Difference between revisions of "Logs:Pain In The Ass"

Who says drinks must be had *after* dinner? Alida is settled in one of the rear-most booths of the Snowasis before the general dinner rush, and the lounging bluie looks as if she'll not soon abandon her 'post,' though enough other riders are polishing off their last swallows of booze and starting to don their jacket on their way towards the lower cavern. On occasion, the blonde woman takes slow glimpses around, lifts her tumbler of scotch to lips... even moves her unoccupied hand from table surface to under it...over and over.

Weyrling lessons -- the physical training, the hidework, and the newly acquired duty of strap-making -- have ended just before the dinner hour, as they do every day. In the lull before supper, Farideh is found at Snowasis' bar, waiting on the bartender to finish pouring up the mixed cocktail she ordered into a thin-stemmed glass. She takes her drink with a smile, and turns to survey who remains in the warm, repurposed weyr. Her eyes alight on Alida soon enough, and it's to the bluerider that she ambles, taking her time as she takes dainty sips from the pale pink liquid. "Alida," she greets, stepping up to the side of the booth.

Having taken notice of Farideh before - but not bothering the busy weyrling - Alida soon enough finds herself looking up to notice the weyrling moving her way through the thinning crowd, a small bob of pale head offered to the newest goldrider, along with a laconic alto, "Farideh. How's tricks?" Smirk, sip. The younger woman might notice a small pile of tiny, brown 'bits' heaped before the bluerider upon the tabletop, one of the things fished up from said mound between fingers, then moved beneath the table...before aformentioned hand returns into full view, to settle beside its drink-holding mate.

"I can't say it's good, but it could be worse," Farideh notes, lightly. "How have you been? It's been a-- while-- since we caught up?" Her inquisitive gaze takes in the bluerider, and the bits, and the consistent movement of fingers below the table. "Are you--" One eyebrow quirks in question, her lips pursing, though there's only amusement and confusion in her hazel-eyed stare.

"Been there..." Done that; so says Alida's small lift of eyes ceiling-ward to Farideh's words of how her life goes, the bluerider lifting her glass up for another sip, then addending a low, "Weyrlinghood c'n be...beyond difficult." For some. A vague twist of lips seguays into a small lift of pale brows to the goldrider's own arched one, another small smirk offered as first a tiny golden head, then the neck atached to it crests the table's edge, revealing a firelizard chewing on something. A low trill escapes her lungs at the sight of Farideh between swallows. "Have a seat, if ya want..." is noted casually to the weyrling, Alida soon rubbing her pet under the chin.

"Everyone talks about the difficulty of getting used to another being in your head," Farideh replies, sliding into the opposite booth seat, "but not about the realities of all the testing, classes, exercising until you're faint, and maneuvering." She rolls her own eyes skyward and nestling into the booth cushion, setting her drink on the table. "It might not be so bad if it wasn't all at once, one on top of the other, on top of the other, and trying not to fail--" Her lips purse again as her eyes flick to the gold firelizard. "At least tell me it gets better once we graduate."

She continues to (slowly) feed Pyrite as Farideh talks, Alida remaining silent as the weyrling unburdens herself, those incisive green eyes rarely moving from the weyrling as the bluie quietly observes her conversational companion. The first 'asnwer' that greets the younger female is a thoughtful-appearing sip of alcohol, followed by a swirl of the potent stuff within tumbler. Grunt. "Depends on wha'cha' mean by 'better.'" Shrug. "Ya get out from under Quinlys and company's thumb, finally." Smirk. Good times! "But 'cha now got duties hangin' over yer head...plus critical eyes lookin' ya over in new ways fer fuck ups." Lip-twist, eyeroll, sip. "*You*, though, get a delightful set uv' particular bonus 'cause uv' the color uv' yer lifemate's hide: ya get ta direct shit, help set policy. *And* ya get ta be the brunt uv' the bitching when every little thing doesn't turn out how people want them to."

A soft sigh follows the bluerider's words, and then she's leaning an arm against the table, nose scrunching up. "I know. It's not that I'm worried about-- I am worried about that, but--" Farideh sighs again, fingers reaching out to trace the droplets on the bottom of her glass. "I'm more scared of what it will be like without Quinlys watching over me all the time. I'll be a real mess, then, and with no one to blame but myself." She lifts the glass, taking a slow sip, before setting it back down. "It's a treat that we're starting to attempt manned flight. Sometimes, it feels like we'll be stuck on the ground, forever," bears her usual dramatic flair.

