Logs:Heat Seeker
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| RL Date: 22 July, 2013 |
| Who: R'co, Telavi |
| Type: [[Concept:{{{type}}}|{{{type}}}]] |
| What: Conversation and propositions in the greenhouse. |
| Where: Greenhouse |
| When: Day {{{day}}}, Month {{{month}}}, Turn {{{turn}}} ({{{IP}}} {{{IP2}}}) |
| Weather: A spring flurry brings in a little late snowfall, though there is no accumulation as the flakes spiral to the ground on a dizzying breeze. |
| Mentions: Tayte/Mentions |
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| Greenhouse, High Reaches Weyr A rustic and unadorned vestibule leads in from hewn spiral steps to a refitted ledge, enclosed by limestone pillars. Sturdy wooden framework captures elongated glass panes, tilted to absorb the most light during the day. The wash of heat from within, lush and humid, persists even into the dead of winter; the air is heady with the scent of fresh-turned soil and various flora. Long, deep troughs of soil line the inner stone wall, planted with an assortment of broad, leafy tropicals - practical and decorative alike. Fruit and vegetable baskets hang from rafters, optimizing space, tempting in reach with a perpetually ripening harvest. A series of stone shelving is devoted to flourishing, aromatic herbs and new green shoots; even the softest touch releases a burst of savory scent from tender leaves. Amidst the greenery, a handful of wooden benches have been scattered, making this a temptingly warm and secluded spot to sit. Shuttered vents serve to regulate humidity and heat given off from a small hot spring recessed into an alcove at the back; a secondary pool with cooler waters siphons off to provide a constant, fresh supply for irrigation. A small potting station nearby is cluttered with watering cans and gardening tools of various uses, with a wooden bin for composting materials tucked underneath. Over by the outer wall of the greenhouse, not properly seated upon a bench but rather tiptoed between the pots and planting beds, a greenrider's pressed her nose up against the glass. She's wiped away the condensation away just enough to, quite disbelievingly, stare. Snow? Really?! Coming up the steps on the snowy side of things and able to see said greenrider pressed to the glass, R'co looks thoroughly amused by the sight. He pauses, hands dug into his pockets, then steps up to the pane to tap on it, on a level with Telavi's nose. He wears a cheeky grin that reaches to his blue eyes, even if one is hidden by the sideswept blonde of his long fringe, which barely fades as he blows softly upon the glass to mist it up. With awkward backwards writing so she'll be able to read it from within, he spells out 'Cold?' in the condensation. She draws away from the glass when he becomes near enough to see, but the tap surprises her enough that she takes a tentative step closer. Maybe it's the grin, but Telavi winds up laughing even before he's finished writing, and draws back, 'N'. Not backwards. R'co squints at it, then smirks, using the sleeve of his plush wool coat to clean off his side of the glass before blowing on it again, this time writing, 'I am.' Full stop and all. Then, holding up a finger as a request for her to wait a moment, he erases it, steams the glass up again, and writes, 'May I come in?', followed by a little smiley face. A sad smiley gets written back for how he's cold, but not too sad given how Telavi's smiling from behind it. May he come in? She shrugs, drawing a wavy line that winds up circling around to point at the internal staircase. The reply to that is a little heart drawn upon the glass, before R'co disappears to make his way inside. By the time he reaches Telavi at the glass, he's already shed his winter layers and looks relaxed with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, tanned cheeks already glowing with the warmth of the greenhouse. "So kind of you to allow me in," he coos, holding out a flower to the greenrider that he's plucked from somewhere on the way in. There's a similar one, all bright yellow and sunshiney, tucked into a buttonhole on his shirt. "A little sunshine for you? It'll look darling in your hair." Telavi's stepped back away from the glass by the time he'd made his way up the staircase, not far away, but just enough that she's not in so precarious a position. If she'd replied, the humidity conceals it by now. "Yes, it was a difficult decision to call off my armed guards, but I figured you were harmless." She smiles at the brownrider, and accepts the flower, but rather than put it in her hair she stretches: that latch for one of the panes, the highest one she can still reach, she lodges it in that as a bit of sun in truth. "A girl can pretend." "Why pretend, when you can go find sun?" R'co seems amused that someone mightn't consider as much, and he cants his head to one side to look at the fellow blonde. "You are the greenrider I think you are, aren't you, darling? I'm quite sure I was heartbroken when Deveriteauxth was beaten by that blue, though I can't say I disapproved