Difference between revisions of "Logs:Mattress Smuggler"

>---< Storerooms, High Reaches Weyr(#273RJs) >-------------------------------<
  Massive in scale, the Weyr's main storage passage connects to the kitchen 
  on one end and the outbound tunnel on the other. Large enough to admit a  
  wagon laden with goods, the tunnel easily permits the unloading and       
  organization of supplies into the various storerooms.                     
                                                                            
  Branching off from this corridor are multiple caverns, the nearer two     
  being 'open' stores from which residents can readily help themselves,     
  while the deeper stores are kept locked up tight with a posted sign and   
  inventory hung on a hook outside of each. An alcove next to the public    
  stores serves as a catch-all area for reshelving items whose destination  
  is uncertain; two sets of stone shelving and several bins hold these items
  neatly until a stores assistant has a moment to deal with them.           
                                                                            
  Though the storage caverns vary in size, shape, and the smoothness of     
  their walls, all belong to the same system: whitewashed walls, swept      
  floors, and most importantly, neatly labeled and inventoried shelves      
  providing ample space to stow all the supplies a busy Weyr needs. Though  
  there's no direct internal lighting, a glowbasket may be brought in from  
  the niche outside each cavern, the better to ward off pests and the inky  
  dark of deep caves.                                                       
 -----------------------------< Active Players >-----------------------------
  Laine        F  17  5'4"  trim, dark hair, grey eyes                    0s 
  Minara       F  21  1.7m  gangling, brown hair, blue eyes              24s
 ----------------------------------< Exits >---------------------------------
                            Weyr Entrance  Kitchens                         
>---------------------------------------< 11D 6M 37T I10, summer morning >---<

Today might be one of those picture-perfect days in the 'Reaches, but not everyone can be out there enjoying it. Not yet, at least. And so it is that one of the Weyr's clerks is currently down in the dark storerooms, moving section by section with a large hanging basket of glows to light her way. At a glance, it would become fairly obviously she's doing inventory today, and as quickly as possible. As she gets to the current section and hangs her basket, however, she pauses in the rush to run dusty fingers through her dark hair before pulling one arm across her chest, trying to stretch that shoulder, sharing at the shelves without really seeing them.

From one, maybe two aisles down, there's a grunt. Then: a heavy whump--like that of a large, cushioned object hitting the stone floor. Then: a muttered curse. The rustle and grumble that comes next, should one decide to investigate, proves to be Laine, apprentice-and-candidate (judging from her knots) wrestling with a mattress large enough for a single cot. Whether she's trying to take it away or put it back isn't immediately apparent, but she seems to have picked the dustiest, grubbiest mattress from the whole heap.

Glad for any excuse of distraction from her current task, Minara leaves her glowbasket behind and goes in search of the sounds' source, soon coming across Laine. "Need a hand?" she asks, chipper but polite as she gestures toward the mattress at hand. "You're not... going to sleep on that, are you?" she asks a moment later, after taking stock of said mattress. Her accent is that of one not native to the area, though cultured and clear.

"A hand," oomph, the mattress folds and she's forced to support it with her head, "would be great." There. Laine's managed to get the mattress balanced on one end, steadying it with her hand, but she still need to get it up and onto the shelf. Putting it back it is, then. "Grab and lift?" The candidate chuckles, then, low and quick, and shakes her head. "Shells. Hope not. Just trying to," she puts her shoulder into it as she tries to lever it higher, "Get it back where it belongs." She doesn't expand on this weirdly ambiguous statement.

And Minara doesn't ask, though she gives both mattress and crafter/candidate a couple quizzical looks. Without a word, she moves to take the other end of the floppy mattress, lifting until they've gotten the thing back into place. She dusts her hands off on her trousers briefly and turns her attention back to Laine, studying her knot a moment before gesturing toward the stack. "Did you need to find a different one? Or just... that is..." She lapses into silence while trying to think up other possibilities for the state of affairs, then amends it by holding out one slightly less dusty hand. "I'm Minara. Have we met? I've been so bad with names and faces lately."

With a grateful sort of smile, Laine claps her hands off to rid them of (some) dust, then props her hands on her waist and observes the mattress with a funny sort of expression. "I want /this/ one. But I also don't have anywhere to put it." But she dismisses her own words with a flick of her fingers, and, laughing that low laugh again, says, "nevermind that. Doesn't matter. Laine. I've--seen you around?" She says it with some hesitation, but her smile is easy and friendly as she reaches out to clasp that proffered hand. "You work down here?"

Minara completes the handshake, then leans against the opposite shelving while giving the dirty mattress a dubious look, soon transferred back to Laine. "I think it's safe to say you're the only one," she says after a moment. Then a few seconds pass while she considers things. Then a couple more. Finally, she states, "Any movement of stock is really supposed to go through... proper channels." Feet shift as she starts to clean the dust off her hands again. "Just... you know. So you know." She glances behind her down the dark aisle, then returns her attention to Laine. "I'm a clerk. I was just counting things. Seeing where we stand. Making sure everything's here that should be." There's a slight emphasis to the last sentence, with a more directed study of the other woman. "So... it does matter, I guess is what I'm getting at."

Air puffs into Laine's cheeks as she listens to Minara, and when she exhales it all at once it's with a vaguely guilty expression. But the candidate leans up against the shelving, one arm draping over her--uh, the mattress and she bolsters that easy grin in a way that might seem a little disingenuous. Just a little. And she says, lamely, "it's where it should be now?" But she sniffs, scratches at her chin and tips her head, conceding. "So, hypothetically. What are the proper channels?" Hypothetically.

