Difference between revisions of "Logs:Metaphorically Drinking"

Faryn had forgotten fully about her promise to show Edyis the Lava Lounge, one made long before any Impressions were made and any worlds were turned upside down. In fact, it had only been brought to her attention after a completely separate trip to the Sandbar. With their mutual enjoyment of the area and the more tropical weather - even in summer, High Reaches lacked a special humid something - their visit had ended up with them running into Fadra, who was several sheets ahead of them by the time she realized she was sitting three tables away from her spit-and-image. It hadn't escalated into anything bad, either; a visit to the beach, some wading, probably no tattoos, and one not-drunk visualization of the skies at a specific point above Boll's jungles, courtesy of Sulizath, just for Akluseth. Which brings them here, now: Faryn climbing down from between Akluseth's neckridges and leading the way as best she remembers. There are at least two wrong turns, one which amounts to a full restart from Akluseth's landing point, but eventuall there's a cave, and a ladder, and the Lava Lounge, with Faryn saying on the last rung, "I'm not sure it's as good as some people remember it, but the fact that it's hidden by trees is something, right?"

The Sandbar was entertaining enough, and meeting Faryn's mother an especially intriguing notion, but the idea of exploring the legendary Lava Lounge couldn't be passed up. She commits the paths to memory though the wrong turns earn nothing more than a mild laugh. "Your mother, she wasn't what I expected." Not that the brownrider expected anything. "I think I see where you get your wild streak from." Once free of the ladder and letting her eyes adjust. "It's a place, and I'm all for exploring new places."

"I'm not surprised. And I'm not wild," Faryn says lowly, removing her jacket and putting it on one of the hooks near the door. So wild. "I've spent my life trying not to become like she is, don't tell me I've missed my mark." Faryn gives a grin though, any perceived insult forgotten as she raises a hand to wave at Marcus, slowing her steps to lean in to Edyis and whisper, "I'm pretty sure he's immortal. He's been here forever, from what I hear. Mum says he doesn't even look that different, but with alcohol goggles..." A shrug as she raises her voice, settling on a stool to say, "Hi," cheerfully at him. To not much reaction.

"Compared to the girls I grew up with, you are." Edyis counters with a smirk, settling her jacket on a hook as well. "We can't help but be like our parents in some ways, and it doesn't always have to be a bad thing, so long as you learn from their mistakes right?" She glances at the bartender, lifting a hand in a friendly wave. "Maybe he'll share the secret to his eternal youth?"

"I'm as basic as they get. Bread without butter or anything, Edyis. Bread. Without. Butter." That's the plainest thing she can think of. "There's always that fear, though, that you're doing it anyways. You're making their mistakes, and their mistakes made them, so what will you become? My mum isn't happy, or even...really respected anymore, I think. In my head she's still some authority figure, but in reality -- she's just a retired brownrider who gets to drink on the beach, all the time." Marcus raises his hand back, wipes a rag across the bartop and says, "What'll it be?" And Faryn squints at the menu on the wall, then sidelong at Edyis. "Exactly how drunk do you want to be?"

Edyis laughs, "You are hardly that uninteresting, you have ambitions, you imagined a life beyond your craft right?" She plays the devil's advocate, as she eyes the menu, "Not so drunk that I cannot clearly picture my ledge, unless there's a spot to sleep it off before betweening anyplace." On the topic of Fadra, the scribe seems quiet, pensive even. "I don't know that anyone is guaranteed to be happy it seems like a thing you have to snatch in moments when and where you can. But at least," She pauses as though considering, "At least you have her example in front of you, you know? Whether or not you do make some of the same choices."

"One bronze," a jerk of the thumb at Edyis, "and a green, for me," Faryn orders. She has a low scoffing sound for her choices, for all of it, saying, "And if that falls through, Edyis, I don't know what. It's like I can't make decisions if I think about them - too many what-ifs, so I have to make...rash ones. The Hall..." She shakes her head briskly in time to take their drinks and and pass a mark back. "She told me, a while ago, that I should stand again because my head's in the clouds anyways. And hers was always at sea, and ...Sully is rock, she says, so he grounded her, and she resented him from that first second." She takes a pull from her drink and smacks her lips once, savoring the sweetness. "Everyone talks about their dragons like that, it seems. Metaphor and stuff. I don't understand it, but she's right about at least one part of it."

Edyis tilts her head at the drink order, rasing a brow at Faryn and mouthing the word bronze at her with a curious tilt of her head. "If it falls through, you'll survive. You'll try something else, and keep trying until something fits. A person doesn't just stop existing because things don't go the way they expected. A world of endless possibilities at your feet." A dark chuckle with the last. For dragons there's a breath out as she settles into a chair waiting for their drinks. "Everyone is different." Giving that drink a tentative sniff before sipping it. "Just, don't stand without expecting to lose something, or expect to be the same person you were when everything is said and done. Some folks thrive, and some folks get whittled down until there is nothing left." She shakes her head then, "Maybe it's all metaphor because unless you have one in your head you can't even fathom it." She suggests still eyeing the drink before taking a second sip. "Akluseth, I did resent him at first, but believe me when I tell you," attempting to look her friend dead in the eye, "I don't regret or resent him anymore."

