Logs:'Fine'
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| RL Date: 27 January, 2014 |
| Who: Ali, K'del |
| Type: [[Concept:{{{type}}}|{{{type}}}]] |
| What: Some days after Isyath's flight, Ali and K'del finally catch up. |
| Where: K'del's Island, Western Islands |
| When: Day 28, Month 11, Turn 33 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Hattie/Mentions, K'zin/Mentions, N'muir/Mentions |
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| The island that serves as their home-away-from home and K'del's vineyard hasn't seen much attention lately, at least not from Ali. Since Boll, she's left Fort only a handful of times. Today, however, she makes a deliberate effort. The interior of the hut has been cleaned from top to bottom, and she's even brought in a makeshift cot for Iska. The dark-haired woman looks tired, if content, as she begins moving around the small kitchen area. Isyath, meanwhile, is joyful as always - the intensity of emotions around delighting (and having missed) the winds of /their/ place is obvious when the glitter of her stars spills around Cadejoth's jangling chains. So, too, is the queen's lack of memory obvious; she no longer remembers that when she called, he didn't come, so that when asked to invite father-and-daughter pair, she's more than happy to do so. That K'del has visited the island, or at least sent others to do so in his place, is obvious in the fact that the vines are still well-tended, even if the hut really did need the clean. Cadejoth's memory holds no concrete recollection of recent visits; Isyath's stars bring back only distant, mostly-forgotten snippets of being there with her, and so he is pleased and delighted by the prospect. That much is clear all over again when, after a suitable interval, he appears in the sky above the island, flying carefully if only for the sake of the burden his rider considers to be so precious. He lands only long enough to be relieved of those burdens, leaving K'del to hoist Iska into his arms and head for the hut. It's certainly not as neat as when they lived here full time, but Ali's obviously been busy. The familiar scent of herbs and cooked meat drifts outside onto the breeze, the pot simmering on the hearth while the dark-haired woman hastily pulls off her apron after Isyath joyfully greets Cadejoth. Unaware (or perhaps more accurately uncaring) of his burden, she circles around the bronze. There's a hint of disappointment that he's not nearly so careless in flight as he usually is on the way down, and while he lands, she stays in the skies, waiting with obvious impatience, the glitter of her stars raining down around him. The way Ali's hurrying out of the hut to greet K'del and Iska seems to suggest impatience is not merely on her queen's part; mindful of Iska in his arms, she seeks to press herself into his embrace with a weird noise that could be interpreted as a greeting, but just really sounds odd. Cadejoth's thoughts promise reckless abandon, just as soon as he can be airborne again. As he shoots off into the sky, that rain of stars sweeps him up: up and up and up, as high as they can go. She should chase him, this time! It's that noise that really pushes K'del into action. He had already been reaching out with his free arm, aiming to wrap Ali into its embrace, but now he squeezes, pressing an urgent kiss to the top of her head. "Hey now," he murmurs. And, "Should've come sooner." And, "We're here. We're all here." Chase /him/? That's clearly absurd- yet even in the consideration of it, Isyath's still enough that Cadejoth is shooting up past her, into the skies. Never one to want to be beaten in any game, the Fortian queeen's flying in his wake, seeking to do just that- even if her goal isn't so much to /catch/ him as to merely /beat/ him, it has the same effect. "We've both been busy," Ali's muttering into his chest, and she pulls back just enough to tip her head up to greet him properly with a kiss. Then, voice warming, her free hand that's not already around K'del's middle gently brushes Iska's head. "How has she been?" If there's a trace of anxiousness, well- she /is/ a first time mother. Catch him. Beat him. Cadejoth is unbothered by such distinctions: what matters is that they're here, together, and there's a whole sky to explore. Were his rider less distracted, he'd probably glance up at them, now, and smile-- but no, K'del's answering that kiss with eagerness, and then lifting his daughter so that he can press her towards Ali. "She's been good. She keeps trying to stand up, if you let her. I think she's pretty eager to be properly mobile; crawling isn't cutting it anymore." His eyes, though, are all for Ali herself. While Ali's probably trying not to snatch Iska to her chest, her relief is obvious when K'del hands the girl over, pressing lips to Iska's head as the girl squeals and laughs. "She's trouble enough with the crawling. You know soon enough she'll be dressing in inappropriate clothes and going on dates and driving us crazy." Her tone is warm and laughing, and she tucks the edges of her fingers in against K'del's arm. "Let's go inside. I want to-" her gaze flickers upwards; Isyath's still straining skywards in Cadejoth's wake, her delight spilling out freely, "-hear about- I couldn't /stop/ her. Is he okay?" K'del's mouth twitches at this future Iska: he watches mother and daughter as if he can't quite picture it. "And leading her brothers and sisters astray," he murmurs, as he turns to lead the pair of them indoors. "He's