Difference between revisions of "Logs:Lemon Drops"

Snowasis, High Reaches Weyr

The Snowasis is rarely quiet, and even then, the high-ceilinged former weyr is kept from echoing by the fantastical booths tucked into its convoluted perimeter. The secluded seating spaces have been shaped from the truncated stalagmites that escaped the smoothing of the main floor, and are both softened and separated by colorful hangings that are thick and opaque enough to make each corner its own private nook.

Some of the smaller stalactites still roam the ceiling, their jagged teeth tracing a bumpy, inverted spine to the hearth. There, a thick rug with a low klah table and comfortable armchairs and couches sit, their upholstery and cushions changed sporadically to match the season: bright, light colors in the summer, fresh greens and yellows in the spring, warm autumnals in fall, and clear, rich hues for winter. Small tables litter the rest of the cavern, enough to fit up to four people each, while stools stand along the smooth wooden bar behind which is the passthrough window to the kitchen. Glass-paneled cabinetry behind the bar provides a clear view of the available liquors, the many colors reflecting the soft light of glows tucked into strategic niches around the cavern.

"There's always time for dreams," N'ky replies quietly back to Alida. "It's making them happen that there's no time for." He shrugs gently, looking down at her with an expression that she might understand... or might not. He doesn't explain it, at any rate, and his drink arrives then to give him a distraction. Quinlys's response has his expression sinking just a little, and he shrugs it off with a dismissive little smile. When the Weyrlingmaster prompts talk of proddiness, he blushes, looking sternly down into his juice. "So long as it's not contagious," he murmurs, looking up at his greenriding clutchmate with a combination of anxiety and --- ohFaranth, she's moving. His eyes go wide and he bites down on his lip, looking away as if, well, if he can't see it, maybe what he thinks is happening isn't happening?

R'co pretends to be offended by Tayte talking of his wandering hands, and he bats kittenishly at her. "I am a masseuse too, though thoroughly professional." He manages to deliver that with a deadpan serious expression... followed by a smirk. "Though I'm not opposed to giving customers a little something extra, if they ask for it." Wink wink, nudge nudge and all that. "The fruitier the better, sweetness, you know me! And I think I might just join you for a quickie, darling - if it's alright with the lady?" That being Telavi, of course. Telavi who's getting up to leave, and who Deveriteauxth... well. "Oh." R'co understands, and, with the rising interest of his brown outside, gets up to follow.

Alida looks... a little confused at Quinlys' words of Solith, though the bluie does chuckle at K'zin's agreement with herself of wanting to be rid of the Weyrlingmaster. Her greens flick to that exchange of rolled papers between the bronzer and WLM, then move over to take note of the triad of Tela, Tayte, and... R'co. Blargh. A wrinkle of nose is given when she finds the pervy brownrider cooing over the other two...and then Tela's jetting... and being followed by a small hoarde of riders. Peer... duuuh... Oh WAIT. Oh cripes! Instantly, Alida's gaze is turning inward, seeking her blue with sudden concern. What she soon finds, however is reason for the woman's shoulders to sag some in relief, her attentino turning to the bartender so she can order a whiskey on the rocks.

Alida's not leaving. Alida didn't leave. N'ky looks at her in mild confusion when he finds her still by his side when he emerges from a conversation with Cailluneth; she didn't run out with all the rest. "'Lida? Ilicaeth isn't...?" That confuses him more, but he certainly looks grateful to have the bluerider still there.

To Ilicaeth, Cailluneth's questioning colours swirl in a gentle, tentative haze of silver-grey, clouding out her moonlight and borrowing just the slightest hint of colour from her rainbow. « Solith rises. » She's not interested, from where she sits on the lofty perch of her sunless ledge, but there's the hint of N'ky behind her words, suggesting her unspoken question of whether her brother will rise to chase the green is prompted by her Heart.

In the midst of ordering her booze, "No." Firm, unwavering, certain. "He's *not*." And this is reason for the woman to celebrate silently, a small sigh given before Alida notes sharply to N'ky, "Want one?" Booze. It's what's for dinner.

« I guess so. C'n see 'em all down there. » He doesn't seem the least bit interested on *that* level, but the blue is growing more curious and impish as time passes and his mood turns towards humor. (To Cailluneth from Ilicaeth)

"I'm... glad." That's delivered with a whole string of up and down emotions attached to it. N'ky slips into thought with his dragon again, eyes glazed over as he looks to his juice, snapping back into the here and now when Alida asks her question. Booze? Yes. He nods. Oh yes. "I..." That dissolves to nothingness, and he frowns, then nods again. "Yes. Wh-what are we having? Something... strong?" That's hopeful.

