Difference between revisions of "Logs:People and Places"

>---< Tunnel, Fort Weyr >----------------------------------------------------<

  Connecting the Inner Caverns to the outside world is a single tunnel that 
  dives down through the very heart and depths of the Weyr and exits near   
  the base of the mountain where the road down to the Fort Hold valley      
  starts. Fairly straight and dimly lit, the tunnel is large enough to      
  accommodate tithe wagons and small group of people walking abreast. A     
  kidney-shaped unloading area opens out immediately below the Stores with  
  plenty of space to unload wagons and carry supplies up into those storage 
  caverns. The end of the Tunnel is barred by a heavy stone gate and guarded
  by a watchrider.                                                          

 -----------------------------< Active Players >-----------------------------
  Breirand     M  17    6'  athletic, dark blonde hair, blue-grey eyes   26s 
  Ka'ge        M  18    6'  toned, black hair, blue-green eyes            0s

His grunt work of earlier in the day having run out, in the afternoon Brierande found himself briskly ordered by some overseer or another to be yet another body added to latrine-cleaning duty to speed up the effort even more. And so, brave soul that he is, the tall teen is now found...'lost within the tunnels deep inside the Fortian complex. At this point, he's simply leaning against one rocky wall, picking away at and slowly eating a bun he nabbed from the Kitchens earlier...and looking a mixture of bored, relieved, and vaguely concerned.

"Lost?" Comes a voice from 'round a corner nearby that leads to some small, currently vacant cavern. The owner of said voice becomes visible in a most casual of manners, appearing and leaning a shoulder on the entranceway. Hood crumbled about his shoulders, gloved hands shoved into pockets, and a taint of a grin make up the most notable features of Ka'ge as his blue-green eyes study Brierande for an uneasily long moment, before turning down one of the tunnels where a distant voice may or may not be heard, and passes. The bronzerider, content in his spot on the wall, apparently doesn't look like he'll be readily moving on.

Him? Lost? Psh! Looking only a tad guilty, more wary and proud, 'Rand takes another bite of his dwindling roll , chews and swallows while giving a small shake of his head in the negative. At least it's Ka'ge, and not Mirinda or Dahlia. Muttered as casually as he can, "This place is a maze, though. Be easy to do so." Get lost. On a side note, "Never did get your name, last time."

"So, hiding." For surely if it's not one, then it's the other. Ka'ge shrugs one shoulder at the next, a bit of dismissiveness and perhaps amusement about the motion. "Not a mistake." It's not an offer, as he moves on. "So what are you hiding from? Can't possibly be work." Is lightly sarcastic, "-Unless, what was it? Weyrbrats chasing you? Or you just tired of Weyr labor?" The latter seems a touch more searching.

As if! Pfft! Again, Breirande looks slightly outraged at Ka'ge 'hiding' indictment, and gives the bronzerider a quick, slightly tart "On my way to another job through here. Got a little turned around after *having* to turn around and go back to ask a few more questions. Just getting back on track. Still, it was time to take a break." For food, apparently. "Chasing me?" Scoff. "I c'n hold my own." After another nip of bun, the teen offers a slightly sly, "Got a bad rep, or something?" Oh yes; he noticed the man not offering his name.

"Really." Ka'ge's grin has broadened, lopsidedly, and his hands are pulled from pockets to fold across his chest. "You're so motivated. Inspiring." If the first few things weren't instigating, his tone with these surely is helping- or not helping, depending on view. "Those little beasts are more savage than you give 'em credit for. Had glue in my hair for a good seven-" He runs fingers through his black hair for effect, messing it more than it normally is already. "Bad rep? Wouldn't be hard to ask after me. Can't quite hide once you've Impressed. Not here, anyway." He straightens, but clearly not with intent to leave the other teen alone. "Did you take anything from our last enjoyable chat?" This, said flatter. "Follow any other riders around?"

There's a small scowl for Ka'ge's less-than-beaming words of 'Rand, but he refuses to let the older male bait him anymore than that....for the moment, anyway. Tucking into another nip of bun, the teen smirks, shakes his head for word of the Weyrbrats, finally adds on a light baritone, "Last Weyrbrat that crossed me got a black eye for it." He won't mention that *he* was also the recipient of such, of course. A small lift of one heavier brow for the other's words of himself is followed by a laconic, "You're a rider." Impression tends to make one such. "Maybe I will." Asking about Ka'ge. Shrug. "Been askin' some people, here an' there about how it was for riders before and after they Impressed." Eggs on the Sands, and all. "Seems like half of 'em found it to be a mixed experience, in some way or another." Grey-blue eyes lock to the bronzer's own green-blues, assessing him for intent. "Your...assistant weyrlingmaster...whats-his-name." Nose-wrinkle. "Guy admitted outright his own brown is as big of an asshole as *he* is."