There's a knowing nod and its tandem smirk offered to the weyrling for her reaction to Alida's words, the bluie's head quirking slightly at the other female's admission while her off hand offers Pyrite another morsel of jerky. After the weyrling's done speaking, 'lida chooses to address the lattermost first with a decidedly NON-casual, "This 's the time ta have yer ducks in a row. Flyin' is the real deal... with thousands uv feet between you an' the unforgiving ground. Ya always check yer dragon, yerself, yer gear - double - before ya go up each time." Her point hopefully driven home, the bluerider murmurs a more light-hearted, though not-quite apologetic, "That said... flyin's *wonderful*." Grin. As for the serious stuff, "Nobody learns without the occasional screw-up, Farideh. Yer gonna make some, just like *everybody* has, will." Joy! Sip. "The thing is ta make as few as possible, an' ta learn from 'em...ta not repeat 'em." Twinkle...snerk. Unlike Alida, who seems to keep fucking up, in certain ways. "Up ta you, uv' course...bu'cha' might wanna' develop a small, but close net uv' those who've *earned* yer trust an' respect." Beat. "People who have and will prove themselves ta you...and *you* ta *them.* Two way path." Nod. "People that'll tell ya the true state uv affairs, without sweetener 'r political bullshit 'r a carrot in one hand an' a dagger in the other."

"Flying," Farideh starts, contemplative, "sounds amazing. Freedom to the sky, and eventually, freedom to go where I please, or, as far as we can fly until we can between. Then, there's no limit and I can go dancing, go to parties, enjoy the company of whoever I please." By the time she's done daydreaming, she's slumped against the table, head on her fist, wistfully gazing, unseeing, towards Pyrite. "I don't know why anyone would want to stab me in the back. It's not as though I'm the Weyrwoman, or have any real say over anything that matters."

Pyrite senses a little of Farideh's attitude, the little queen taking another bite of jerky from Alida's fingers, then hauling herself up and over the table's top, to settle into a upright sit before the weyrling, and trill at her with blue eyes whirling slowly. Cheer up! Meanwhile, her owner continues listening to the youthful goldrider, taking the occasional pull from her scotch, and watching how the weyrling and flit interact. "Yeah... it's a pleasure," the bluie murmurs with a hint of double-edged meaning to her words, though she doesn't bum Farideh out any more by adding more caveats to things. SHe'll find those out later, on her own...and all too soon. "Maybe not *now*...but shit can get...complex, later on." And *how*. "Just remember ta be *yerself*. Yer not K'del, 'r Azaylia..." cue a hint of a small, sad look on the bluerider's face "...'r Irianke. Ya gotta take the best from yerself, whatcha' might see in others, an' make *yerself*." Sip, nose-wrinkle. "Ya might *be* Weyrwoman, someday. DOn't dare think it'll *never* happen, 'cause that's when 'never' slinks up and bites ya on the ass. Hard."

Telavi's entered from the Bowl in a flutter of furs, doffing the latter-- lined jacket and cap-- in favor of the bar. Oh, the bar. She has a bag over her shoulder still, but heedless of it is far more concerned with something warm. Something warm now. Whatever they have, it's good. She can go on her mission later.

Naturally, discussions of pleasurable things like flying turn into political debates; it's always about politics! Farideh frowns and sighs, again, not minding the firelizard beyond a contemplative look. "I doubt it-- Niahvth will undoubtedly rise first and Irianke is young yet. I can hope never to assume the mantle of leadership in my time, or at least until I'm old enough to be see gray hair." Her eyes skip from the gold to Alida, intent. "I don't want to be like any of them, and I know I'm not like Irianke, but if only I were, then maybe--" She shrugs and bumps her glass with her knuckles, looking decidedly rueful. "I'll just be glad to get out. See the sky beyond High Reaches again. Swim in distant waters. Dance until it's dawn, drink champagne until I pass out. Little things." As of yet, she hasn't noticed Telavi, and that's probably for the best.

