Difference between revisions of "Logs:Offering Congratulations"

Records Room, High Reaches Weyr

Books. Scrolls. Bound hides. Maps. If it's a record pertaining to the Weyr, it's likely to be in this roughly oval room with its floor-to-ceiling cherrywood shelves, its multitude of slots for scrolls, and its wide drawers for materials that shouldn't be rolled up or folded. A scribe is usually on duty at the tall desk up front with its good view of the room, and is able to help visitors find what they're looking for via the big bound index on its rotating stand. Past the desk, several tables stand in neat rows for note-taking, each stocked with glowbaskets, scrap hide, paper and pencils. Additional lighting is provided by a many-armed wrought-iron light fixture, its glows gleaming through luxurious glass containers in fluted shapes instead of baskets.

To one side of the room, a gap between two sets of shelves outlines where another set once stood, now replaced by a tapestry-covered aperture. Peeking behind the tapestry reveals another cavern, this one likewise full of shelves, but occupied by only a few boxes of older records and a somewhat musty air of disuse. As well, two narrow but solid doors are locked when the room is unattended and a discreet staircase provides direct access from the Weyrleaders' weyrs. It may not be actually raining today, but it's still pretty dreary: one of those autumn days that speaks to the winter ahead, and makes most people want to stay indoors. Despite that, the records room is pretty quiet, leading towards the dinner hour, and K'del has an entire table to himself, and the stack of books he's working through. It's unusual to see him work in here - his usual haunts are, of course, the council chambers and his own weyr - but he's made himself comfortable, this afternoon, taking the occasional sip out of a flask as he flips one page after another.

Now that Teris has a nice big weyr of her own with a desk and everything, she's not found nearly so often here in the records where she used to be an incredibly common presence. Now, of course, the poor records people probably cringe a little bit when she comes in here but today she does so quietly. Along her way to wherever she was planning on looking, she spies K'del and pauses to watch him for a couple of moments with slightly narrowed, thoughtful eyes before breaking her gaze away to glance back the way she'd come.

Unluckily (luckily?) for Teris, K'del glances up from his reading not too long after she comes in - just in time, in fact, for her to glance back the way she came. He, too, has narrowed eyes, and his expression is outright considering for several moments before he clears his throat and says, conversationally, "Good afternoon, Teris." It's a little stiff, not outright formal, but not entirely casual, nonetheless.

She could pretend that she couldn't hear him. For a moment she kind of looks like she might do just that. But then there's a small sigh and Teris turns her head toward him again, her expression a familiar mask in neutrality. "Good afternoon, Weyrleader. Something I can help you with?" One brow hitches up ever so slightly before she glances at what he's doing from where she paused. Which is to say, she can't really see anything telling.

Something behind K'del's gaze speaks to frustration and quite possibly regret, though his expression is otherwise as neutral as Teris' is. "No," is his quick answer; even quicker is his added, "Just wanted to see how things were. How they are. Everything going okay?" Whatever it is he's been working on is clearly not all that important, not given the way he swings around to face her more directly, all of his attention aimed at the goldrider. "Didn't used to need a reason to say hello."

There's a brief moment where Teris looks suspicious of K'del's questions, like she's expecting him to say something else and even waits before furrowing her brows uncertainly at him. "Everything's fine," she tells him. That's what you're supposed to say when someone asks that question, after all. "Things have changed, perhaps," she offers thoughtfully to his last comment before making any motion to approach where he's settled. When she's near enough, she loosely grasps the back of the chair opposite him with both hands but doesn't pull it out.

There's a brief moment where Teris looks suspicious of K'del's questions, like she's expecting him to say something else and even waits before furrowing her brows uncertainly at him. "Everything's fine," she tells him. That's what you're supposed to say when someone asks that question, after all. "Things have changed, perhaps," she offers thoughtfully to his last comment before making any motion to approach where he's settled. When she's near enough, she loosely grasps the back of the chair opposite him with both hands but doesn't pull it out.

K'del opens his mouth, making it look, for a moment, though he intends to say something. After a moment, however, he closes it again, and simply shakes his head. "Pity," is his conclusion, though his gaze is seeking-- entreating? "Wish it weren't that way." There's something of an apology in there, somewhere, unspoken but audible. "Glad that things are fine, though," he continues, almost hurriedly. "That everything is fine. As it should be, right?"