"Ah, but you should see the way you can goad those nannies. When you tell the little ones about where babies come from, the look on their faces-" Ka'ge's breathy chuckle briefly rocks his shoulders, the reference clearly coming from experience. His eyes narrow lightly, his intrigued and amused expression unchanging. "Kh'tyr." He offers that name for the assistant weyrlingmaster, something almost annoyed yet personal about how he says it. "The dragons are their own selves. Whatever you get, you're stuck with. And yet.. you wouldn't want to be stuck with anything else." Reflective, that, as he steps forwards to cross half the tunnel, decreasing the space. "You say you can handle yourself. Given little ones blackeyes for their trouble and all that." He rolls his eyes, as if pretending to not believe it to start. "You afraid of change, what might be? You're already doing all the damn work, with the sharding wrong knot."

Okay. Now *that's* something worth laughing over, and Breirande snorks his humor at Ka'ge's admission about teasing the nannies, his mouth showing even, mostly-white teeth through his low chortle. "Yeah..." is soon enough agreed of the weyrlingmaster. "Exactly. He sounded almost...resigned." Beat. "Who the fu...shards would wanna' be *resigned* to living with someone in your head that you don't even like?" A look silently inquires of the bronzerider 'Is it the same for you?' A kid? "Whoa, man. NOT a little. My age." So...another twerp of a teen got a black eye. "I don't smack around little brats, or women." Because he's *so* white knight. And then, there's that scowl again as Ka'ge calls him out like that, the younger man finally allowing, "Having a little fear is a healthy thing. Protects you from the truly dangerous crap." Shrug. As for work, there's a more reticent admission, laced with a bit of teen anghst, "*Everyplace* *always* gets boring, after awhile."

Ka'ge takes his time to respond, that arrogant grin continuing to line his face and lightly narrow his gaze. At the implied inquiry, there's a slighest tilt of his head, his gaze blanking for one breath, two, and then refocusing on the other teen.

It's the deepest realms upon which the darkness lies with his Own, as if drowning in pitch and ink sapped of all color, weighted upon the soul itself. The gravelly, harsh low mindvoice from within is removed, barely interested- and yet, enough so that he must say something. « Him. Ask him. » Is all the night would give. (From Zymadiath to Ka'ge)

"Zymadiath is far from kind. The.. mm.. feel of his mind is terribly unpleasant and there's hardly a day that goes by that he doesn't call me stupid." All that sounds wonderful, yes? "But there isn't another on Pern that I can talk to like I can to him. They Impress who they're meant to. Kh'tyr is just as much an ass as Mograith." Well, almost. "The two are as meant for each other as any." A beat, another half-hearted chuckle to the women-and-children comment. "Honorable." And there's a flicker of something else, as Ka'ge touches a hand to his own chest for a moment. "You're right. Standing on hot sands in a mass of bodies while incoordinated infants with talons flail around is anything but nice and safe. And it'll lock y'down to this place for a good turn, but everything changes. For better, for worse. You only gotta be willing to try. Or, what, you going to keep flitting around Pern until some girl locks you down in a little Hold somewhere and the best you got is a runner to escape on?"

Arrogance is greeted with smug sureity, 'Rand looking as full of his own teenage version of what the bronzerider is currently expressing as he can be. And then the other male is getting 'that look' on his face, in his eyes, the look Breirande's finally learned to associate with somebody talking with their lifemate...and the teen stares in guarded curiosity. Once the word of his own dragon is offered, 'Rand's looking satisfied, somehow, and certain. Another, smaller snort is given for the assurance of Kh'tyr being an asshole, a definitive nod echoing it, chased by a dark little twist of lips for that 'honorable.' Word of what Impression can do, does to people, however, gets a different reaction from the teen: a look laced with mistrust. Finally he responds tightly, "Better independent that strapped down to *any* woman or any *dragon*. " Frown. "The way you put it - shells, the way others put it - it's not really worth it, ultimately." He's finally pushing off the ricky wall, starting to pace a little...rather like a caged animal. "There's lots of other places, people on Pern I can still go to." Lots of fresh places, faces...and always, somewhere to roam.

"People and places I could see in a seven that would take you months if not turns to get even close to." Ka'ge rolls his shoulders, shifting only to follow him as he paces with his eyes. "Unless you relied on riders to take you." He huffs what might be the start of a laugh that's cut short. "Independent, that's cute. You're still the worker under whatever political roof you stay under for the night, leaving at sunrise just to be under the rules of another by sundown. Ain't much for freedom." Then, quite abruptly, he's less interested, his stare cut off from the pacing resident to look again down the tunnel as if expecting someone. "There's many eggs, there's not a lot of bodies to Stand for 'em. You're a resident of age. Stand." It's an offer, this time, in full. "Maybe you'll get lucky and not Impress. You'll have fulfilled whatever-" He motions vaguely with a gloved hand, "expectation this place has for you, and move on, with that experience in your pocket. A hatchling would rather go Between than Impress the wrong person. You got nothing to worry about." This, too, sounds to be from experience.