"Yes, yes," Faryn says, her eyes bright for the prospect of Edyis' first tastes. "And I'll be fine, being disappointed is what makes us grow, and maybe I'll just be Farideh's assistant forever when the time comes. Faranth knows she will need help for some time." The older girl wraps both hands around her glass and pulls it close like it's warm, putting her chin on the rim and pursing her lips. "I just...don't want to regret not doing anything. Missing opportunities. Not taking chances. I know it won't be perfect, whatever happens." She tilts her head a bit, to meet Edyis' gaze. "What is he like then? Now that you don't?" She laughs a little, the sound going into her glass and echoing up. "You were so mad about him in the beginning, that night in the pools. I felt so bad."

There is a look given Faryn after the alcohol is sampled, "Thought I said I wanted to find my weyr after this." But she's not really complaining too much since she downs some more. "She'll probably need more than just a helping hand, but it will be good for her to have someone she can rely on, someone she can be herself around." There's a half smile for regrets, "No, that's no way to live either, true enough." She snorts, "He hasn't changed much at all, still does whatever he thinks is best for me." A private smirk with that, "It was me that changed, and when I stopped fighting it, I started to see the parts of myself that needed his reckless sense of bravery. He's ..." She searches for the words. "He's Loyal, and brave, and no matter what I've done or what I think of him, he's there. He's the thing I didn't know I was missing." She frowns, "Damn it all if I am not doing the same thing everyone else does and talking in metaphor."

"I'll do what I can for her, that's all I've got." One of Faryn's eyebrows goes up, her tone teasing. "Who says you won't?" Faryn asks with barely suppressed mirth, covering her smile with another drink. She falls into silence with that mouthful, listening quietly, her gaze drifting away to watch Marcus with a distant expression as he wipes down glasses and stashes them away. When the brownrider finishes, she'll find that long gaze unwavering and her mouth set in a rueful smile. "Mum said Sulizath is like a landslide. That he smothers her, but it feels right most of the time. He's just not the sea. She talks like Drex, or maybe Drex talks like her. It's got them by the chest." She taps where her heart is. "It must be nice, having someone care that much, even if they're winged and fire-breathing and demanding."

Edyis lifts her shoulder ambiguously. "Maybe it isn't so much the call of the sea, as it is the idea of it, the sense of freedom from anything that would hold you in place? But then his mind is like the sea, and it will carry you when you run out of strength to move on your own." It seems a touch philosophical as she lifts the mug again, studying Faryn at the last. "It flows both ways." She offers cryptically, "And not every pair feels that way in the end." There's a shrug, looking back to the stablehand, "Is that something you are searching for Faryn?"

Faryn makes a sound in her throat, conceding, "Possibly. She rode in the Pass - things were different then. Things are easier now, in some ways. It must be. I was reading some things in the records - Farideh told me to brush up - and I think it must be, even though I know it's still not easy for you guys." For the rest of it, Faryn falls still, her brows knitting together. "Maybe. I don't think I've ever loved anything that much. Or had anything love me that much." She drains her glass then, gesturing Marcus for another drink and looking at Edyis pointedly. "Maybe I should just get a canine."

"Flying a pass does things to a person, at least that's the impression I got from veteran's stories." Edyis admits, she lifts a shoulder, "I'm just lucky I won't see one in my lifetime." That drink of hers almost gone now as she splays her fingers on either side of the mug. "Or you could get a firelizard, Alida's little gold, Pyrite is horribly affectionate, and actually somewhat useful." She frowns then, thinking on it more seriously. "I can't really speak on love, I've never been known to plant my affections wisely. But ..." She looks to her empty mug then, pushing it out to suggest a refill. "Seems like maybe love is like everything else you were talking about, if you never take the chance, you'll never know right?"

Faryn takes her new refill, this one gold, and gestures for another for Edyis too with a rolling of the wrist. "I could, but I don't think I've the marks for one. And they don't have fur, which is half the fun of a puppy. Or a dog. One of those clever little ones they use for big herds, maybe. Even if they an be mean cusses." She sniffs at her second glass, studies the menu behind Marcus and after determining the contents, says, "I've never planted my affections at all, so you're a bit further than me. You just said it. Keep planting, something's bound to take and grow. Probably. Unless you're ridiculous and wholly unlovable."