She's feeling pretty damned good about avoiding the axe this time, and with perhaps uncharacteristic largess, Alida lips off to N'ky, "As long as it ain't terribly expensive, take yer pick." Her *own* whiskey on the rocks is soon passed over to her, the woman murmuring that she'll pay for the greenrider's order too, while passing over her smallest coin.

Impish, hrm? Cailluneth edges forward on her ledge, peering down from its vantage point to try and spot the blue, wherever he may be. She swirls curiosity towards him in eddies of silver-blue and green, while a warmer rosy undercurrent acts as an invitation. Will he join her on the rim of the bowl to watch? (To Ilicaeth from Cailluneth)

He's not really in a mood to move, or to cuddle, the blue focusing his wit, along with his eyes. This is pretty new to him, and it's stealing much of his focus. (To Cailluneth from Ilicaeth)

First abandoned by one, then both of her conversational partners, Tayte's looking a little confused, at least. She picks up Telavi's forgotten coat though, sliding it over her arm before picking up her drink and Telavi's untouched one and heading toward the bar. It's amazing how an afternoon greenflight can partially clear a bar. But certainly, most will be back. "I have an extra drink, if one of you two wants a free one?" The vintner offers a smile as she slides onto the seat next to Alida, setting the mug down. It appears to be klah, with melting whipped cream on top.

N'ky blushes deeply at the offer, dropping his head in embarrassment - but he's not too embarrassed to look a gift runner in the mouth. His order is for a cheaper double so as not to take advantage, and he shoulder-bumps Alida as a thank you. Then there's Tayte, and her offer of... "Klah?" Doesn't that just tickle everything he likes? But he's just ordered a drink on Alida's coin, and he's hesitant to take the free one because of it. "I... um... Alida?" Leaving it up to the bluerider to decide if she wants it or not, he smiles thankfully at Tayte anyway.

The bartender's just showing up again to take N'ky's order, so when Tayte blips in and offers that freebie, Alida shakes her head to the man across the bar, mouths, "Sorry..." to him. She's buying only her own, then. For the vintner, a low, "Solith's goin' up," is offered, as if she'll automatically know what that means. A sip of her whiskey inspires a small grit of teeth, then a sigh as it burns on the way down, loosening up her tight chest.

"Spiked," Tayte cautions, sliding the klah past Alida on the counter and toward N'ky. Then looking between Alida and the greenrider, "If it makes you feel better, we can swap." A smile to the bartender keeps him lingering with that other drink, "And then it'll be like she bought me a drink. Which she owes me anyway. After those horrid accusations of plant murder she levied against me." The vintner feigns a look of tremendous hurt before grinning at the pair of weyrlings.

N'ky shoots an apologetic look at the bartender, shrugging his shoulders at the cancelled order and accepting the klah from Tayte with a pleased, but coy smile. "Thank you," he says gratefully, raising the mug to the Vintner in cheers before he takes a sip of it. The swapping-around of drinks is left to the ladies; they're the ones paying, after all. The greenrider just watches quietly, holding the mug broodingly to his chest.

"Cry me a river..." Alida notes breezily to Tayte, awarding her with a wry little smirk and a shake of head. "No conscience..." she then notes of herself in relation to her lack of sympathy over the Vintner's words of plant murder. For N'ky's silence, her own is given, the bite of whiskey going down her gullet a respite from thoughts that seem to try and stray out towards those rising dragons.

To Ilicaeth, Cailluneth's thoughts fill with amusement; Solith's smashed the pens. This riles her up, drawing out the huntress within her even as she watches what's going on with amusement, with full intention of swooping on in there when the flight party's cleared out to chase down any escapee beasties.

« You go, gal! » Ilicaeth's the master of wit this earliest evening! « YEAH! WHY AM I CHEERING?! I DON'T KNOW, BUT YEAH! » (To Cailluneth from Ilicaeth)

"Well, there's an answer for which way you swing." Tayte replies with a laugh, giving the bartender a smile, "Four Lemon Drops, please." She's paying, for sure. In fact, the mark she places on the counter might be impressive to some and far more than is needed for this order, and she drums her fingers, drinking her own spiked klah while she waits for the drinks to arrive and payment to be collected. "Did you ever finish whatever it was you were working on in the forge, N'ky?" She questions the greenrider politely, though impolitely across the bluerider. But if Alida's not playing nice, she doesn't need to either.

