Difference between revisions of "Logs:Spiked Klah and Conversation"

Snowasis, High Reaches Weyr

The Snowasis is rarely quiet, and even then, the high-ceilinged former weyr is kept from echoing by the fantastical booths tucked into its convoluted perimeter. The secluded seating spaces have been shaped from the truncated stalagmites that escaped the smoothing of the main floor, and are both softened and separated by colorful hangings that are thick and opaque enough to make each corner its own private nook.

Some of the smaller stalactites still roam the ceiling, their jagged teeth tracing a bumpy, inverted spine to the hearth. There, a thick rug with a low klah table and comfortable armchairs and couches sit, their upholstery and cushions changed sporadically to match the season: bright, light colors in the summer, fresh greens and yellows in the spring, warm autumnals in fall, and clear, rich hues for winter. Small tables litter the rest of the cavern, enough to fit up to four people each, while stools stand along the smooth wooden bar behind which is the passthrough window to the kitchen. Glass-paneled cabinetry behind the bar provides a clear view of the available liquors, the many colors reflecting the soft light of glows tucked into strategic niches around the cavern.

With a 'Reachian winter mix making misery outdoors, inside is a great place to be. Spiked klah is the favored drink of the day given the temperature and the hearth is being well tended to keep things comfortable, if not warm. K'zin's jacket is on the booth bench next to him, red knit mittens on the table and a steaming mug between his hands. Either he likes his klah or he's highly suggestible, or perhaps both. Either way, he looks content enough to just stare at the steam as it rises, though perhaps a bit lost in thought, that is, if one believes him capable of such a thing.

Edyis shivers sharply, dusting the snow off the borrowed flight jacket and laughing as she parts way with a knot of Savannah riders, making for the hearth and a glass of something to warm her belly. A sigh of contentment finds her easily as she settles into the seat, surveying the patrons of the bar this evening, and surprisingly she finds herself seated in close proximity to K'zin, who is regarded with the faintest wrinkle of her nose.

K'zin is a curious creature to be observed, to be sure. Not in his natural habitat, and yet he looks very at home. See now, the wild bronzerider parts his lips to blow his breath into the steam. See him lean forward and tip the mug, without lifting it, to let his tongue dart out to taste the dark liquid, and-- oh! Oh, it's hot, K'zin. That's what the steam means! See the bronzerider of little brain make faces and wave his tongue, trying to soothe the burnt tip in the cooler air. It's pretty compelling stuff, it must be said.

L'sha enters the Snowasis and heads over to the bar, ordering one of those spiked klahs. He seems pretty chipper and not as bothered by the cold as most others. He must be used to it. He looks around for a familiar face and sees Edyis, so he takes his drink and heads toward her. "Hi there, sweetie, how are you?" He gives a pleasant grin to K'zin and winces when the bronzerider burns his tongue. "Gotta let it cool off first!"

It is a little bit like watching a dragon with a wherry. The wherry doesn't fair well. Propping her hand against her chin and sipping some of the liquor from her glass she can only enjoy the moderate entertainment. L'sha it would seem voices the warning, which she is not voicing for pure entertainment value. "I am well, thank you L'sha, and how are you and Rillaeth doing?

It's L'sha's voice that breaks the dragon-maw entrancement of the steamy klah, which is being given a much deserved furrowed browed look of disappointment. Brown gaze pulls away from the mug and finds the greenrider, "L'sha, hey." K'zin has a friendly grin for his fellow once-weyrbrat. Beyond him, the grin extends to the one speaking to him, "Edyis," he greets cheerily enough. Apparently, he hadn't seen her there. But with that klah right in front of him... well. Can he be blamed?

L'sha smiles warmly at Edyis and blows lightly over the surface of his klah to cool it off. "Oh, we're doing just fine, and you? Are you going to the Turnover party? What about you, K'zin, are you going?" He takes a small sip of the klah, slurping it a bit to cool it off more.