Alida could tell Farideh to quit being self-pitying, self-delusional...but the bluerider knows exactly where that will get both of them...and so she refrains, though with a slight twist of her expressive features. Kids. Still, there's one thing she can insist on, even now, and it's done with a low, yet firm alto, "No; *not* like the Weyrwoman. Take the best bits from her, incorporate them into *yerself*. Ya try ta be someone else, all y'll do it set'cherself up for more disappointment." It's then, on her habitual eye-sweep of the Snowasis, that Alida picks up Telavi's entrance...and the bluerider's open expression turns rather pensive, guarded. Weyrlingmaster crew. Back to Farideh is muttered, "Things like that c'n mean a lot, right now...keep ya goin' through the hard times."

No champagne for Tela, only the warm mug she holds so possessively, with a smiling glance at the not just grey- but white-haired greenrider who so kindly let her go first; it's not like she'd have kneed him inappropriately in the middle of the Snowasis if he hadn't. Then comes skimming, and then asking, and then-- weyrlingmaster crew indeed, headed for the bluerider and the weyrling, light on her toes with only her quick smiles to friends she passes by way of klaxon warning.

Luckily -- unluckily? -- Farideh still hasn't spotted the mug-sporting assistant weyrlingmaster, but continues on the same line of thought to Alida, glum. "What? You don't like Irianke either? Just because she's from Igen doesn't make her bent on our downfall," the weyrling grumbles. "She's competent and sound, strong and just, and a whole slew of other things I could never be. I can't even manage to get along with R'van, and he is our wingleader for this month," comes with a sour expression, tongue sticking out in displeasure. R'van, ugh.

The look Alida gives Farideh is comprised partially of dark humor, partly of suffering impatience. "I have no opinion uv our Weyrwoman, except that she stands a shell uv' a' lot on ceremony." Period. For the glum weyrling, the bluerider mutters quietly, "Here comes yer happy-go-lucky assistant Weyrlingmaster." Snerk. As for R'van, "Try havin' a self-doubting, emotionally over-reactive greenrider fer a Wingleader...then try bein' their 'second." Snort. Though, "Izz 'e bein' a pain in the ass? Heard 'e's kinda arrogant." Beat. "Typical bronzer."

Tela would show up from Farideh's far side instead of Alida's, of course she would; R'van or no R'van, she's in good enough humor to dimple at the bluerider. Still, "Isn't it awful? But so realistic! I mean, if you had Oisa, well." At least she's lowered her voice for that name, for all that her intonation makes it scandalous before she gets to a solemn, "Poor N'ky." So solemn. Their clutchmate needs a drink taken in his honor, and she's just the girl to do the job.

"Of course she stands on ceremony, Alida. She's in a precarious position of power. What good would a leader be if they didn't follow the traditions and stand by the societal norm?" Farideh gives the bluerider a censorious look, but it quickly melts into surprise, trepidation, as she turns to assess Telavi's approach; it's no mistake that her cheeks pinken, slightly. "Arrogant. Rude. Thinks everyone else is stupid. Thinks the weyrlinghood program is stupid. Thinks no one knows what they're doing. He's just--" She slants a curious look at the greenrider. "N'ky?"

"To N'ky..." Alida intones even more solemnly than Telavi, lifting her half-glass of scotch in the air to toast departed friends, the bluie merely nose-wrinkling over Oisa...while watching how Farideh reacts to the advent of the arriving greenrider. "Tradition an' ceremony ain't all..." the bluie notes to the weyrling. "Especially since our Weyr's not huge on observin' the latter, in enough instances." Unless K'del's Weyrleader dander is up. Nose-wrinkle. There's a hint of a shaggy chortle - partially swallowed - for the goldie's reaction to Telavi, Alida then tuning into the weyrling's spleen-venting over R'van. Casually noted: "Gonna' have ta talk with that boy, some time." Maybe that's reason for fear. A small nod is given to Farideh at her inquiry, but the bluie will leave it to Tela to expound, if she so wishes. Meanwhile, little Pyrite, having finished her dinner of bitty jerky treats, strides over the tabletop towards the greenrider, churring pleasantly up to her. Hello!

