Difference between revisions of "Logs:Aspiring to Mediocrity"

>---< Eastern Bowl, High Reaches Weyr >--------------------------------------<

  Ringed by rough granite walls to all sides but one, this end of the huge  

  bowl narrows from the even broader plain to the west, continuing the ever 

  so slight downward slope toward the blue and green of the Weyr's lake and 

  surrounding foliage. More open to sun and wind than the western bowl, but 

  less frequented when there aren't weyrlings in residence, the bowl's      

  grassy tufts keep the topsoil in place and thicken into a bloodstained    

  meadow within the feeding pens that adjoin the lake.                      

                                                                            

  At the base of the surrounding cliffs lie entrances to several caverns,   

  including the dragon infirmary and the weyrling barracks: the former to   

  the northwest near where the spires begin, the latter opposite to the     

  southwest. Both archways are large and dark enough for any dragon to pass 

  through, but it's the infirmary's that is haunted by faint smells of      

  redwort and numbweed, as though over generations they have seeped into the

  very stone. To the southeast, between the weyrling area and the lake,     

  there are a handful of structures built into the floor of the bowl,       

  standing out amidst otherwise an empty space.                             

                                                                            

  The snowfall is light and intermittent throughout the day until it tapers 

  off completely into a frigid night. The ground is damp, though very little

  sticks.                                                                   

 -----------------------------< Active Players >-----------------------------

  Edyis        F  20  5'4"  athletic, brown hair, brown eyes              0s 

  Laine        F  18  5'4"  trim, dark hair, grey eyes                    9s

 ---------------------------------< Objects >--------------------------------

  [Lifreyth] and [Akluseth]                                                   

>----------------------------------------< 23D 12M 37T I10, winter night >---<

It's just after dinner, and Edyis and Akluseth are out in the bowl, enjoying the free time that may be harder to come by for their silver threaded clutchmates. Except that 'free time' looks suspiciously like Edyis attempting to test out cargo straps, and Akluseth having none of it. That there is a satchel with a few bottlenecks just barely visible nearby, makes the scene even more suspect.

It's taken a while to adjust to the added workload from that aforementioned silver thread, but Laine has begun to appear again at the dinner table with her clutchmates, purple-bruised bags under her eyes and all. She's even managed (gasp!) to be sociable once in a while--tonight, however, was not one of those nights, and it's with a hood pulled up and shadowing her eyes she's tromping through the bowl. Lifreyth precedes her in long, gliding, hop-steps, but his path averts abruptly when he spies his brother and Edyis, and he settles nimbly beside Akluseth and begins nosing at that satchel. « What's all this, then? » For her part, Laine hunches deeper into her jacket, but begins to pick her way across to the weyrling pair in Lifreyth's wake.

« Firewater » Akluseth returns to his brother in a rich tenor, his waves touched with amber and smelling richly of spiced rum before the waters return to their normal oceany colors and scents. "Damnit! Can't you just stop... growing?" Edyis mutters to her lifemate, pulling the straps off and studying the ruined leather. Dark eyes catch sight of Laine, and her brows knit together faintly with worry. "You... don't look so good. No offense." The once scribe offers as she checks the stitches in the leather.

Lifreyth brings his muzzle around, delicately nipping at the top of one bottle--not quite so as to break it open, but tasting, testing. « What's it they do? A toast? To good health? » He settles himself, stretches his length. « Maybe your health has been too good, » he observes, turning one whirling eye on the ruined leather. His lifemate draws alongside, and slouches against Lifreyth's shoulder. Laine chuckles, but it's a clipped sound without much merriment. "Feel like shit. You look like... trouble. As usual." But some interest's been sparked, somewhere behind those tired, grey eyes. "Your straps are broken," she points out. Helpful.

« Selling? Drinking? Sharing? » Akluseth's flow of words seems almost endless as he suggests possibilities. « The Wise Girl would know better than I. You are welcome to one if you like. » Edyis dark eyes dart briefly to the brown nosing about her satchel right in time with Laine's words on trouble. "Remind me to introduce you to my influences sometime when restrictions are a little more lax." The former scribe coughs with an eager smile. "Add to the list of things I am not good at, leatherworking. How is life as one of the chosen ones" She teases warmly, and without any touch of rancor.