of the sight leading up to it." He smirks softly, digging his hands into his pockets. "Tayte did introduce us, but do forgive me for forgetting your name, darling. I'm R'co, in case you forgot mine, too." One soft, perfectly manicured hand is withdrawn from his pocket, held out towards Tela. Why doesn't she? Telavi leaves the brownrider with an enigmatic smile, one that melts away like so much snow into the rise of her brows... or, no, it's more that it ices over. "I couldn't say," she says, drifting away along the wall of glass. She's in no real hurry, though, and glances back to say, "I am Telavi. Don't worry, if you forget it again, I'll forgive you." She even extends a hand toward R'co in return, though from that relative distance it's more of a wave, an offhand wiggle of her fingers. "Telavi." R'co returns the finger-wiggle quickly enough, correcting the course of his would-be handshake. "And... Solith? Is that right? Deveriteauxth says it is, but he's so often wrong that it's hard to tell when he's right." The brownrider grins, tossing his head to flick his hair from his eyes. "Do you often come in here? I'm not sure I've seen you before - though I will admit that I'm rather more concentrated on work, whenever I can sneak in for an hour or so." "That is right," Telavi says in lieu of a simple 'yes.' For the moment she stays where she is, more turned back than not, though not all the way. "I wouldn't say often. You're the one she praised for his potions?" R'co nods. "Lotions, potions, soaps... I give a killer massage, darling, do pop by for one sometime. I'll even give you a special rate." He winks, then turns slightly to face down one of the many walkways in the greenhouse. "I've got a little patch down there, with Bones' permission. Would you like to come see?" One of Tela's dimples shows, just briefly. "Did it take you forever to learn how to... 'massage'? Properly, I mean?" This invitation she answers by taking it up, walking several steps behind the brownrider, slowed further by peeking at the greenery here and there and often actually touching the leaves. As they walk, R'co talks. "Well, darling, I did spend several years with the Healers. I learnt massage and herbology from them, but honestly, there's nothing quite like experience. I've had plenty of that." He looks back to wink at the greenrider. "I could make my old weyrmate purr, darling. He simply loved it when I did something just so - and yet, you might not react to that same touch in the same way. It's all about learning how and where to touch each person, of course. Everyone likes something different." R'co grins as he shrugs his shoulders. "I happen to be a fast learner. Fast learners make better earners." "Years?" That comes out with surprise, even a touch of dismay. "Were you an apprentice, then? I'd like to think that certain training would carry over from person to person," Telavi explains, "particular muscles affected by particular activities and able to be treated in particular ways, regardless of personal proclivities. Are you saying that's not so? Fast learners, better earners, now that has a ring to it." She glances around her as she follows him, keeping track; though the greenhouse isn't so huge as a proper jungle, it still has its greenery every which way that can make it hard to gauge. R'co shakes his head. "A student, darling, not an apprentice - I wasn't overly keen on getting into the rather icky side of healing. My grandmother wanted me to learn her craft, so she paid me through. She's from here, you know. And my mother." He considers what she brings up for a moment, nodding his head. "Everything carries over, of course ; there are ways to treat certain ailments, and they'll get treated. But when you're massaging someone," he pauses, holding up his hands in front of him to mime the action, "you can tell what someone likes. You can feel it. And when you find what they like, if you give them a little more of it... more tips for you at the end of the day. Sometimes even more than tips." Wink wink. And then they arrive, as R'co stops by a section full of potted herbs. "And this is my garden," he announces proudly, before crouching down to pluck a few leaves from a mint bush, one of which he offers to the greenrider. "Do try this, Tela-pet. It's divine when it's fresh." "Are they. Do you see much of them? Were you a rider at the time?" Family gets a smile from Telavi, and tips, but more than tips, that comes with a step back. Still, she surveys the pots with much the same interest as his family had, and can't help but sniff the air when the leaves are plucked, but... "Try it again without the 'pet' part," Tela demurs, her tone teasing if nothing else, "and I might." "Do try this, Telavi. It's divine, when it's fresh." R'co repeats himself almost tone-perfect, even though he's trying to bite back on a laugh. "Don't think anything of it, darling. Everyone's a pet, or a love, or a darling... you'll know if I mean it any other way." He winks, giving her what's intended to be a reassuring smile. "My mother's still