Difference between revisions of "Logs:Two Dozen First Impressions"

Hatching Galleries, High Reaches Weyr

Ringing the southwestern side of the hatching sands are ample tiers of carved stone benches, the lowest of which is some six feet off the ground -- just high enough to separate wayward hatchlings from unwary viewers, and vice versa. A metal railing on the outside helps prevent anyone from falling off; it also extends up the stairs that lead the way higher into the galleries. While most of the area is open seating, ropes section off some of the closer tiers when dignitaries are expected; those areas even feature cushions in the Weyr's blue and black. The higher one climbs, the more apparent the immense scale of the entire cavern becomes. The dragon-sized entrance on the ground is dwarfed by the expansive golden sands that glitter in the light. Everything on them is easily visible from the galleries, whether that's a clutch of eggs and a broody queen, or simply its emptiness and the handful of darker tunnels that lead to more private areas than the bowl. Wherever one sits or looks, however, one thing is constant: the overwhelming, suffocating heat.

Clear and cold tonight, the moonlight makes the trip through the snow easier, reflecting brightly as it does in the chill darkness. Inside, in the hatching caverns, the warmth is near-suffocating, but that's great, perfect for some of the weyrfolk. Some take advantage of the shadowy darkness of the top tiers, some scatter across them to watch or work, one stands at guard near the entrance. One, Brieli, sits down in the seats by the railing, long legs crossed and boots kicked up on it so she can slouch in her jacket and look skyward rather than below - Iesaryth has below covered. That and the galleries both - neither escape the queen's quiet regard.

As the evening grows darker, one of the candidates makes his way in from the chilly night. It's likely clear from his body language that Kaeden is a first-timer, as he's just a little lost when he first steps into the relatively sweltering heat. Once he's shed his coat and knocked the snow from his boots, however, he starts to make his way farther into the galleries, walking along that foremost tier of benches. "Good evening," he murmurs quietly to Brieli before taking a seat, dropping his coat on the empty space at his side. At first, he looks quickly around the galleries, only looking toward those eggs below at the very end.

When you have a dragon watching, it requires that you yourself need do little yourself; Iesaryth can pick out Kaeden's entrance in the dim light, follow him along the seats after his momentary hesitation. Brieli doesn't need to turn to see the candidate move along and come closer - there's only a flicker of her dark gaze his way before she rummages inside her jacket with one slender hand. "Evening," she offers, easily - and though she might give the young man a look for his choice of seat, she says nothing else, lets him get a look at the place.

"Figured I should see what it is I'm sticking around for," Kaeden says, smile small and slightly lopsided as he gives Brieli a quick look before chin-nodding toward the sands. "Makes it a little more real, you know?" He leans forward, elbows on knees, hands folded, and gets a good long look at all the various things below, both dragons and eggs. Finally he looks back at the young woman, his smile having evened out a little bit. "Are you a candidate? Or..." Only then does he think to even look for a knot.

Languidly, with a faintly wry smile, "Are they all you're sticking around for then?" Her voice is calm and cultured; she has little to no accent. Out of her pocket comes a flask that she uncaps slowly as she glances between sands and Kaeden, fine brows arching. Apparently used to people knowing who she is on sight, Brieli helpfully presents one jacketed and knotted shoulder Kaeden's way before, "Half of those are Iesaryth's. I'm Brieli." She looks so serious, only bright eyes hinting at any amusement.

Kaeden sees that presented shoulder and knot, and a moment later that almost baby-faced smile of his becomes more a sickly show of teeth. "Shhhh... yeeeah." He leans back on his hands and loses the smile altogether. "Sorry, ma'am. I, uh.... Sorry." There's a moment of uncomfortable shifting before he dares another glance. "Uh. The eggs. They're what I'm telling the folks. It's nice to get out of the Hold for a while, but I can't tell them that, you know?"

Settling back into her slouch, Brieli sips from her flask, giving a little shrug. "There's more of them than there will be of you. Don't worry too much about it." Too much. Flicking dark curls back out of her face, looking back up at the clear sky beyond the cavern, "So... you're telling them you're standing as an excuse to avoid going home." There's a silence that's near uncomfortable before, "You wouldn't be the first." There's a faint smile, brief besides - though it's a smile.