"Solith smashed the fence." N'ky stands up straight, looking out towards the bowl - or where the bowl is beyond the walls of the Snowasis, anyway. "The herdbeasts are getting out." He blinks, suddenly snapping back into the room as he separates himself from Cailluneth. Slipping into her thoughts clearly takes his ability to concentrate on the now away from him, and he looks blankly at Tayte. "S-sorry... did you... d-did you ask me..." Distracted. "... something?" He holds up one finger to both Alida and Tayte, asking for a moment as he closes his eyes, biting his lip in concentration. Something with his lifemate needs addressing.

A rising whirl of her huntress' red takes over Cailluneth's thoughts, giddiness and excitement rearing up as she watches an escapee beast, sharing its path with her blue brother. She wants it. That much is clear from her frenzied, blood-lust thoughts. If he can see her, she's crouched on the edge of her ledge now, hunched over and ready to launch down to snare that oh-so-tantalising prey. Her thoughts are focused on the kill, increasingly so as they fill with the tang of freshly-spilt blood. (To Ilicaeth from Cailluneth)

Her behavior hardly constitutes Alida not playing nice. N'ky would know from experience. But Tayte's only met her once before, so... "Wanna exchange places, so ya don't have ta be rude up close 'n personal?" Zing. Enjoy your snark, Tayte, though the often acerbic bluie's offering the Vintner a flash of a grin with it. N'ky's outburst has the woman reaching for her own dragon's mind, soon backing such up with a faintly smirky nod. She allows Tayte the kindness of speaking for herself if she wishes to restate things for the greenrider, 'lida simply shaking her head and now chuckling darkly to herself as Ilicaeth lets her in on the occasional witticism he delivers to the Flight out there.

Never let it be said that Ilicaeth can't be as clueless as his rider sometimes. Enjoying the mental chaos, « This is really something! I don't know what, but it's something. » (To Cailluneth from Ilicaeth)

To Ilicaeth, Cailluneth has no more of her rare words, not for now. The flight has taken to the air, leaving the chaos of the broken pens and the beasts free of them untended - at least in the green's mind, anyway. She swoops, she kills in one easy move, sharing the heat of the herdbeast's blood with Ilicaeth... then abruptly going quiet. The bloodlust remains, though tempered, as if caught in a bubble; there's a shimmering barrier between it and the rest of her thoughts.

He shares some of it with her, yes, but his own pleasure lies in something more mental than physical, for once, Cailluneth's sharing getting a rumble of genial thanks from the baritone blue, plus a view of the Flight and his zingy, « C'mon! Dead people know what's gonna happen here. » (To Cailluneth from Ilicaeth)

"Yet one more piece of evidence I can name," Tayte's ocean eyes bat prettily at Alida. If anyone that knew her was here, they'd know that this is not Tayte flirting in earnest. This is Tayte trying to evoke a reaction. "Who says I don't like being up close 'n personal with you?" All the same, she does lean back. She waves a hand toward N'ky, "Nothing more interesting than the herdbeasts running amok. I was just asking you about the project you were working on the other evening." She's reaching for her pocket though, pulling out a hair tie which she uses to pull her hair back into a messy bun, "But I suppose they might need some extra hands in the bowl now, do you think?" Obviously, both weyrlings have been here longer than she and might know better what to do in this scenario. To a vintner, the answer is obvious: keep drinking. But at least she's offering to abandon the four shots that arrive, two of which get nudged toward Alida and N'ky before the bartender returns with her change.

And back in the room. N'ky exhales heavily, leaning against the bar when his eyes open again, his need to concentrate so hard apparently gone. He blinks a few times, looking at Alida then Tayte, having missed their little exchange while he was focused on his lifemate... but he can feel something in the air between them that wasn't there moments before. It confuses him, and he scratches at the base of his skull, just beneath the curls that crown the top of his neck, as he tries to work it out. "Cailluneth needed me," he explains vaguely; it might make sense to the rider, but he doesn't know about the other blonde. "Um... you asked me something?" Yes, he missed it even the second time. The shot, however, isn't missed, he picks it up, waiting for the ladies to down theirs before he does his.

She's raised in spirits some by Ilicaeth's silent commentary, and so when Tayte zings her back, Alida actually smirk-chortles at the Vintner, and notes dryly, "Not gonna get any rises t'day, m'dear." At the pushing over of drinks the Crafter has ordered comes a blink, then a laconic, "Ilicaeth ain't out there...up there. No need fer me ta get shitfaced. Then again, I ain't hardly ever refused free booze." Her whiskey's guzzled on one huge gulp, the sting leaving the bluie gasping for a moment. Then it's on to that 'lemon drop,' the thing sniffed at, then sampled cautiously. N'ky's reactions are noted, followed by a low, "She okay?" Cai.