forgotten," he promises, his gaze following Ali's without even seeming to realise it. "It was awful at the time, and... but it's fine. It's not your fault, or hers, or anyone's, I promise. It was--" As he steps inside, his gaze turns back towards Ali. "Fine. Honestly. How are-- it was okay?" "It was okay," Ali confirms, even if there's a visible fluster at the reminder, her hands tightening her hold on Iska as the girl starts to wiggle and gesture that she wants down. After a hesitation, she sets the girl down on the floor, and she begins crawling around in investigation. "I- we missed having you there. Our- the Weyrwoman was uncomfortable with K'zin potentially being around, but I think she'll be okay as long as he-." She chews her lower lip. "He seems like a- a good kid." That she immediately heads for the pot of tea is probably a deliberate distraction. "Wish he hadn't gotten caught up in Elaruth's flight first," mutters K'del, sidestepping Iska in a way that speaks of a great deal of practice. More firmly: "We missed being there, too. It was... Anyway, I've given permission for him to go, for while she's on the sands. He's under strict instructions to behave himself in every way, so he should be... fine." He leans up against the table, watching her. His hands curl around the edge of it, uncomfortably. "He's... he and I have a relationship that's sometimes complicated, but he's growing up well. Mostly." "That- didn't help," Ali's admitting awkwardly. "Hattie didn't want to go into detail, but I think she... struck him, and he reached for her, or something? So, as long as he stays out of her way- N'muir's too, I imagine," with a grimace, "He'll be fine. Oh," she looks pleased at his permission, glancing over his shoulder before setting pot and cups onto a tray. Carrying them over to the table, "I can set up the guest weyr for him and Rasavyth. Maybe lighten it up with some-" she grimaces. "Sorry. This must be-" she hesitates, then begins to pour the tea, darting a quick glance up at his expression, "He- seemed surprised I didn't know who you were, or how you- related to him? He's one of your wingriders, right?" Iska's crawling under the table, and her tiny hand grips K'del's ankle for balance as she tries to pull herself up. "He'll stay out of the way," promises K'del, with a dangerous note that suggests he will... or else. That Ali's pleased seems to relieve the bronzerider, too, who allows the corners of his mouth to turn up... though that falters again as the goldrider continues. His gaze drops towards Iska, instead, watching her attempt to stand as he formulates an answer. "He's... I'm his mentor, I guess. Been someone he looked up to since he was a kid. Complicated family relationship, so I'm... it, I guess. But," he hastily glances back up at Ali, "Why should you know any of that? He has strange ideas, sometimes. And he said something about pants?" Ali sets a cup in front of K'del, then one for herself- but she's not sitting yet, moving around to watch Iska trying to stand, laughing for a moment and trying to cover it up with a hand over her mouth with Iska makes a frustrated noise. "Pants?" That earns a blank stare, then, "Oh! I- I found him a clean pair of your pants to wear. They didn't fit, I guess. I've mended, them, though. So, uh, a mentor? That's good. You'll be a good influence on him," she says with warmth. "I was thinking," she says, abruptly, "About- well, it's only four sevens until Turnover, and Issy won't have clutched yet. Maybe we can- go somewhere. Us, and Iska, I mean. I'll have to make an appearance at Fort and I'm sure you'll have to at High Reaches, but- maybe Ammie and Karel can show off their girl?" Poor Iska. K'del, too, has to hold back laughter - laughter that's visible about the corners of his eyes, and in the dimples about his mouth. K'zin, pants, and all other comments along that particular thread of the conversation are abandoned in lieu of reaching for his cup, and cradling it between his fingers. "I'd like that," he agrees, firmly. "Man like Karel, there's no way he'd not want to spend his turnover with his girls... as much of it as he can. Pretty sure I can get the required appearance over and done with quickly, and then we'll meet you. Looking forward to it already." "Good," Ali murmurs, sounding pleased. She reaches down and finally rescues Iska, if only to settle the girl against her hip, where she shoves a thumb in her mouth and stares down at her father. "Maybe by next Turn's End he'll have another young son to show off, too," she suggests, with a not-so-subtle sidelong smile directed K'del-wards. "You know, the stew's going to be a while, and if we can get Iska to go down for a little nap...?" K'del puts down his cup, just like that. "He'd like that," he murmurs, his expression not-so-subtle in return, though he hastily turns it towards his daughter before it gets too heated. "C'mon, Iska. Won't it be nice to have both your parents putting you to bed, for once? I just bet you'll sleep really, really well." Really. Because your parents are going to be busy. "You know that's bound to have the opposite effect," Ali says, kind of reproachfully, but she's laughing as she does so, moving towards the cot and placing Iska down in it, tucking her in with her favorite firelizard toy and blanket. The girl might take a bit of convincing, a bit of singing and a lot of cajoling before she finally drifts off to sleep and her parents can go onto other activities. |
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