A curious tongue flicks out at cork, and teeth set again against glass. Gratitude, a wash of dusty, musty, library air, winds briefly among those swaying weeds. Lifreyth accepts the offer, and he claims a bottle, lengthwise, with his mouth, gingerly closing those sharp teeth around it. « Have you? » Tried it? Drank it, sold it, shared it? It's not clear what he's asking, but Lifreyth is satisfied to settle into the snow and hold the bottle. "Mm," Laine grunts, an acknowledgement if not an enthusiastic one, crossing her arms over her chest. She musters up a crooked smile. "Brutal and sleepless. I'd much rather be smuggling booze in my free time."

"Hey being a huge disappointment can have some unintended upsides if I do say so myself." Edyis chuckles darkly tossing the ruined straps over one shoulder and claiming the satchel and remaining bottle from their place on the ground with another chuckle for Lifreyth, and smuggling. "You get to see a different side of the weyr though, learn how things are done and why. It's important, what you are doing now you know?" Akluseth snorts softly into his lifemate's hair, setting the curls to jumble about her face for a moment. « I licked some once I can't say I found it enjoyable though the experience through her is quite a different sensation. » Warm currents are sharing the sensations and their variations if allowed from expansive oceans to that queer and dusty library of contraptions.

"Ugh. Jealous. Aspiring to mediocrity was my gig. Now it's all, like, responsibility and duty and some heavy shit." The brownriding weyrling unwinds her arms so she can scrub at her eyes with knuckles of one hand. "And homework. They should've given it to you. Or Z'kiel." Laine screws up her face and returns to her sullen, arm-crossed posture. "Trade you my homework for fixing your straps." She's joking... but only half. Lifreyth receives the shared sensations willingly, neatly filing them away, agreeing, « Laine, too. She has... fond memories. Fuzzy--but fond. »

"Pretty sure the red star would freeze over before Quinlys ever willingly handed me a silver thread. Perhaps she isn't wrong in that, still, I'm settling for a truce and making it out of weyrlinghood in one piece. I was a little surprised Zak didn't make it though, considering how hard he works." Edyis smile twists into a grin, "Depends on the homework, as long as it is something I can actually complete for you, you have yourself a deal." Serious or not evidently. "I love the wine flask you made though it will be a while before I can fill it with something worthy of it. Still looking for someone who thinks the portable cup idea is doable."

Laine looks distinctly unconvinced, brows arching. "You study harder than most of us chosen ones," (the sarcasm is thick) "And you're smarter than, like, probably all of us. Combined. How about I give you the thread out of my knot and we'll see how long Quinlys takes to notice?" There's another laugh, but this time, at least, there's some genuine amusement there. "But, if you don't. Making it out in one piece is a good compromise. I'll settle for making it out, period. Heard they lose kids, sometimes, when Betweening starts." The brownriding weyrling purses her lips, shifts from one foot to the other, and is grateful for the topic change. "Oh, hell," she snorts. "Put anything you want in it. Use it for water, for running. Just use it. That's what it's for."

"Ha. R'van is probably about six times as smart as I am, and he didn't get a thread either." Edyis points out amused. "It isn't about who is smarter, or who can study harder. That part is easy enough to make up. You guys were all chosen because, with the exception of Yesia, you all seem to possess people skills. That isn't something you get from taking notes or studying." Edyis offers with a puff. Her expression shifts to something unreadable when betweening is mentioned, and she focuses instead on the lighter part. "Oh no. I fully intend for it to be christened with a delicious white wine, possibly of the Benden variety."

Laine frees a hand to wave it breezily, a dismissive sort of gesture, but she's smiling faintly while she does it. "Well. Whatever it is. They're gonna be pretty disappointed when I turn out to be a total deadbeat. Or a drunk. I haven't decided yet." Beside her, Lifreyth stands in one fluid motion, still gently clasping that bottle in his teeth, and Laine pushes herself away from his flank. "Well... Okay. But don't wait too long to christen it. And make sure you share with me when you do." Under the shadow of her hood, Laine breaks into a crooked grin. "We're off to bed, though. G'night, Edyis, Akluseth. Good luck with your smuggling ring."

Edyis smirks. "I would take it as a kindness if you didn't since I have marks on you to stick it out to the end of the program." Cue an unrepentant lopsided grin. "You know I will, if only because you always find me when I have something good to share, sleep well Laine."