"My mother always told me that part of the experience is how you get there in the first place," Breirande replies with the same arrogant, sure humor that Ka'ge formerly used. "I can sail, walk, ride runners, scoot on my ass, and maybe even take a quick dragon hop wherever." As the bronzerider 'works' on him, the teen becomes only more cocky, more wound up, his smirk of near legendary proportions, at times. "Freedom's what *I* make of it." Beat. "You're as limited by your dragon as by yourself. And worse than any harpy of a woman or oaf of a boss, *you* can never, *ever* get away from your dragon." Stand? Is Ka'ge out of his mind?! Snort! "And maybe I won't, and get saddled with some utter tool of a dragon yammering on in my head until I throw myself off a cliff to shut it up." How does he manage to sound so dark and bitter for a 17 turn old? Maybe it's the whole teen thing...and maybe not. And, rather suddenly, from between opposing points, 'Rand finds a temporary center point, whirls around to stare at the other man and inquire of him with mixed bite and curiosity, "What - beyond the very dubious 'honor' of having some dragon pull me down and rope and brand me - could you offer to sweeten this little offer of yours?"

"All of which costs ya." Ka'ge gives to Rand's 'list'. "And as lovely as you sweep floors, I doubt your pocket of marks is so heavy as to give you all but walking and scooting right along on your ass as your best consistent options. I personally vote for the latter." Acting unimpressed with his dramatic and dark flare, the bronzerider refolds his arms and waits for the ranting to slow. When the teen whirls to face him again, the other dressed in all darks is unmoved, statuesque as he had been when Brierande had started his thought-filled pacing. The question gets a raise of brow, as if it's both unexpected and curious. "Never crossed my mind I would need a bribe." Amusement trickles in with it, "You don't like women- so surely the ability to please Dahlia wouldn't motivate you. The assurance of a roof over your head doesn't drive you. The possibility of adventure doesn't inspire you. So you tell me. What does one with such an untameable spirit want in exchange for stepping up to his responsibility as a resident?"

Yes, there's the lack of marks to get him anywhere more quickly than walking, and Ka'ge's brandishment of such in his face inspires a dark scowl from 'Rand. Fuck you. "I've walked lengths before. Wouldn't be different this time." Shrug. He doesn't what? At word of women, there's a sudden peal of laughter, which Breirande quiets quickly, so as not to draw potential attention from others who might be around the corner. "Oh, you have me wrong again, rider." Smirk. "I enjoy women very much. It's just the thought of being shackled to one until I'm in my grave that makes me shudder." Shrug. "Dahlia...seems like a decent enough sort." For *now*, anyway. "Why would I want to please *her*?" Adventure, however... "I like finding new, different things. I could, for instance, travel South, and, if I wanted to present myself to their Weyrs' next clutches, and go through the same as I would up here...except I'd be in totally uncharted territory." Unspoken in his laden tone: How would you lure me away from doing such? As for responsibility, there's a glower, then a smirk. "You sound like my mother. I discharge my responsibility as a resident daily, by doing the work assigned to me." Well, except for cleaning toilets. However, he does finally respond with a quick, "Show me the South...Southern, Ierne, Monaco, all of it. I want to...to do things I've never done before up here. See those huge wild felines. Lay in the sand on a sunny beach with a woman or two on each arm." And, if the small grin speaks right, in his pants, as well. "Drink those chilly, special drinks they have down there. See tropical sunsets, sunrises. See some wild firelizard fair...shit like *that*." Already, his eyes are distancing themselves, those holy grails in the distance sudden and potentially nearer. Oh, and, "AND...no duties in the nursery or the latrines." And don't forget, "I'll drag my ass out there on those hot Sands only *after* you fulfill your end of the deal. Which is a week's worth of Southern delight, consecutively or a day at a time, before those eggs pop." The look grey-blues offer Ka'ge: are you truly *up* to it?

"Because she's a weyrwoman." Ka'ge's tone gets a little sharp, but only by degrees, a dangerous sort of glint almost, almost being given away in the look he gives the teen. "You treat Lords and Ladies with the same disregard, or did they teach you some sort of manners in any of your wandering pitstops? I'm all for callous behavior, but there are.... minimum standards." A slow, uninspired shake of his head follows at the rest of Rand's shared thoughts, but he grants no words. The requests, do detailed, again get a raise of brow that slowly becomes furrowed. "I have no say on the chores you get assigned to. That's something you take up with the headwoman or her assistants or whatever." That, dismissed easily enough, leaves only the much larger request. "You haven't gotten it through your thick head." He continues to taunt, but the intermittent pauses grant that he's at least considering, "Zymadiath is not a fan of taxiing. I can give you two days. Call it going out on sweeps with me, as I'm apparently supposed to do. The rest- the firelizards, the women. You can win yourself that by Standing and trying to Impress your own damn dragon."