Tela can't resist dimpling at Farideh, though she resists a more outright smile; she has to be solemn after all. Her pair of firelizards is nowhere in sight, so she wiggles her free fingers at Pyrite in a way that isn't intended to encourage making them a meal, before slipping in next to the... bluerider. So she can keep an eye on her weyrling, surely. "He was our clutchmate?" in case Farideh hadn't guessed that part. "He grew up with K'zin, and he was a nice boy, but then he got more and more mopey, and then he got lost between but not before-- oh, you tell her about April, 'Lida? ...'Aprilida.' I like it."

"I can't see how a little bit of pomp and circumstance could do the Weyr any harm. It's good for-- putting rumors to rout?" Farideh takes up her drink again and makes a little way, though not too fast as to leave Telavi concerned about her soberness. "Lost-- between. I'm so sorry. That sounds-- horrible." Her face takes on a pinched quality for a moment, before it eases and she relaxes back into the seat of the booth. "April?" as her eyes shift back to Alida, questioning. All the things that she learns when she gets a bluerider and a greenrider together in a bar.

Pyrite doesn't view those fingers as chow, the slightly-pudgy little gold instead dipping her head under them, then pressing up so she can hopefully make pleasant contact. Mmmm. Pet me, human. Alida, meantime, suffers her clutchsib's pressing presence beside her with a slight 'look' and a sigh, a small nod offered to Tela's recollection of N'ky, though green eyes lid a little heavily, their regard now mostly-hidden behind long eyelashes. A pair of headshakes are offered to the greenrider of April...an outright stare then flashed at Telavi for that 'Aprilida.' Nose-wrinkle. "Sounds too much like 'apricot.'" Mutter, sip. To Farideh is murmured, "A *little's* fine. Having a pole up yer ass about it, however..." Shrug. A long-suffering sigh is again given, the paler-blonde finally noting quietly to the weyrling, "April had 'is baby." And that's all there is to it.

The bluerider and the greenrider didn't even have to walk into a bar, at least, not together! Tela settles her bag and then spares a fingertip for petting the firelizard, delicately, also after a look to make sure she's not sticky or been into anything else that might get on her. Between sips, "He was one of those. 'Oh, it couldn't have been mine! I didn't actually lock her up in a cave to make sure she wasn't holding hands with anyone else!' But... he did go climbing with me and that was nice, early on when I didn't know anyone hardly, our dragons were babies."

"Irianke doesn't have a pole up her ass," Farideh says, frowning at Alida, with her brow furrowed. "She's the opposite of uptight. She's--" Really, she could go on and on, but she just lowers her head and takes a longer drink from her glass. Old wounds, old friends, are safer subjects, and she tilts her head towards Telavi, to say, "Does she still live here? It would be hard, I think, to live here after your-- what? Friend? Boyfriend? Went between and left you alone with his child."

The walking, talking, polar opposite clutchsibs, are Alida and Telavi. Probably. Pyrite is free of all extraneous substances aside from a hint of flower-perfumed hide oil, and the wee gold sucks in Tela's attention like a mellow sponge, her now green eyes inner-lidding in pleasure. The greenrider's words of their passed 'sib earn her a small twist of lips and a small shrug, 'lida merely continuing to observe and sip from her drink. She's not a gossip. She only interrupts her silence to inquire of Farideh, "I'm not talkin' about uptight. I'm talkin' about excessively rank-minded." Beat. "'Reaches ain't the place ta be pullin' a lot uv that." Truth.

No doubt Tela will have to explain it to her firelizards later; she did after all name Pyrite's clutchmate 'Biter.' "April does live here," she explains to Farideh, "only she's not alone, she has ever so many friends these days, and besides, that's what the nursery is for, isn't it? Really." All that is much easier to chatter about than Irianke; after a long moment even so, her blue-today gaze turns towards the bluerider, widening. Her voice is quieter too. "What happened, Alida? You sound like..." her gaze flickers to Farideh and back, "personal experience?"

"That's wonderful, for her, but still," Farideh says, wrinkling her nose primly as she says it. Then, her eyes lift to Alida, but despite the emotions waging war across her face, she presses her lips tight and says not another word on their acting Weyrwoman; she lets Telavi ask the questions while she takes more dainty sips of her pink beverage.