"Funny, you know, that sounds just like a challenge," Tayte notes to the paler blonde. "Bottoms up," She announces, in case they needed prompting and she downs her two shots in quick succession before pulling most of the marks off the counter, nudging one toward the front of the bar as a tip before pocketing the rest. "That's right, you're a bluerider. So yours isn't interested? Is that unusual?" She queries before looking further to N'ky with a smile. His dragon needed him; she seems to understand that. "It's really not important. Can she see if they're doing anything about the animals? Do they need extra wranglers?"

"She's hunting the ones that got loose," N'ky says with a wince, replying to both Tayte and Alida at the same time. "She got one. I've..." His eyes close, as if confirming something, before he finishes, "I've got her under control." But he's still got the unspoken problem of his dragon chowing down on a beast /outside/ of the pens... somewhere in the bowl. It makes N'ky a little sheepish, and he follows Alida's lead in downing his shot. He coughs a little, rubs the back of his hand over his mouth, and smiles weakly at Tayte. "It's good. Thank you." He leans in a little over the bluerider, before propping his elbow on the bar and relaxing against it - or trying to, anyway.

"Take it how ya' wannit'..." Alida ripostes lightly to Tayte, the bluie then pounding back her shot, and awaiting how it'll hit her. If she has breath enough left, "That'd be me." Nod...frown. "No. They go up in their own time; some earlier..." cue a point up to the sky, and Solith up there, somewhere "...some later." Shrug. She won't mention the rarity of 'not at all.' "Best just let 'er finish. It's understandable, given the circumstances..." the bluie notes to N'ky. The other weyrling's lean a bit towards her isn't noticed, or perhaps ignored, the woman's gaze turning inward for a few moments.

"Hunting!" Tayte declares with a laugh, echoing the greenrider. "Well, I suppose that is one way to wrangle them. I suppose the BeastCrafters will be spearheading the efforts anyway. Probably best not to get trampled by accident." Then a hand rises to pull the tie from her bun leaving her hair a little mussed. "Nothing scares you, does it, Alida," She comments, bemusedly to the bluerider. "Do you want another shot?" Offered to both, "I slipped them the recipe for this new one. It looks ghastly, but tastes delicious. They call it the Undead Walker. Because it looks like something from the Infirmary specimen jars." Tasty, right?

"... some much later," N'ky adds hopefully to Alida's explanation of dragons rising. His expression shifts uncomfortably, and he smiles sheepishly in response to Tayte's laugh. "I'm hoping it doesn't get me into t-trouble." He looks curiously at Alida when the Vintner suggests nothing scares her, biting down on his bottom lip to refrain from saying whatever's on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he nods at Tayte, accepting her offer. "I, um, guess tonight I get to taste all the different tastes you mentioned?"

She listens to the ebb and flow of the bar around her with a mix of ease and unease, Alida offering a faint smile to Tayte's observance to N'ky. When the bluie hears that inquiry, she looks down to her shot glass for a long moment, finally murmuring, "Everyone's afraid uv' at least one thing. Anyone who says different's lyin'." A nod for the greenrider transitions into a low, "You worry too much." And then Tayte's mentioning her newest concoction and what it looks like...and she makes a face. "Remind me ta close my eyes." Apparently she'll try nearly anything, once.

Tayte's signal to the bartender brings him over soon enough, and she's ordering what she described. If the barkeep wrinkles his nose a touch, well, some aren't as adventurous. While the drinks are being made, there's no sense in losing momentum on the conversation. "Maybe not all, N'ky. But some. Some another time, too. Some of them, they don't stock here." But never to fear. She's a vintner. No doubt, she knows where to get it. "So you'll make good on that trip to the starstones when the weather stops freezing so much, yeah?" Then to Alida there's a half-smile, amused, "So what are you afraid of, Alida? Tunnelsnakes? Full moons? Squalling babies?" She rambles off suggestions, her tone suggesting she doesn't truly expect an answer.