There's that smirk again, perhaps maddening in its subtle intensity. *He* finally got Ka'ge. One point! Perhaps that was the reason for the cruder behavior. And when the bronzer lays out what he (and Zymadiath) will and won't do, there's an almost smooth, "Three days, since I'll have to deal with brats and stink. And I still want at least one souther type, chilly drink when we're done with your sweeps." A headcock is followed by his slightly grinned, "I'll even help you wash Zymadiath."

"I don't have time to babysit you." Is as condescending as the word implies, "Drop off in the morning, picked up the following morning and move to the next place. If you get lost or whatever since you seem to be so good at that and don't meet me on the landing field, that's where you'll stay. The fourth morning, you pick up your knot." There's finally the return of a faint grin on the bronzerider's face, crookedly. "I'm sure Zymadiath will be ever so pleased with that." Oddly, the response to the help with bathing sounds more challenging than thankful. "And the cost of your.. drink, included. Happy?" Nobody told him Searching was this involved.

"Aww... No best buddies time?" He's a sassy little bastard, allright. Smirk. "Sounds fine. Just gotta find me a sound knife and gear, clothes, first." 'Rand's been on his own just enough in the past to know to have the proper accoutraments for adventures. For word of picking up his knot on the fourth day, there's a twist of lips, then a blunt, "I'm on pre-assigned work detail the next handful of days or so. Can't miss out...they're using me a little for my specialty." The general laborer has a specialty? Shrug. "Gonna be a problem? I could try and talk with the stonemasons..." He doesn't sound certain, though. That odd response to Ka'ge's dragon being 'pleased' with the offer brings wariness back to the teens features, has him noting a little tentatively, "I meant once or twice, not every time he wants one." Frown. "He's not...like...aggressive?"

"It's not a problem until the eggs are hardened, then I'll take you nowhere." Ka'ge responds to the timeline. "But if you take too long and my duties change, y'might get slighted on your days." This is not challenging, but a statement of fact- of things that are beyond ability to haggle. "Think hard on where you want to go. Three places." And he holds up three gloved fingers. At the other's last question, his grin turns into a darker smirk. "He has his moments. He's tame unless you cross his self-determined lines. You'll be spending plenty of time with him, either way."

Nodding thoughtfully, 'Rand's quickly answering, "Noted. They said there's 3 to 5 days of solid work where they definitely want me around to check angles and depths. Just depends on how the re-digging and shoring up goes." He'll do his damndest to make certain the rock work goes well and on schedule, if not faster. Already, the teen is starting to grin like the sun slicing the eastern horizon. SOUTH. He's wanted to go there for a *long* time. Oh yeah, but there's Zymadiath, too, which is a more pressing, if 'only' potential hurdle. "Well, please *do* tell me how not to cross him before we meet directly. I don't think I like the idea of 10 tons of dragon squishing me flat under his paw." And Breirande doesn't even know Zymadiath is a bronze. No matter, there's a small duck of head from the tall teen, and a faintly grinned, "Thanks, rider." Beat. "I think."

"That's a question I'm still working on answering." Ka'ge answers on not crossing his dragon, equally cryptic as amused. "He wants you to Stand as well, so he ensures to return you in one piece." Despite the not exactly confidence-inspiring grin with that, the bronzerider tips his head slightly at the given gratitude. "Aye. When you're ready, ask for us. We'll hear it." A beat, and he offers the answers to a handful of questions in his quite delayed introduction,"Ka'ge of bronze Zymadiath."

Breirande's look says it all: 'Oh; greeeaaat.' "Well, maybe just the few pointers you've gleaned, then." Whatever's helpful to avoid squishing or roaring or whatever. Smirk. Blink. "He does? I mean, I thought they *always* picked people." Traditional Search. No matter, "I will." It's back to contained eagerness, the other man's offer of his name and rank earning him a flash of a smirk-grin, and a Cromese-accented, "Breirande, laborer and sometimes mason." How's that for polite?

Ka'ge's shrug is dismissive as he straightens. Gloved fingers draw under the rumple of hood at his shoulders and drape it over his head, the grin vanishing with the oncoming of the shadow that it casts. "Sometimes learning on the way is half the fun." And then he's done bothering the laborer, an almost-salute touching his now covered forehead in a farewell as he turns to continue down the tunnel.