"I might know someone who could help with that." Edyis murmurs thoughtfully, "Though a Canine in a weyr, if you decide not to stand that would be one thing but the upper weyrs aren't the best for a dog. For that matter, where the hell are you staying now that you've called the quits on the beast craft." Edyis wonders, "The resident dorms were awful from what I remember of them." She snorts at terms of planting affections, "Never. Not even a fling or a one-sided crush?" Dubiousness thy name is Edyis. "I am ridiculous, and as Akluseth tells me, I have an unhealthy attraction to people of questionable moral fortitude."

Faryn straightens suddenly, looking stricken. "Oh, gosh, what if it chased something off a ledge," she asks, sounding horrified. She swallows a large gulp of her drink to wash the bad taste of that thought away. "I've been staying in the apprentice quarters," she admits, "but my stuff is making its way out. Slowly. I'll probably sleep on Farideh's couch. That works, right? What if she wakes up and suddenly needs water?" Reasonable, of course. "I don't plant, Edyis. I fish. Float things out, reel them in. I think," she says slowly, pensive, "I am emotionally unavailable based entirely on my awareness of my own vulnerability." But it's easier to talk about Edyis right now, frankly, and, "Jooooooo? Did you touch her pants, Ed?"

"That works temporarily, but unless she has a spare room hidden, though..." She tilts her head, "She'd probably be able to talk the headwoman into getting you a private room, maybe. Who knows, I can't really say I know what Farideh would do anymore she's so different." Not that Ed has room to talk of course. "Isn't a bad thing, to feel things out, but remember too what you said earlier about missing out on opportunities." She smirks at mention of the bluerider. "Amongst others." Maybe it's the bronze dragon loosening her tongue, but that grin. Oh it's very self-satisfied.

"You underestimate how long I can sleep on a couch." Her own drinks haven't been quite as strong, but Faryn is still making low snickering sounds that suggest she's touching on drunkennes too. She sobers enough to shake her head. "You're all different. I'm the only constant now." And she actually sticks her tongue out at Edyis before she dissolves into outright laughter, dropping her head down her arms to laugh with feeling, her shoulders shaking with it. "Oh shards, was it amazing? She came and saw me at the stables the other day, it's hilarious. She reminds me of my mum."

"You've changed too Faryn, I don't know exactly what has happened but your more vibrant now than when I first met you." The scribe states taking a deep pull from her mug. Of Jo, "She is something else," The brownrider grins, "She has damned good taste in bedfellows too for what that's worth." And how was it? "It was every bit as wild and wonderful as you'd imagine. Right up until Akluseth thought Aeaeth could help with the straps I sort of left on him and Yesia barged in on the two of us naked and asleep." Edyis laughs. "She's something else that is for sure."

Faryn has a stunted shrug for the first part, and that is all. That she's incredulous is clear without words. She doesn't giggle like a little child often, but the recounting of her amazing night with Jo is enough to set off a chain reaction. With her head down already, it's a minimal of movement for her to really bury her face in the crook off her elbow with only, "Yesia!" as explanation. "Oh shit, that's perfect."

The shrug doesn't go unnoticed, but then Faryn's laughing herself silly, and Edyis just snorts. "The week Quinlys saw fit to name me Keysi's second of all times too." So that Faryn can appropriately absorb the horror. "Perfect?"

Marcus makes the mistake of coming a bit too close, observes the pair of them, and then heads right back the way he came, since they're lunatics. Faryn's muffled, but not unintelligible. "Too perfect. I'm so - there are no words. I'd be sorry except it's too funny. Oh, man." Faryn sits up to wipe tears from her face. "Did her head explode?"

"I do hope I get the opportunity to laugh at your awkward moments." She grins, and of exploding, "Well not at first, but then. Well Jo is Jo." The former scribe snickers, "So the whole thing wound up in Yesia flouncing off and me going out in a flight jacket to remove Akluseth's straps and vowing to make a set that's easier to get on and off him."

Faryn catches her breath with a relieved 'oh', using her sleeve to get her eyes dry and taking another drink. "I'm not going to tell you anything, so good luck with that." She shakes her head for Yesia again. "She's so dramatic. I'm glad to not have to deal with her anymore. Lucky you though! What absolute joy you must feel." Faryn is quicker to drain her glass now, and it's uncertain if she tasted it as she slams it back down. "Let's get a booth and try monsoons," she suggests, with the same tone weyrbrats use to make dares. "Marcus will let us sleep it off as long as we're not taking up space at the bar." The name of the drink does get the bartender's attention, but he doesn't bother to confirm. He just reaches somewhere and removes two pairs of long gloves, which he begins putting on with deliberate movements. Faryn just grins, her eyes darting between him and Edyis with anticipation.

"You are a terrible friend." Edyis states with dramatic flare, but she's far too amused to be serious. "I feel like this is going to be a terrible decision." She states eying those gloves. And the rest? Well it was a blur.