N'ky frowns softly at Alida, peering at her from beneath a thatch of curls and low-dipped brows. "Better than not worrying," he replies quietly. Talk of booze has him perking up again, and he nods at Tayte. "Whenever you want. Wherever you want. We can go anywhere you'd like to, I don't mind." He smiles warmly, a tad soppily at her, perhaps starting to feel the effects of those drinks he's had so far. "Cailluneth loves full moons. They're not scary - did you see the double full moons the other night? We were watching them from up high." From the rim, as he points up that way.

She *had* to say that. Twisting her lips a little, the bluerider notes to Tayte, "If I didn' know better, I'd think ya were tryin' ta get me loosened up fer nefarious purposes." Snert. And then Ilicaeth's announcement comes inside her head... But it's his follow-up comment that has the pale-blonde suddenly snerk-snickering to herself. As far as fears... "Think I'll take that t'my grave." Nope, no answer. Mostly to herself, "Good thing *I'll* never have ta suffer through the indignity uv wakin' up ta find my Weyrlingmaster in my bed with me." Smirk. A nod for N'ky's words of the twinned full moons, a quiet smile for what Ilicaeth shared with her of his knowledge of them, and then the woman notes to her fellow weyrling, "Ya wanna feel like ya did that mornin' I had ta wake ya' up 'n kick you outta' bed?" Pause. "Then keep drinkin'."

"I'm sure they can't blame you for that. Dragons are, as I understand it, part intelligence and part beast, as we all are. There are baser instincts they can't help. Especially when the there's a challenge of a chase before them." Is Tayte talking about the herdbeasts and N'ky's concerns over his lifemate's recent meal or answering Alida's wondering aloud? Apparently the latter at least has more answer coming, "What kind of nefarious purposes might I have, Alida? Since you seem to know so much." Her voice is teasing. As promised, they look like something that ought to be a in a healer specimen jar, if anywhere at all. "They're sweet with an after sort of tang to them." She offers as encouragement before lifting her own. "I don't think I saw the double moon, N'ky. Actually, I don't know that I see much of the moons here. I used to, because of the way the Sand Bar is constructed, so open and breezy, but here... well, it's cold when the moons are out." It's a mild complaint.

"I don't think I'll ever feel that bad again," N'ky winces at Alida, holding the klah Tayte gave him earlier up to his lips, taking a long draught from the now-cold drink. Hot, cold, he doesn't care when it comes to klah. "They can blame me for not controlling her," he replies to Tayte, brows low over his eyes. "I'm supposed to control her. But she likes to do her own thing, and sometimes it's hard." Huffing, he eyes the dodgy-looking shot once he's got it lifted to eye level, not as squeamish as might be expected. "It looks gross." He waits for the girls to shoot their own, following suit when they do - and it goes down smoothly. He sets the shot glass down, then leans gently in against Alida, just barely brushing against her arm as he leans down to speak quietly to her, though not so quiet that he can't be overheard. "W-will you put me to bed again, like last time? Or do I just get the wake-up call?"

"Some 'baser' than others..." Alida comments again, then closing her eyes after that horror of a drink is placed before her. Nope, not gonna look, but the thing is lifted beneath her nose for a scenting, first. Before sampling, Tayte gets a smirk and a, "Never said I know a lot. Know enough about some things." Shrug....sip. Nope; not going to speak of that 'nefarious.' Of the Sand Bar... "Ain't been there, yet. Ista, right?" It's on her mental list for Graduation night. And then N'ky's leaning into her, slightly against her, and the often-touchy woman's swiveling her head down to *eye* him and his not soft enough words. Her face sterning up some, the bluie notes briskly to the buzzing greenie, "Neither. Ya purposely set in ta get shitfaced this time. Time ta take full responsibility fer yerself 'n yer actions." The rest of her shot is pounded back, unlooked at.

Tayte's expressive face holds some silent amusement for the discussion of what becomes clear between the back and forth to be discussion of a particularly bad drinking night. "Hum." The Istan replies thoughtfully to N'ky's words of what he can be blamed for, "Well, someone ought to explain to them that Cailluneth's a lady and ladies are prone to wanting and getting their own ways. Although, I suppose there's something to be said for self-control." One of Tayte's fingers traces the lip of the shot glass before she's picking it up to throw it back. "Yep, Sand Bar is in Ista. If you're very nice to me, and stop accusing me of murdering plants or having nefarious designs on your pretty little face, I might tell you how to get free drinks there." Her tone is once again teasing as she answers the bluerider. N'ky's lean and his words to Alida and hers in answer aren't missed, but for this exchange, she directs her eyes politely toward the bartender. La la la.