"I got reminded uv my place as a (mere) 'bluerider...'" Alida notes in drawling fashion to Tela, though she does add on, "Guess my usual charm went over well." Snert, eye-roll. She too seems of a mind to drop this topic, the dark-golden liquid in her emptying glass eyed before the bluie mutters, "Dinner time. Anyone else comin'?" It's quite the way to end a conversation. A very 'Alida' way. Even as the bluerider bumps her hip to Telavi's to encourage her to scoot out of the booth and allow the bluie to stand, Pyrite chirples at the other two women, and launches herself into the air, spiralling higher above the humans so as to not get in the way.

"That must have been it," Tela says, light once more; the hip-bump doesn't seem to register at first despite the words, but then she says a little wistfully, "My cup's not empty yet." It doesn't stop her from getting up for Alida, though, with a bit of a sigh in lieu of a creak. Though she glances at Farideh, she doesn't say anything.

"But--" That frown again, a flickering between her brows. "You are," just a bluerider, presumably; any second meaning to the words doesn't seem to penetrate the weyrling's awareness. With a simple wave, Farideh dips her head. "I'll see you later, Alida." Her eyes slide to Telavi, from there, but she, too, says nothing more on the subject of Irianke.

"'Cause Faranth *knows* Alida can't be *anything* other than nasty..." Alida notes a little snippily to Telavi at the greenrider's answer, the woman then turning a dark look on Farideh as she rises fully to her feet. "Just, eh? Might do you good ta learn that the *backbone* uv this Weyr - uv' ALL Weyrs - is made up uv' green and blueriders." Stare. "Without *us*, a Weyr would be..." Cue a gesture with one hand that mimics an explosion. POOF! "Nothin'. That's easy fer rank-happy idiots ta ferget, uv' course." Is Farideh one of them? That's left up to her, since the scowling *blue*rider departs in her typical, stalking fashion.

So she's gone, and only when she's gone-- and Telavi's ascertained that it hasn't drawn anyone's attention that doesn't turn aside when she looks at them-- does Tela turn now even wider eyes to Farideh. She doesn't giggle, her mouth's pressed shut, but that momentary flash of dimple might invite it. The weyrling looks appropriate confused, and then she notices Telavi's wide eyes and pressed mouth. "Does she-- often-- do that?" Farideh sounds mostly bemused, before draining what's left of her glass. "I didn't know she felt so strongly about Irianke. Quinlys, maybe, but--"

"Yes?" really should be a yes. Now that Tela can speak more freely again, she still doesn't, her voice verging on protective. "I worry, you know, that she'll get herself into... more trouble, someday. People said she almost got kicked out of Glacier for the High Reaches Hold... thing," and the way she weights it, it's more than just the usual people saying.

"What High Reaches Hold thing? Did she punch Lord Devaki in the teeth?" By the way Farideh says it, she could be asking about the menu for supper. Her elbow finds purchase on the table, her chin dropping so innocent on upraised fist, and she leans, towards Telavi, ill-suppressing the little smirk that curls one side of her mouth. "I don't think I heard about it," is clearly an invitation to divulge.

"She wouldn't do that," Telavi exclaims, possibly wholly incorrectly. Tela must see that tiny smirk, given how her own expression teases reply, but she bites her lip before answering; still, so many people know, it must be harmless, right? "It was after the murder, you know? The Lady? And she, Alida not Issedi, demanded to see Lord Devaki right away, but not because it was super super super urgent or anything for real, and when his scary old henchman didn't let her-- oh, you have to know that the Glacier riders were doing security-- she tried to bluff that all her wingmates would leave. Of course, then the watchdragon bespoke and asked..." Tela gives a little shrug as if to say, the jig was up.

With her chin on her hand, Farideh listens, her expressions vacillating between surprise, amusement, and a touch of worry. "That's disconcerting-- how could she make such a bold statement, when her wing isn't hers to pull or keep?" She makes a disgruntled sound and sits straighter, tucking strands of hair behind her ears. "Shouldn't we go? I don't want Quinlys to complain if wasn't sitting with the others," she says, abruptly, with a frown.

"I know, right? So I worry, because you can't just do that, though at the same time-- Oh, I suppose." It's not that Tela's so averse to chugging a drink, only this one actually tastes good, so she lifts her hand with a moment's assistant weyrlingmaster-y authority for a few long swallows. Then they can go. "You're with me," she announces, even if she's off-duty; they can talk about whoever and whatever another time.