Logs:A Sad Celebration
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| RL Date: 21 November, 2014 |
| Who: K'del, Tayte |
| Type: [[Concept:{{{type}}}|{{{type}}}]] |
| What: Tayte brings K'del the good but sad news about her departure. |
| Where: Weyrleader's Weyr, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 3, Month 5, Turn 36 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Ali/Mentions, Clio/Mentions, H'vier/Mentions, Ishadel/Mentions, Iska/Mentions, Madilla/Mentions, Tayre/Mentions, Yvalia/Mentions |
| OOC Notes: Back-dated. |
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>---< Weyrleader's Weyr, High Reaches Weyr(#1716RJL) >-----------------------<
Rank certainly has its privileges, and among them are amply appointed
apartments. The short flight of stairs from the Weyrleader's Complex opens
up into the larger of two chambers, formally decorated and clearly
designed to cater as much to important guests as the occupant's personal
living. Old, but obviously expensive, llama wool rugs dyed blue-and-black
cover the stone floor, leading towards the second chamber, the stairs, and
the rush-filled dragon couch and ledge beyond it. A formal seating
arrangement - a sofa and chairs, all blue-and-black - sits around a large,
tiled fireplace, whilst along the other wall, a finely made, if now
somewhat antique, desk sits between a bookshelf and a tall cupboard to
which tack-hooks have been attached, riding gear arranged neatly inside.
Two tapestries hung from the high walls depict overdone splendour for High
Reaches Weyr, one a long view of the snow-covered bowl, and the other a
hazy impressionist piece of dragons flaming over a springtime countryside.
The inner weyr, made up of a sleeping cavern and a private bathing area,
is smaller and cosier and distinctly less ostentatious. An oversized
wooden sleigh bed fills much of the space, the mattress piled high with
overstuffed down pillows and comforter, their covers dyed in varying
shades of navy blue, light blue and bronze. There's a nightstand on either
side, both with reading lamps, and against one of the other walls, a tall,
heavy wardrobe made from a dark wood that matches the bed. The bathing
area is part of the same cavern, a folding screen shielding the toilet and
slightly raised, double-sized bathtub built into the stone, and a small
shelf holding toiletries, shaving equipment, and clean towels.
-----------------------------< Active Players >-----------------------------
K'del M 33 6'4" Slender, Toffee hair, Baby Blue eyes 0s
Tayte F 30 5'9" Slender, blonde hair, Ocean Blue eyes 6s
----------------------------------< Exits >---------------------------------
Complex Ledge
>-------------------------------------------< 3D 5M 36T I10, spring dusk >---< It probably says a lot for the nature of Tayte's friendship with K'del that he 1. lets her come to use his bath once a seven for some 'me time' and 2. she doesn't seem to feel that clipping and filing her nails while sitting on his couch in her post-bath loose relaxation pants and tank top, hair still damp but brushed, is anything at all inappropriate. If anything, she looks pretty at home. She has a glass of wine sitting within easy reach and a second one beside it, along with the bottle (not skin) of wine that's a very good Tillekian red and if nothing else about the fact that she's still here when the Weyrleader gets home, the second glass is a cue that she means to take some moments from his busy schedule. Tayte's bath night is, generally, a night when K'del makes himself scarce for a few hours-- sometimes he'll be at Southern all night, and sometimes he's just out and about, but there's always some time for Tayte to be quite, quite alone. Cadejoth's presence on the ledge is proof enough that he's not at Southern, tonight, and sure enough, he wanders in before it gets too late, bearing with him an armful of books that suggests he's been in the records room. "Tayte, hey," he says, as he pauses to dump them onto the table. "Nice bath?" As a mother of now three, and two of those under the age of three, being quite, quite alone is a gift each and every time it occurs. Tayte doesn't take it for granted. Probably it was Cadejoth's presence that prompted the pouring from the bottle she brought with her. By the time he arrives, she's just finishing the manicure, dropping her files and clippers and other implements that probably could be used for unpleasant tortures into her shower caddy that's at the foot of the couch. She has a smile for him when he arrives. "Wonderful. As always. Fed Tayre just before I came so I could take a little extra time, and my mother is visiting, so." Free babysitting. Ocean eyes slide away from his face and to those books. "Long day? Have a little time? We need to talk." It's not said super seriously but those words never mean anything else, do they? 