N'ky's not too disappointed by the bluerider's answer; his playful smirk suggests he was expecting it. "I heard," he says to both Alida, who he's still leaning gently against, and to Tayte, "that you can drink away everything that's worrying you. E-even if it's just for the night or whatever. Even if it means getting kicked out of bed by your favourite bluerider." There's a wink to Alida to punctuate his flow there. "You," again to Alida, "said I worry too much. So maybe I have to drink' too much to make it go away. Right?" He looks at Tayte, giving her a crooked smile and raising his spiked klah to her.

"That's just bullshit..." Alida notes briskly of the whole 'ladies' thing Tayte spews. "Gives women a reason ta buy the whole male domination thing." Her voice becomes suddenly higher, more shrill with, "Men are holding me down, so I'll use that as a convenient reason ta' stomp my foot and insist on getting my way." Apparently she's liquored up juuuust enough to lubricate her tongue some. For N'ky's manner and words, there's a small glare, and a sudden pulling away of her frame from his. "I hope ya' never see the day ya' have ta drink ta' not worry...not remember." And suddenly, she realizes she's too open in volunteering her inner opinions, and the bluie is rising, stepping down from her stool, nabbing up her gear. "'S'cuse me. Thanks fer the drinks, Tayte. I owe ya a couple." Nod. For N'ky, a small twitch of lips, then a muted, "Night," and she's fording through the merry throng, looking for dinner before the alcohol starts rotting a hole in her gut.

"No, it's not." Tayte answers Alida, "But I wouldn't take you for a lady, so I wouldn't expect you to know." Her razz this time has a little edge to it, just a little bite, a little challenge, her lips still curved playfully. "It gives women the right to change their minds when they want and do what they want, how is that anything other than the opposite of buying into a male-dominated society? Just because we change our minds doesn't make us any less right any of the times that we do. It give them less room to question our supreme correctness. Everyone knows a woman knows best." She reaches up to run her hand through her blonde locks. Maybe not everyone does, but Tayte apparently thinks they should. "However, we can redirect that word," Bullshit, "To what N'ky is saying. I'm sorry, N'ky, but as an expert in all things alcohol, I can tell you that drinking doesn't solve problems. Sometimes it lubricates solutions, but solves nothing. Forgetting one's problems doesn't make them not there. Facing them is the only thing that works. Dealing with them, however they need to be dealt with. Then you can drink, and enjoy it." That's, count them, two disagreeing opinions in a row for someone usually so agreeable. "I'll hold you to that, Alida." The blonde notes nodding her farewell.

Alida's exit leaves N'ky looking a little confused as to whether he chased her off or whether it was Tayte, though he offers her a "Ni-night, 'Lida," in return for hers, anyway. His brown eyes follow her progress, until Tayte's talking to him, and he looks down at the blonde with his eyes wide, his expression sinking with every word. He runs his fingers through his curls when she's done, chewing on his lip and knotting his digits tightly into his scruffy mop as he tries to work out what to say in reply. "I only heard that," is his eventual meek response, with a defeated shrug of his shoulders. The dressing-down seems to have knocked the buzz out of him, as he mopily looks down into what remains of his klah. "I couldn't afford to drink like that anyway."

The Istan reaches across the space just vacated by the paler blonde to lay her hand lightly on N'ky's shoulder. "N'ky, I don't mean to scare you off from drinking forever, but I'd be doing you a disservice if I let you think booze was an easy answer in life. A disservice and maybe even putting your life in danger. Everything in moderation. And it's different levels for different people. Everyone's got troubles, but booze are never the answer. Unless the trouble is not enough booze, in which case..." Tayte tries to make light, her expression warming with a smile. "Money trouble?" She asks then, letting her hand fall away, "Want another klah?" She nods to it, "Paid for with the eighth-piece I'd pay you for your thoughts."

There's no flinching away or stiffening up beneath Tayte's touch this time, like he did before; N'ky just accepts it as he frowns down at the bar. Her first question is replied to with a shrug, while he mutters, "Everything trouble," before he drains what's left of his drink. Tayte's offer... well, it leaves him conflicted. The greenrider bites his lip, looking anywhere but the Istan, and wincing. "I... c-can't accept another one," he says slowly, shaking his head. "I've got nothing to give in return."

"Have you ever heard of the concept of 'paying it forward'?" Tayte asks softly, not yet directly responding to anything the greenrider has says, leaning very slightly toward him so she can drop her voice to something quieter, something more private between them.

