Difference between revisions of "Logs:Breaking"

Omnipresent clouds of steam slink across the tops of three naturally warm
  pools, set into the floor of this kidney-shaped cavern. Near the entrance 
  the ceiling is high and polished, gleaming with little mineral specks as  
  it sweeps downward into increasingly ragged, uneven steps. The foremost of
  the pools is squared off with wide steps leading down into the water and  
  has faucets for bringing in cooler water from a rain-catching cistern.    
  Primarily used for laundry, there's an almost constant film of suds along 
  its surface until the circulating current clears it at the end of the day.
  Four sinks line the nearest wall and various tubs stored beneath allow for
  the washing of delicates. Laundry bags can be dropped off in the bins near
  the door and clean, folded laundry is stacked in rows of tall cubbies for 
  easy pickup.                                                              
                                                                            
  The bend in the cavern leads to a rougher-hewn part of the chamber where  
  the two circular bathing pools welcome those in need of a wash. Towels and
  washcloths are kept in neat stacks on shelves along the wall, along with  
  sacks of sweetsand and a few bars of precious soap. Stone benches provide 
  a place for sitting to remove shoes and clothing, while a row of gleaming 
  brass hooks stand above, ready to hold clothes and robes.

Baths in the dead of a winter night might not be appealing to people that have the sense to be wrapped within cozy sheets, but it is how a certain laundress has chosen to end her day. Only a handful of other weyrfolk occupy the steamy cavern, stationed at intervals along the two pools, and that leaves Farideh with a generous portion of one pool all to herself. Her hair is piled up on top her head with wisps curling away from her face, and her cheeks are reddened from the heat. She's squishing a loofa between her hands, watching the bubbles it emits with girlish fascination, and quite not minding who or what's going on around her. Me time.

And then there's H'vier, who also doesn't mind what's going on around him. Which means he ends up sliding into the water near Farideh totally on accident. "Hey, gorgeous," he says as he settles on the ledge around the perimeter of the pool. Totally on accident. "What's got you all hot and wet out here so late?" He has to be trying to be gross, right?

The loofa continues to go squish between her hands, hazel eyes flicking to the side to assess Farideh's new bath mate. "H'vier," she says patiently, because it's H'vier. "It's hard to take a bath without someone interrupting," totally meaning him, "and this tends to be a quiet time." Except tonight it's obviously not. "Shouldn't you be--" Her mouth curves into a mocking smile, "In bed?"

"I just thought it would be nice to say hello. I never see you anymore." It's clearly a shame. "That's why I like it anyway. Quieter." H'vier smiles back. It's pleasant, though, not taking her mocking to heart. "I'll be in bed soon enough, don't you worry about that." He knows she's not, of course. "I even got a new mattress. It's pretty great."

"You never see me anymore?" That amuses the brunette, who glances aside at him with uplifted brows and a pursed smile. "You know exactly why you don't see me anymore." There's that bone of contention between them - a blonde one. "I can't remember what a great mattress feels like. Relaxation? Rest? The ones they give us in the dorms--" Farideh wrinkles her nose and sighs theatrically, dunking the sponge under the water to watch it expand. "Have you seen Lya lately?" is asked, completely innocently.

There's a small snort from the bronzerider, who doesn't seem to agree on why he doesn't see her anymore. But he must not care enough about it to argue. "I think I'll get a new mattress every few turns now that I remember what a nice one is like. I'd invite you to come try it out, but." He's not. "Lya can tell you about it instead." Because apparently he has seen her lately.

"I would tastefully decline, if you did," and there's lot of teeth in that wide smile of hers. It ebbs, all that fire and humor, at his last comment. "What," Farideh says, turning to face the bronzerider, "have you been doing with her?" From her tone and outraged expression, it's likely that she has a few ideas about what they've been up to, right or wrong. "I told you the last time to leave her alone. It wasn't enough that you knocked up some bartender and your Wingleader?"

"Relax, cupcake. I'm not doing anything with her that she doesn't want to be doing. We're friends not and all. I care about what happens to her." There's a brief smile for Farideh's benefit. Then H'vier's attention turns to actual bath things, like dunking his head under the water and scrubbing soapsand into it once he's resurfaced.

"Right. You care," Farideh mimics, lips curled in distaste. "We'll see how much you care. I'm going to be the one to pick up the pieces when you break her." She makes a face and turns, giving him one semi-wet shoulder. Immediately going back to smooshing her loofa peacefully; bubbles, and soap, and bubbles, and squish.

"At this rate, you'll break her long before I ever get a chance to, even if I were going to." Which he's not. "I made a deal with her. I'd offer you the same, but Lya at least wants to be my friend for some unfathomable reason." Even H'vier can admit being his friend is stupid. "And I don't think you're any better of one than I am."

"Me? Break her?" A disbelieving laugh follows her sentiments, widened eyes falling on H'vier. "How am I breaking her? I provide her with support and a shoulder to cry on. You're just bound to get her feelings hurt and pregnant. Those are two far, far apart things." Farideh closes her eyes and shakes her head, obviously annoyed with the whole situation. "Fuck off, H'vier," she says at last, managing an unkind grin, before she turns away, again.

"I'm sure that's exactly what you give her, Farideh," says H'vier calmly and with one of those smiles that isn't entirely genuine. But he's not red in the face and freaking out, so that's probably a good thing. "I can't promise I won't hurt her feelings," he says even after she's turned away. "But getting her pregnant would be pretty difficult. I don't want anymore children, anyway. Certainly not with Lya. She can barely take care of herself. Tayte wanted children."

"I can't even have an enjoyable bath. I can't even have one thing to myself. I don't care what you think, H'vier." One of them is red-cheeked and slightly freaking out. "You're-- you're just--" Farideh can't even finish the sentence, instead she tosses her sponge at him and proceeds to the steps, to exit the baths in a ladylike kind of stomp. "Everything that ever comes out of your mouth is crap." She makes an indigant growling sound and tip-toes to a bench, where she's stashed a towel that she promptly wraps around her dripping torso. "Try not to say hello from now on," she says hostilely.

If her reaction isn't what he'd been expecting, one would be hard-pressed to find a sign of it in the bronzerider's expression. H'vier's attention settles neutrally on Farideh as she stomps out of the pool to get her towel. After a moment, he offers, "As you wish," and sets the sponge she'd thrown at him on the edge of the pool where she can fetch it if she wants it back. Then he turns back to his own bathing without another word.

Quiet leave takings aren't Farideh's thing, and so it's with more immature stomping and mumbling caustically that she gathers her things in anticipation for exiting the cavern. She makes a face at his turned back, glares, and finally, leaves, without her sponge.