here, though my grandmother isn't. I wasn't a rider at High Reaches until about a turn back, actually; Deveriteauxth found me in Ista. That's where I know Tayte from." With that, Telavi accepts the mint-leaf with a bright smile by way of a reward, dainty enough to not touch so much as R'co's fingertips. She rolls it between her own as she rounds the patch to examine some of the other pots, saying, "Your grandmother's passed on, has she? I'm sorry. I can imagine it being nice to have family here, though, at least if you and your mother get along better these days," now that he's older, now that he's had time on his own, "than most mothers and teenaged boys I've known." R'co pops a mint leaf into his own mouth, before pulling a little sachet from his pocket and harvesting a handful more to pop inside. He's moving on to another plant while he answers, doing much the same there; crouching, carefully plucking leaves to pop them into a separate little drawstring bag. "Oh, my mother and I get along quite well... most of the time. She's... she's rather like me, except a girl, of course. And a greenrider. That's what I'd been expecting to be, you know? Deveriteauxth was a surprise for all of us." On he moves to a third plant, from which he takes two flowers. Telavi diligently makes room, careful not to dally between R'co and each plant that is his goal. "I hope that's not ever awkward," she offers, and belatedly thinks to rub the mint leaf under her nose this time, like even less than pint-sized smelling salts. "Deveriteauxth chased her Natalith once. It was terrible. Thank Faranth he didn't catch - I leave the Weyr now, when I know she's glowing. Can you imagine?" R'co's pretty face twists up in an expression of disgust, which shudders through him from head to toe. "Actually, he's not caught a single green since we moved here. It's awful. They loved him in Ista - he's even got babies back there. But here? Must be different thermals, or something." He sighs, standing up and swinging his little collection of stuffed sachets by their drawstrings, on his index finger. "You look like a girl who likes to get pampered, Telavi. Would you perhaps consider making a little deal with me?" Telavi can imagine, or so says the ill-suppressed horror writ large in her own grimace. "I'm glad you escaped," she says fervently. "Both of you. Ugh." No love for Deveriteauxth meets no speculation from Telavi, but then, the greenrider's still shaking her head a time or two as though she could shake the very thought of such incidents away. Her expression does clear somewhat, if not wholly, by the time he initiates that proposal; she keeps it simple and replies, "What deal would that be, R'co?" "I'm hoping to drum up a little more business in the Weyr, though I know things are awfully tight for most folks right now. But to do that, I need someone to actually show that I'm worth the marks." R'co smiles at Telavi, pressing one hand lightly to his slightly-cocked hip. "You seem... perfect for it, darling. I'll give you the works - manicure, pedicure, hair too, if you'd like it, massages, products... everything. All you have to do is... spread the word a little. Glowing praise, that sort of thing. It's not like you'll be spreading lies, after all." "All that," Telavi marvels. "Although really, I don't know what kind of salesgirl I could be. Your friend Tayte, is that what she does for you? Or does she not, since she buys your products already? The mint does smell nice, by the way, though I expect you knew that." "Tayte talked me up to you, so perhaps she's doing it to others? I don't know, to be honest, darling; I've never asked her. But, of course, I talk her up too, so... one good deed deserves another, perhaps?" R'co winks, bending down to pick a few more mint leaves to hand over to Telavi. "Here. If you think they're good now, you should taste them when I'm through with them. I'll send you a sample, darling, free of charge, of course. Have a think about what I said, and let me know? Have Solith tell Dev, if you'd like. I ought to get back to him; we've got a client in two hours, and I'm out of her favourite face mask." Hence the little sachets of herbs he's just collected, which he swings meaningfully from his finger. "Stay warm, Telavi. Don't forget your sunshine." The brownrider smiles brightly, pops off a smart, yet still somewhat cheeky salute, then turns smartly to trot back out to the snowy world beyond the greenhouse. The mint Telavi can accept, though she adds a hint of regret into her voice as she admits, "You have a persuasive pitch. I don't think I'll take you up on it, I feel I should tell you that in good faith, so you needn't send a sample if you don't like. Now, if you could convince the Acting Weyrwoman to help you out, I mean, to benefit from your expertise, wouldn't that be a catch? But! I shouldn't keep you. Good day, R'co," said with a bright smile of her own, her gaze careful not to linger at all near his shoulder where a knot or wing badge might be. |
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