N'ky shakes his head again. "Paying it forward?" Now he looks at Tayte, canting his head curiously in response to her lean. "I grew up with paying it now. Why forward? That... makes no sense." He frowns, brushing his curls back from out of his eyes. "How can you pay something forward?"

"It's an idea my parents taught me. Well, my fosterparents, technically. They've taken in over a dozen kids, starting with me." Tayte reaches to tuck a lock of blonde behind her ear, also reaching the hand to wave to the bartender, "The idea is that if you do something good for someone else, like showing love and affection to a child not your own in their case, the reward is that your goodness goes to that person and that person does something good for someone else, and someone else does something good for someone else, and so on. And in the end, the whole world you live in is a better place because of it, so it sort of does come back to you because of that." She orders a pair of the spiked klahs and slides her hand to her pocket to produce the necessary payment. "So, I want to see if I can pay it forward, with you. Because I think you might pay it forward to someone else. And if not, it doesn't harm me any to try. Why don't you tell me about your everything problems, and I'll tell you if there's something I can do to help with them." She proposes. And there are drinks coming and everything.

N'ky listens, a little dubious at first... but the idea seems to grow on him. He nods at the end of the explanation, though when Tayte orders more klahs, he still blushes, giving her a soft, crooked smile that causes a shallow dimple in his cheek. Even if he gets it, he can still be embarrassed by his lack of marks. "But do I have to buy drinks for someone else? Or just be nice to them, do something for them when they need it? Does it have to be you... or does anyone count?" She's got his attention - or perhaps he's just stalling from talking about him.

"Just do something that's good for a person. And it'd be better if it wasn't for me. I was already paid, by my parents." Tayte answers with a smile. The bartender is quick this time and the drinks arrive, so N'ky can't stall too long. "But I might be able to do something better than just buying you a drink that you don't technically need. So, tell me, N'ky. What's wrong?"

Accepting the klah with a grateful smile, N'ky scoots a little closer to Tayte, to where lowered-voice conversation likely won't go much further than between them. "How long do you have?" He says with rueful quiet, drawing the mug up to his lips to sip from it, before holding it in both hands in front of him. If she's willing to listen, he would seemingly have a lot to say.

There's a glance from Tayte toward the patio, then back over her shoulder to the occupants of the room, guesstimating from the demographic spread the approximate time. "Well, there will be a little girl expecting me at some point, but why don't you go ahead and we'll see what we can get through before I'm needed." She takes up her mug now in both hands, like he does, wrapping her slender fingers around it.

"I'm... I'm not used to sharing with just anyone," N'ky starts off with, looking down into his mug, swirling the contents gently around. "N-not that you're just anyone, but, I... I'm not used to sharing. And I've k-kinda got no-one left to share with, so, um, I'm..." He shrugs his shoulders, wincing a little. "... rusty." He pauses, sipping from his klah, taking a few moments more to begin. "Sometimes... sometimes I feel like Impressing Cailluneth isn't just the best thing that ever happened to me - because it is, she is the best thing, ever," he's quick to make that adamant point, "but somethings I feel like it was the worst thing. Everything... changed. Not all for the better - most for the worse. I have her and I'd never, ever not want her, but I hate where I am. I want so many things to be different. I've messed up so many things in the past turn, and now I feel like I'm just..." He holds up one hand away from the mug, circling his index finger round and round, down towards the floor. "Every fall ends with a crash. I don't want to crash, but I can't find my wings any more."

Tayte doesn't seem offended when he says that she is or isn't just anyone. Her expression is open, patient, tuned in. She's attentive as she sips on her drink. She also doesn't push him to proceed at a pace that's anything other than what he's comfortable with. "My mother used to tell me that everything would work out in the end. And if it wasn't working out, it just meant that you hadn't gotten to the end. I'm not sure if she is right, but I hope she is." This seems to be an offering to deal with things that seem to have become worse in the past turn. "What do you hate about where you are?" She leans an elbow on the counter, shifting her mug to a single hand so she can lean her chin on the hand of the elbow that rests there. "Sometimes when you fall, you fly. Other times, you just fall. And it hurts to crash. But it doesn't mean you stop trying."

N'ky shakes his head. "I did crash. Once. Months ago, in the middle of weyrlinghood, when... I think that's when things turned worse." The greenrider leans heavily against the bar, tilting his head forward to allow his curls to fall over his eyes. "I had a best friend. And he Impressed, too, and then everything changed - because we weren't the same any more. And it just got worse from there, but that point, when I crashed? That was when it really changed, I think. Now, when I need my best friend, I don't have him. One. I don't have one. Alida's great, but she's not... she doesn't want to be close like that. Or I drive her away. I... k-kinda like her." His cheeks flare up, and he bites his lip - that much, at least, is visible beneath his curly forelock. "I've got friends, I guess, but I miss what I used to have. Cailluneth doesn't understand. She loves me. I love her. She doesn't get the rest of it."