There's a moment when Kaeden's just watching Brieli out of the corner of his eye, but after that moment, when the coast seems clear, he begins to relax again, shoulders hunching slightly as he settles back against his hands again. "I'd never seen anything outside the Hold before. Now I'm out... guess I want to see it all." He looks away from her then to look down on the sands again. "I don't see much coming of it all. For me, I mean. This stuff usually runs in the family, right? Nothing remotely close in my own, as far as I've ever known. Good chance to see something different, in any case." His boots scuff on the gritty ground as he stretches out his legs. "This your first clutch?"

"There's a lot to see," Brieli can allow, giving Kaeden a sidelong glance as he relaxes a touch, taking another drink. She doesn't offer any over, but candidates aren't meant to be drunk anyway. "Which Hold?" It's only mildly curious, though that dissolves in a quirk of her lips, some little amusement again - but her tone is wry this time, edged with darkness. "There are certainly no riders in my family. And yes. Both of their first, really. I didn't do any of that." A nod of her head down toward the eggs.

Kaeden has perhaps seen enough of the sands at this point, or maybe the heat is getting to him, but after another brief pause, he begins settling back in a slouch of his own, not quite mimicking the weyrwoman, but coming close. "'Reaches," he answers simply, then nods in reaction to her correction regarding the clutches. "You're way too skinny to be carrying around all those eggs, anyway." There is quite likely a visible twinkle to his eyes just then. Those high cheekbones make it hard to truly hide a smile. "Do you have to stay up here while she's with the eggs?"

Perhaps naturally wary, Brieli's eyes narrow a touch at the answer, capping her flask as she cuts a look over at the candidate. "Interesting. Did you come with the Lord and Lady or... on your own?" Kaeden's joke draws the briefest of smiles from the weyrwoman, and she does her best not to look too suspicious any longer. Instead, she tilts the narrow flask to catch the glowlight, try to aim it up into the shadows. "No. She can find things to entertain herself or think about on her own. But I suppose I miss having her around all the time." She might be embarrassed to admit that.

Kaeden can't help but laugh at that a little bit. "Nah. Folks like them travel with people who mean something. I'm just some dock kid who could be trusted with some pretty tools for one of the Smiths here." He crosses one foot over the other and relaxes a little bit more into the slouch. "But then you guys were having this fancy party for Turnover, so I stuck around. And then there was all this snow and wind and stuff, so I stuck around. And then someone signed me up for one of those white knots, so... I'm still sticking around." He briefly gives Brieli a smile, then peers upward, possibly just to find out what she's looking at. "Not sure I could imagine being so attached to someone in your head."

"Is that so." Brieli might be skeptical of any self-deprecation, but not overly so - just enough to arch fine brows Kaeden's way briefly. Turning back to the sky - it is only the sky she's looking up at, as clear as it is - "It was a nice party. We usually do a decent job of them. And I suppose the blizzard is a good reason as well, unless you want to die trying to get somewhere." There's a wrinkle of her nose for dying, or maybe blizzards before, "Best try to. Just in case. It's terribly... exposing. No one will ever know you like that... and how you react to that depends on how you feel about being known."

There are no smiles this time when Kaeden turns back to Brieli, just a whole lot of speculation. After a few seconds, he nods once, slowly, and sits up again to look down at those eggs. "No going back," he says after another long pause, either with understanding or promise. "That's... a really good bit of advice. Thank you." A faint frown appears on his face for a second before he gives the weyrwoman a last look. "I'd better get back." He draws his feet back and slowly gets to his feet, then starts shrugging into his coat. "Thanks for the chat, ma'am. Sorry for, uh..." He trails off and gestures toward the woman's shoulder. "For missing the knot."

With some little agreement in her tone, but no regret, "It's not as if you can trade them back in." Brieli tilts her head slightly, looking up as Kaeden rises. Simply, "I decided to stand twice. I had to know what I was getting into, with her, and I still had no idea. It's not a place for doubt." As for her knot, she shrugs that off, seeming unconcerned - but it's her prerogative to be or not. "I don't even wear it very often. Not terribly fair." But, says the gleam in dark eyes, amusing. "Enjoy your night, ..." There's the prompt, a questioning arch of brows.

Kaeden starts to smile, falters, then turns it into a faintly rakish grin. "Well, I won't forget, knot or no knot. Good night, ma'am." He gives her a last, parting nod, then starts heading for the bowl, waiting to button up his coat until he's out of the heat of the sands.