'We need to talk' is frequently a mood killer; how often does it mean something positive, even though it can? K'del hesitates, but it's only for a moment; then, he's crossing to the couch to settle down on the opposite end to the vintner, saying, "Always got time for you, Tayte. What's up?" He sounds... well, concerned. "We're celebrating, Kas," Tayte chides gently, leaning to pick up the glass of wine and offer it over it to him. "Don't look at me like that." Even if he has every right in the world to look at her just like that. "I got a letter from a friend back at the Hall," she starts. "Turns out they're not going to let me wander off into the sunset after all. They're giving me my knot back." Giving. Forcing it into her hands. Same same. It's instinctual, really, for K'del to accept glasses of wine that are handed to him; auto-pilot, really, something that requires no thought at all. Much more thought goes into his expression as Tayte replies - into the way his brows raise really? and, too, into the intake of breath that follows when the vintner (always, in his mind, a vintner) gets to the point. "Shells, really? But that's-- excellent. You want it, right? It's what you want?" Tayte takes and holds a breath. Then, certain of it now, "Yes." To K'del, she can admit this, where others might not have been so receptive. "I didn't realize what my knot meant to me-- for me, until I'd given it up. But it's-- not quite so simple as that. My friend? She's the craftsecond. And she wants me to come back, but back to the Hall. They're giving me a new posting back at the Hall. Clio said she'd explain when I got there." It's plain that this is not what K'del expected to come next; to her confirmation of his assumption he nods, once twice and then a third time, but the rest... it has him sucking in a breath through his teeth, then exhaling raggedly. "Oh," he says, apparently without the wherewithal to say anything more than that. Just... "Oh." "It's going to be okay. Good, I think, really. Space for everyone." Space for her. Space for K'del. Space for H'vier. Space. "I missed here, but I liked being at the Hall before." Tayte scoots closer to K'del on the couch now, "But there's this thing... And you don't have to say yes, but." The vintner (yes, actually a vintner now again), her expression is tense as she makes the proposal, "Yvalia would like to stay here." Obviously it pains her a little to say aloud, but, there it is. K'del's nod, as Tayte says 'space,' is a quick one, but clear in its intent: he knows what she means. It doesn't make the expression on his face any less wistful, but at least it allows his shoulders to ease, a little, and lets him take, finally, a sip from his drink. One arm reaches out to offer her a hug, however awkward it is, as he exhales again. "And you're... okay with that?" It is awkward, but she makes it less so by scooting the rest of the distance and settling with a grumpy sort of sigh against his side. "Of course I'm not," like he should know better. Tayte takes a long sip from her glass. "I told her I'd think about it and talk with you. Maybe she'll be a harper yet. Her argument was very convincing." Eight turn olds, they're tricky! "She says she'll live in the dorms, that lots of kids do and turn out just fine, and she'll have you and you'll look out for her, and I won't have to worry," because mothers totally have a 'stop worrying' switch. "But she's eight," which makes Tayte frown. It's an argument for and against. "And you're not just my friend who stops by to play father, Kas. You are her father, even if you weren't for the first few turns. If she wants to stay here, and you'll keep an eye on our girl, I don't feel like I should drag her kicking and screaming to vintner and deal with her moping and hating me over it. Maybe she'll decide she doesn't like it and will want to come to vintner in a few months," it's said wistfully, but not with a great reservoir of hope behind it. K'del listens, carefully, to what Tayte has to say, clearly taking great pains to avoid actually breaking in and commenting over her words. It's only as she finishes that, sighing, he nods. "You know I'll look out for her, Tayte. If it's what she wants... you'll get someone in the lower caverns to do day-to-day things, though, won't you? You'll make sure she's being looked after properly." "I'm sure Madilla can recommend someone," Tayte answers with another sigh. She looks a little miserable