The attentiveness continues. Tayte's listening skills have been honed in the turns of bartending. "Not all change is bad," She offers after a moment, thinking on it. You said you wouldn't ever wish you hadn't found Cailluneth. It's possible that your friend feels the same about his dragon. Change doesn't have to be a bad thing, but it's hard, and it's scary, and it takes a lot of bravery to face, especially when it's big changes, like sharing yourself so completely with another. A dragon. I can't imagine that wouldn't change someone. But you can't control how he thinks or feels any more than you can control whether Alida likes you back. And I would venture a guess that she's aware of your interest. You did lean on her a number of times before she took her leave, and asked her to put you to bed." The vintner notes this dryly. Subtle, she doesn't think he was, apparently. "What you can do is try to be open and accepting to the changes you are faced with. Which isn't easy, I know. Especially the unexpected ones. The hardest thing, for me, was always letting go of my expectations built on the past and dealing with the now." There's a pause, "And there is always continuing to change as an option. Moving forward, making new friendships if the old ones seem too difficult." She takes a sip of her klah before adding, "But there's more," That he has to say, she knows, "You haven't gotten to the money problems. We've covered giant life changes and difficulty adjusting to them, changes in friendship and love interest, what else?"

"B-but you can't tell Alida - she can't know. She can think it, but I d-don't want her to know." N'ky logic might not make sense to anyone but him, but he's certainly keen on Tayte following through with his request as he turns big, beseeching brown eyes on her. "I've... tried. Nothing now lives up to anything before, because now it's complicated, and before it was less so. Everything is complicated now, except for when I'm down South, and I've got no-one to worry about but me and Cailluneth, and I'm just herding ovines or shooting down wherries or that sort of stuff. I k-kinda just want an island, where no-one will come but me and Cailluneth, and I can maybe leave to visit people, but... they can't come visit me." He pauses, sipping his klah. "My weyr's kinda like that. The ledge is small. Anything bigger than a small brown wouldn't be able to land properly, and it's way, waaay up high, in that really craggy dark bit in the corner." N'ky waves a hand vaguely in the direction of his home. "But what else is there?" Now his tone drops once more, and he leans in towards Tayte to be sure they're not at risk of being overheard. "Family."

Tayte's attention finally does start to drift, but only because some of what N'ky says now sounds more like rambling than problem telling. She listens anyway and doesn't interrupt. "It sounds to me like you're struggling with the same thing I do. Letting go of expectations from the past. Even in what you just said, you told me what is and what could be doesn't compare to what was. Change you mindset. Change you outlook, be a little more positive about things. You might be surprised how much that can help." Perhaps her easy smiles are signs that she speaks as one who knows. "There's your money problems. Are those and your family problems one in the same?" She doesn't speak loudly, but she doesn't take the same extreme care that N'ky uses. It's a bar. Most people aren't here to snoop. Most.

N'ky nods, confirming that they're one and the same. "Just after we could go between on our own, I went home. What used to be home. And my dad was so angry, said he didn't want me there - they don't like riders around the holding, because of turns back a greenrider's dragon started blooding on the flock, and... and while he was shouting and telling me I wasn't part of his family any more, I thought about that greenrider... and Cailluneth thought I meant her. I think. I don't know, but she attacked a flock of pregnant ewes, the ones they keep near the hold when it's winter, and killed four. I've got to pay for them, but I don't earn many marks, and, um, I d-didn't win very many betting at the Hatching, and I'm going to be in debt for..." His shoulders sink as he fails to work our exactly how long, settling instead for "...for a long time." Then, a beat later: "And I can't do maths."

The more engaged listening has returned, since this seems more to the point. Tayte simply gives a nod when he's done. "Let me think on it. I might be able to help with some of the more tangible problems." By which she must mean money, since there's not much else she could mean. "In the meantime, you work on that whole positivity thing. Again she reaches to lightly touch N'ky's shoulder, setting her now empty mug down, "Enjoy your drink. And we'll speak again soon." She slides out of her seat, "I've got to see a nanny about a toddler." She smiles, bright, cheerful, the kind of smile that just might inspire a little hope if one were open to it. Then she's heading toward the nursery, Telavi's jacket over her arm.