Edyis grins to both men, "I've been thinking about going for a spot of fun." She shrugs, before tilting her head at K'zin a moment. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone stare that longingly at a mug of klah before."

"Do you spend a lot of time watching people stare at mugs of klah?" K'zin has to ask, his brows rising in curiosity. For the turnover party he makes a face. It scrunches up his nose, it makes his lips pucker, it makes him look excessively unhappy. "I guess." It's said in the way of one much put upon to make the concession. He sighs. They're headed down this road so he asks, "What're you two going as?"

L'sha giggles at Edyis's observation. He sits up a bit straighter and says, "It's a secret. I have a brilliant idea for a costume, no one will know it's me!" He nods, as if it's a foregone conclusion. "I can't wait to go skating, just had my skates sharpened."

Edyis snorts. "Not typically no. You have such an amusing method however, couldn't help but stare." Her lips quirk, "I thought you were a great proponent of parties K'zin. Natural default for Bronzeriders." She grins to L'sha, "I don't know yet, myself."

"I live to please," K'zin answers Edyis of the matter of klah-drinking, though he sounds like he's pretty tired of having that purpose in life. "Someone wants me to have a real costume, and isn't satisfied with me reusing the one from the turnover masquerade before I met them." He sounds disgruntled, "Apparently a dress isn't good enough, even if I'd shave my legs this time. And even if I don't have the hair for it anymore." Woe. Being a bronzerider is a hard life. "The skating should be fun," that much he can agree to and now he tries his klah again, this time with a more conventional methodology - picking up the mug - and this time, it doesn't, apparently, burn him.

L'sha nods and blows on his klah some more. "Your turnday party was great, but I hardly saw you there. That's a great weyr for parties, it's huge." He snickers as he describes his old costume. "Oh, I would've died if I saw you in that. I was thinking of going in a dress and wig, but I had a better idea." He sips his klah again.

"What did you expect with a girlfriend who spent time in Weaverhall?" Grinning, lifting her own glass to her lips, "I don't know about ice skating, I've wanted to try, but." She shrugs, tilting her glass. "You two should have some time to enjoy yourselves now that the Weyrlings are seniors, but then there's Iesaryth's clutch as well still coming up."

"And you're not going to tell us?" K'zin asks of L'sha, lifting a convincing eyebrow in his direction. "Yeeaaah, that party." The bronzerider lifts a hand and rubs his face. "I was-- going through some stuff. My dad had just died and I was blowing my inheritance, and-- it wasn't really the right time to have a party. But I'm glad you liked it." It speaks volumes about the growth K'zin has done since then that he can speak about it so casually now. "She told you about Auntie Babs?" K'zin lifts both brows at Edyis, surprised. "Guess I'll have to ply her for another lesson for her for next turn." Not that that should take much plying. "But she's not the someone." That objects to his costuming choice. "We'll be on call, but hopefully none of them will do anything stupid." The weyrlings. That's an optimistic thing to hope, right?

L'sha raises his own eyebrow at K'zin. "I said it's a secret!" He tsks as K'zin explains his absence from his turnday party. "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't blame you for not being there, then. It was fun, though." To Edyis, he says, "Well, I might be a Search rider again, but I don't have much to do with weyrling training."

"One way of dealing with grief I suppose." Commented quietly, lifting a brow. "I don't know about Aunties, I just know she spent time at the Craft Hall. Who do you think I get fashion advice from, other than Bristia." Exhaling softly, before blinking. "Who else wants you dressing up if not your girlfriend?" She smiles at L'sha then, "Some time before there's another clutch on the sands.

The bronzerider makes a show of sighing for the greenrider's secrecy. It's the appropriate response, right? "Anger, I think. It was dealing with anger," K'zin volunteers in answer to Edyis, but then he gives her one of those 'uh' looks. "Tela never spent time at weaver. I mean, coming and going, sure, but-- she was a seamstress at Benden." His brow furrows, but the expression clears relatively quickly and a wry smile appears, "My dragon."