The way that Teris can't quite hold that seeking gaze isn't entirely characteristic and most likely says something to how she feels even before she murmurs, "Me, too." She refocuses on what he'd been looking at in front of him, then, an attempt to hide the fact that she's not actually looking at /him/ most likely. "Right," she agrees. "And you?"

From this angle, Teris can probably see that K'del's been reading history, all focused on the weyr, and going as far back as the beginning of the last Pass. All of which means it's unlikely to be work related. /He/ can't seem to keep his eyes off her, though, saying, after a few moments of silence, "I'm sorry." And; "I'm good. Things are good." And, okay, he grins, but at least he doesn't actually /mention/ the whole 'birth of his second son' thing.

Blue eyes flicker up at the apology but she doesn't seem to know precisely what to do with it so Teris only nods her head. She does somewhat better at keeping her gaze on him after that but it's still not quite her usual level. "I suppose I should offer my congratulations," she says, not entirely sure that she wants to but trying to be nice and all that fun stuff.

"If you want to," says K'del, attempting without too much success, to keep his tone more neutral and less overwhelmingly pleased. "Certainly won't object. Thank you." Saying this seems to make him awkward, though, and his own gaze flicks back down towards the pages in front of him. He breathes: in and out, in and out. And; "But we don't have to talk about that."

"I'd really rather not," says Teris with unadulterated honesty. "If you don't mind. I just-- I don't know, actually, I guess. But no, I'd rather not." In an effort to make moving on from that somewhat less uncomfortable, though for who is unclear, she gestures a nod toward the records he'd been looking over and asks, "What are you doing with all this?"

If there's a flash of awkwardness on K'del's expression for that honesty, it only lasts a moment, and is followed, however ruefully, with a nod. Despite Teris' move to slide away from that topic, he doesn't abandon it immediately, saying, after a few seconds of silence, "Fair enough. I understand." Does he? Probably not really. "Kinda, anyway. Enough. Won't bring it up again. I'm taking notes. Have this-- well. Not going to be Weyrleader forever, you know? So I'm going to write a history of the last pass. Never done anything like that before." Exactly how he intends to have time to work on it even in passing, given the two-children-and-being-Weyrleader thing? Well.

"Are you certain?" Teris wonders with some vague hint of amusement. "Some Weyrleaders have an incredibly long-lasting career. You could be one well into old age." She considers the spread that she looks at upside down for several moments, then lifts her gaze to look at him curiously. "Are you not sleeping well, K'del?" Evidently that's the only time she can think of that he might have the time required to do this.

The dubious face K'del makes seems to answer Teris' first remark, though it's accompanied with a shrug. When she's finished speaking he says, sounding mildly confused, "No, I sleep fi-- oh, right. No. Don't exactly do a /lot/ of work on this stuff, but when I have the time, occasionally... it's just kind of fun. Anyway, it's /possible/ I'll be Weyrleader forever, but I figure it's pretty unlikely. I'm just-- planning ahead. /You/ may have a job forever, but who knows, with me."

"Even if you aren't destined to be Weyrleader forever, you'll always be a bronzerider. That's something, isn't it? I'd imagine with your experience, too, that you wouldn't be overlooked as a wingleader or wingsecond." Not that any of that probably means anything coming from Teris. "Good luck with your history, though. It's very-- I'm sure it will be a worthwhile endeavor." Her hands flex on the back of the chair before one releases and she takes a step back.

It amuses K'del, though, for some reason. "Maybe," he agrees. "But maybe, by then, I'll just want to settle back, spend time on the beach and-- write my history." Not a euphemism, for once. "Thank you, though. That mean you're going to take off, and it'll be another-- however long before we talk again?"

"Probably." Teris just has no feel for tactful deception today, apparently. She doesn't even have something lighter to follow up with despite looking as though she's attempting to think of something. "I'll see you later, K'del," she assures him before turning away to actually start on her way back out. Her gaze slips briefly toward the clutching records she'd originally come in to look at but she will most definitely wait for some other time to look at those. Again.

Making a face, K'del calls after Teris, "Look after yourself." If he notices where she glances-- well, he doesn't call her on it. Not this time.