"Well," Minara begins, then stops to let out a soft puff of laughter. "Me, for instance. Any of the clerks. Or the head clerk, even. There's hidework and stuff, but it's easy," she explains, glancing at the mattress with an amused look. "I mean... hypothetically, you could fill out a requisition for that mattress, and I'd sign it over to you thinking, 'Oh, thank Faranth, I'll never have to count this dusty thing again.' Though that doesn't answer where else you can keep it. Because I'm guessing, given this particular moment, you're trying to avoid questions." Not so hypothetical now, of course.

Laine grunts an eeehhnn sort of sound and one hand wavers in mid-air. She considers for a moment, rhythmically bumping a fist against the mattress. She brightens. "Could I, like, sign it out and back in again?" Faranth knows what someone might need to do that for, especially with a mattress, but. "Or requisition it and just keep it here 'til I need it?" That's offered with a scrunched-up nose, as though Laine is already anticipating the response. The candidate doesn't seem embarrassed about the whole thing, in any case, although for Minara's comment about avoiding questions, she just offers up a sheepish shrug.

Minara struggles with one of those 'customer is always right' dilemmas for a couple seconds before she answers, and when she does, it's just a touch strained. "You... could... try it?" Helpful. "But each time, whoever you get might be... uh. Less inclined to grant it. I mean... that requisition form is just one task for you, but for us..." She grimaces and lets the rest remain unspoken as she shrugs bony shoulders. "You must already have another mattress, right? You could stack them, maybe. Enough old ones out there, it wouldn't seem too odd." Except that her attention wavers back to just how much dirtier this particular one is compared to others.

"Lotta paperwork for you," Laine nods, her tone understanding, even as her eyes drift back to the bedding in question and one hand moves furtively to cover a particularly unsightly streak of--dirt? Something else? The candidate shuffles her feet in place, having the decency, at least, to look a little self-conscious as Minara's gaze sweeps over the grubby mattress, grey eyes avoiding meeting Minara's blue. "Can't really stack 'em on top of each other," she says, slowly, although it's not a bad idea. "Plus it'd get mine all dir--" She pauses, mouth pulling to one side. "Any chance there's an unused shelf back there somewhere? I'd do the paperwork if I just had somewhere to store the damn thing." Uh. Hypothetically. Of course.

"Well, we're not exactly stocked to the gills," Minara answers with a thin, crooked grin. "Though hopefully that won't always be the case. I don't know..." she continues, straightening from the shelves. "I mean... I guess I have to ask, why the secrecy at all? It's just a mattress. And at that, one that's likely headed for some sort of reclamation soon, if the head clerk ever catches sight of it."

The candidate scratches at her ear, looking at the floor, then lifts her head to peer through the shelves toward the back of the cavern, maybe searching out some storage place. She mumbles, still peeking past the mattress, "Weren't so grubby when I first started using it." When she turns back to Minara, it's with a lopsided smile of her own and knit, thick brows--repentant but still with that brightness in her eyes. She hurries to explain, "but I've been using the same one. So's not to get the rest dirty."

Minara opens her mouth once to reply, but she soon closes it and lets out a soft breath. Customer. Right. "Grab the end," she instructs, nodding her chin toward the mattress as she moves to take the other end. "May as well find a spot that won't get the other stuff in storage dirty, too." It's not quite aiding and abetting, is it? Maybe?

Laine's quick to grip the opposite side of the mattress, hefting it in her hands as she pulls it down off the shelf. When it doesn't seem like Minara's going to scold her, the candidate says cheerfully, "it's only dirt dirty. Hang it up, give it a good walloping, it'll be good as new." But for the meantime... She edges around a shelf, shuffling backward, and grins again at Minara across the thick bedding. "Thanks, by the way. I'm lucky you weren't Giorda."

Minara snorts softly as she starts moving forward, careful not to rush. "I'm lucky I'm not Giorda," she replies in a quiet drawl, helping move all the same, pausing only to grab the glow basket as they head toward an otherwise pitch black section of the stores. The number of items drops off almost immediately, small groups of similar items stacked here and there in neat piles and rows, but even those don't last long, and no one's bothered dusting these particular shelves in a while. Pinning the mattress to her hip, Min hangs the basket again, then taps the lowest shelf with her foot before kneeling to start moving the mattress onto its new home. "Just... you know," she begins, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. "Don't tell. I'd have to fess up, and I'd rather not."

Laine laughs outright for that, pausing when needed, and shuffling, shuffling, shuffling. When Minara indicates the bottom-most shelf, Laine stoops, manhandling the cumbersome mattress into place. Once it's settled, Laine straightens and brushes her palms off on her trousers and gives the mattress once last nudge with her boot, so it's not immediately visible on a casual inspection. "Won't. Promise." She even lays a hand across her heart, earnest. "It comes to light--it's all on me. Covert mattress smuggler." Because it's not really stealing since she's bringing it back... right? "Right." She runs a hand through her short hair, then across her neck. "I should probably get back."

At that, Minara's express takes a dive. "Oh... right. I should get back to inventory." She sounds thrilled. Just thrilled. "Well. Good luck," she says, though she sounds slightly unsure, then she gestures behind her. "I'm just going to get back to work. See you around." At which point, she makes good on that statement and hurries out of the range of the glow light to find her own solitary pool, resuming her previous, far less interesting task for the day, once again picking up the pace, since her reward is the joy of the summer's day.

And Laine? Is in no hurry to actually get back to work, but she does, leisurely picking her way back from the maze of stores, even turning to call back into the darkness with her hands cupped around her mouth, "thanks again!" before she heads out into the sunny summer day.