a hint of her lips tightening at Edyis before she looks away towards the dragon in the pool. "No, I never said that. I said that they already hate me, and people very rarely care whether you try or not. Whether or not they will even believe that you are trying."

Edyis waves a hand dismissively at the examples chosen as much as at mention of Tiriana, "There are plenty of other, subtler examples." It is what Lilah says as the goldrider looks away that draws more attention. Only after emptying her glass, does Edyis respond. "You have never struck me as the sort of person who allows others opinions to stop you. The kind of woman who does what it takes to get what she wants. You chase the things you desire, or at least, that is how I perceive you." Something of awe in her tone, as dark eyes shift over again. "Was I wrong?" The last comes more softly, more hesitantly.

"You are wrong in thinking that I desire anything from Hematite," replies Lilah dismissively at that, her gaze lingering thoughtfully on Eliyaveith even as she continues with a simpler, "I am happy with what I have now." She tips back her own glass to finish, setting it beside her empty and abandoned at that. "One day, I will want to be Weyrwoman, but there are many turns before Hattie reaches the age to retire. And there are other wings, other than Hematite, from which to choose a Weyrleader. To choose an alliance."

Edyis shrugs, corking the bottle and leaving it to sit there next to Lilah. "Was only a thought." But the words are only an afterthought as the younger woman pulls to her feet. Whether or not she believes the claim of contentment, she doesn't seem interested in pursuing it. Offering instead, "If you happen to think of a few names, on the matter of goods or information, I hope you would be willing to share them. Enjoy the wine, weyrwoman."

Lilah nods simply, accepting of that after thought as the weyrwoman lets the conversation fall away as well. She even warms, slightly, when she offers the younger woman an answer of, "The only name that is on the tip of my tongue is one that I am sure you know. But if I think of others, I will be sure to pass them along." Eliyaveith interjects her own warble of goodbye even as Edyis moves to stand, again returning to the side of the pool to slip her head onto the stone next to Lilah and dangerously close to that bottle.

Edyis offers another curtsey to the gold, before pulling on her boots and straightening out her pant legs. "All too well perhaps." She states of the unspoken name, lips pressing together. There is only one last hesitation, before she departs weighing the question before ultimately asking, "Is it so very wrong? Wanting more?"

"No," is a murmured response in farewell, no goodbye offered beyond that on the part of the goldrider. Certainly she will be left to weigh that question herself, though with the rest of a bottle to kill and perhaps a moment of honest reflection.