for a moment, but that's why there's wine, right? She drinks and then has to shift away to get the bottle, which she just brings back with her. "And you will visit me when you have time, yes?" She tilts her head to give him a no-nonsense look. "I mean, I know it won't be often what with your Weyr and your family, and our daughter, and Cadejoth, and your island, but... you won't forget about me, will you?" The last is a little more like a plea and less like the former demand. Firmly; "I'm sure she can." K'del's clearly working hard to sound positive and approving, though it's a little difficult when Tayte continues that way; enough so, in the end, that he has to sigh and agree, "Of course I will, Tayte. You're my best friend, and I've a dragon who can get me anywhere in a matter of moments." His gaze follows Tayte, lingering on her, as he adds, "And I'll be bringing Vali to visit you, too, because you know she's going to want to, wherever she lives, and whatever she does." "Good. You better. And just so you know," the blonde pins him with a mockingly scathing look, "I'll know the difference when you come to visit me, and when you come to visit my extremely excellent booze," since she'll be back to having the best of the best. Tayte's brightness is a little forced when she asks, "Will you take me out for my turnday this turn?" Since she doesn't have any plans on being pregnant and will be able to afford a turnday dress worth wearing again. Asking about this is infinitely more pleasant than dwelling on the less pleasant parts of her 'good' news. K'del's look, in reply, is all innocence. Then, he suggests, "Send me the really good booze, and then your scintillating company will be the only thing that could possibly draw me to visit." He lets that hang for only a beat before he adds, "'course I'll take you out. We'll go somewhere fancy. Presumably not in the Igen area," twitch, "but that was probably a given regardless." "Only enough to enjoy your friends and bribe your enemies," Tayte will agree, "Otherwise, if you want the good stuff, you'll be singing bawdy shanties with me at three in the morning." The price of good booze! She wrinkles her nose for Igen and shakes her head, agreeing. "Speaking of Igen, if you should see my brother," the bronzeriding one from Igen she found and surely mentioned to him at some point, "hanging around, can you make sure my note got to him? He's been visiting fairly often, but I get the feeling I'm just a pre-text these days." That's mentioned with some measure of wry humor. "Well, of course. Can't oversupply me if I'm not willing to pay my way," agrees K'del, with a lazy smile; an easier one, now that the hard stuff is out of the way, even if it's still hard, and still present. He pauses long enough to take a sip from his own glass, then adds, "'course I will. How... soon will you be leaving?" And, cautiously, "You've spoken to H'vier, I assume?" There's a smile for the first, of course. "They want me moved in and I suppose ready to do whatever it is Clio needs by the end of the month." Tayte looks at the wine in her glass. "Yes. He was visiting when the note arrived, actually. He wasn't happy, but he didn't do or say anything stupid." She takes a sip and then turns to look at the man who is both her friend and the Weyrleader. "I know you can't have liked how he went about getting wingleadership, and I'm not about to defend him to you," for anything he's done, "but for whatever it's worth, I think he's grown." As a person. "Not that that means we're getting back together or anything," because that's over. Ish. "But he's not demanding the kids stay here or anything, which I think really says something." Both about where he was at and where he has come to, probably, and it probably doesn't say the same thing to K'del as it does to Tayte. It's not very long, and that's what K'del's expression says, even if he doesn't answer beyond a short nod. The rest-- the rest leaves him to sigh, turning his gaze away from Tayte and on to the distant wall. "Mm," he says, finally. "Maybe it's best we don't talk about him. Not that... but I'm always going to think the worst of him, whatever he does. I'm glad you think he's grown. That's important." "Then let's not. We don't have to." Tayte replies. "Not ever, if you don't like. Tell me about Ali and Ishadel and Iska." Not that she doesn't know the latter two have been here more often, but more generally. It's an invitation to things more pleasant. More functional. They have a whole half bottle to finish between them after all. Pairing it with unpleasant topics would be a crime. |
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