L'sha smirks at K'zin. "It's funny you should say that, Rillaeth helps me all the time with clothes. She loves color, you know. She helped me with my riding jacket, too." He sighs at Edyis. "Yes, hopefully it'll quiet down some before that happens, give us some time to rest a little."

The scribe shrugs, "Always assumed she'd been to hall?" Moderately confused as she downs the last of her drink. "I will see you guys around, hopefully soon. Take it easy on the klah K'zin. Blisters on your tongue hurt like hell."

There's a headshake for Edyis' assumption that seems fairly certain, but a hand is raised in farewell to follow. K'zin shifts on the bench and grins at L'sha, "You think that's bad," apparently the bronzerider misinterpreted, "Ras insisted half the marks I won from betting in myself to Impress were his since he did half the work and bought me a new wardrobe when I graduated weyrlinghood. Custom riding leathers included. And then had to get a new jacket made when mine mysteriously vanished during Isyath's flight in Fort." The one Rasavyth won.

L'sha smiles at Edyis as she stands. "Night, sweetie!" He sips his klah and nearly does a spit-take as he hears K'zin's story. "You bet on yourself? That's confidence for you." He chuckles at the rest of the tale. "I wouldn't be surprised if Rillaeth wants me to get new leathers soon, she's starting to get bored with the colors on this one."

"It was a last minute thing. And I wasn't favored, so the winnings were good." K'zin answers, "But I had to Impress, so." Had to. The bronzerider's eyes peruse the leathers in question. "Tell her I said these ones are nice, if that'll help." Who knows, it might!

L'sha chuckles. "Well, I'm glad you won big on that one, though I'm surprised you weren't favored." He grins at the compliment. "Why, thank you, I'll tell her. It'll help my mark-pouch, if nothing else."

"Sometimes I think about what life would be like if I hadn't. I'd probably have been a journeyman by now, posted somewhere that wasn't here." K'zin considers it now, he's lost in his klah mug for a moment then smiles ruefully, "But the contemplation is really pointless, isn't it. Life with them is what we get, whether we like it all the time or not." Or even most, some might say.

L'sha says, "I don't think of that much, what I'd be doing if I hadn't impressed. I'd probably still be doing menial labor in the caverns." He sticks his tongue out at that thought. "I suppose you're right. I can barely imagine life without her now. Some people seem reluctant to let go of their old lives, but I took to it like a waterfowl to water.""

"Do you think some people want that life?" K'zin asks, as though he'd never considered it. "As a caverns worker. Or is everyone there just thinking they're on their way to something else, like riderhood?" A transient profession. "I think it's easier for those that do. Take to it. Or want it. I imagine for those who only thought they'd see what happens, or for the ones plucked out of the stands, like Rhey, it can be harder," the bronzerider sounds thoughtful. He ought to be careful, he'll start undoing that stereotype at this rate!

L'sha shrugs. "I don't know, I suppose some do want it. It's hard work. Not that riding isn't, but at least you get to be on a dragon. All sorts of people flock to the Weyr hoping to impress, but most end up disappointed and working in the caverns. That's true, though. Sometimes I felt bad seeing Rhey and G'laer struggle with their dragons and being in a Weyr when it was so natural for me. They didn't get what they wanted and it just sort of all fell into place for me." He shrugs and stands, stretching, and finishes his klah. "Well, nice chatting with you, K'zin, but I need to turn in for the night."

"Yeah." Maybe that monosyllabic response from the bronzerider, however thoughtfully intoned, will help repair whatever damage he might have rendered to the stereotype. Then, "Yeah," meaning something completely different by the timbre. "People to do, things to see," it's said so nonchalantly, but then there's the impish grin. "Or is it the other way around? I always forget." And L'sha will get a brief finger-wiggling wave to see him off while K'zin gets back to the very important matter of his klah.