Logs:The Simple Joys of Pregnancy
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| RL Date: 17 January, 2014 |
| Who: K'del, Tayte |
| Type: Log |
| What: Poor, kind K'del comes across Tayte in the midst of a pregnancy crisis. She's fat! |
| Where: Tayte's Room, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 28, Month 10, Turn 33 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Ali/Mentions, Avey/Mentions, H'vier/Mentions, Iska/Mentions, Telavi/Mentions, Yvalia/Mentions |
| OOC Notes: Uh. Yeah. So this scene was intentionally both silly and over-dramatic. If you start reading and you're not amused, don't read anymore. It only gets worse. |
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| Tayte's Room, High Reaches Weyr The peculiar shape of this room suggests that it was unintentionally expanded, cement holding the ceiling together towards the peculiarly shaped alcove build into the back corner. It's larger than most personal quarters as a result, and though the uneven walls mean nothing sits flush, there's plenty of room for more than the usual amount of furniture. The larger lobe of the lopsided kidney shape that the room has might be considered a studio room. A large bed is tucked into the roundest part of the alcove, though there's a gap behind where the straight headboard does not meet the wall. It's piled high with furs and pillows. In this curve there's also a wardrobe, a dresser, and nightstands. Hooks extending from the ceiling over the dresser have been rigged with two layered chain-link that holds a number of bottles of alcohol of different varieties. The highest drawer in the dresser which is bizarrely the largest locks with a key. Opposite it, closer to the door, is a hearth that's had a throw rug and loveseat set in front of it, along with a few low tables. A set of shelves and a small desk sit opposite the curve of the smaller end of the room. Around the curve and into the little lobe, one finds a great change. There's color everywhere instead of the muted things in the front half. Scarves and streamers hang from little hooks installed in the ceiling, their lengths varying, and a crib is set up in the middle with two small boxes that have toys poking out of their not-quite-shut lids. There's a tall table stocked with all the tools a mother needs (well, those that are safe to be at toddler height) and a small dresser and wardrobe. The furniture is all hand-me-downs but in decent enough condition to make the occupants comfortable.
Outside in the Hall, K'del hesitates for long seconds, a look of bewildered concern across his face. It's not that he's unwilling to face whatever disaster has befallen his friend, but... sometimes a person needs to prepare themselves for such a thing. Finally, the door opens, and he steps inside. Several more seconds of hesitation follow: the Acting Weyrleader stares at Tayte, at the mess of her quarters, at all of it. And then he crosses towards her, moving to sit down behind her and put his arms around her. "Tayte?" "Oh, Kas!" is managed between sobs and maybe Tayte doesn't even notice that she lets go of the dress as she twists around to throw her arms around his neck and just sob against his chest. "Kas, it's awful!" Horrible! Unthinkable! The dress is now wedged, of course, between them, and some of that dress has uncomfortable bits pressing. Maybe K'del is with it enough to notice. Tayte surely isn't. Subtly, K'del attempts to dug the dress free, mindful of it even if Tayte is not. Of course, it's really very much a secondary kind of thing: much more important is attempting to soothe the emotion-monster that is the Vintner. "Hey now," he murmurs, using a voice not dissimilar to the one he uses with Yvalia when she is upset. "Everything's fine. Shh, Tayte. Why don't you let me get you some water?" His glance in the direction of her liquor cabinet is only a brief one. Really. Maybe K'del should look at the liquor dresser for longer because looking is as close to getting as he's going to get, at least for the moment. He's able to maneuver the dress, but not the woman who may have become (at least for the moment) a semi-permanent growth. Ever wondered what it's like to have a needy parasite, K'del? To be pregnant? This might be close. She clings as if she'd be lost if she let go. Her grip might even be a little painful while she sobs. Through the sobs she's able to speak at times, though the story is slow in coming. "Kas, it's not fine. It's not. I haven't got anything to wear!" And that has her dissolving into a high-pitched wail (much like the one Yvalia gets when she's that upset), but which thankfully dissolves into more sobs instead of staying at that uncomfortable decibel and pitch. Luckily for K'del, he's impregnated enough women that he's not wholly unfamiliar with this kind of scene (though most of his women have been a little less hormonally crazy, in truth), so he probably doesn't think Tayte has completely lost it just now. She clings, and he soothes, though his wince at her wail is probably difficult to cover. Sorry, Tayte. "Shhh," he says. "I bet we can find something. And whatever you wear, you'll look beautiful. You'll fit into all of these things again. You will. Honest." Truth be told, K'del is the old hand here; poor Tayte's only been through it one other time and let's face it, she might have been drunk for part of it. Most of it. All of it? Surely not all of it. After all, Yvalia seems fine. Right? Oh, no wait, she stopped partying when she got knocked up. Maybe the hormones are just trying to make up for the void of crazy in her life. It's kind of them, really, if you think about it. Who could do with less crazy in life? Fortunately for K'del, Tayte's too absorbed with herself to notice his wince, although his shift does seem to prompt her into shifting, too, to get a little more comfortable. "Tela wanted to borrow my clothes. Because I won't fit in them for a while. And I don't! I'm fat, Kas, I'm fat!" No, the word is pregnant, dear, but, sure. Let's go with fat, only because I'm scared of you. Scary pregnant lady is scary. K'del is... well, he's trying. "You're not fat," he tells her, firmly. Not quite sharply, but it's a close call thing. He's trying very hard to be patient. "You're beautiful. You're carrying a baby in there, and it's made you all round and curvy and more beautiful than ever. You're tall enough to carry it. And in a few months... in a few months, you can start getting your body back." Start. Shhh. "But now..." One hand slides in half between them, having abandoned her shoulders but only so that he can press it towards her belly (which may count as a liberty and rude, but... she's crying in his arms here). "Now you're making a home for your baby." Not quites have a way of being interpreted as what they're not when it comes to irrational women (not even just pregnant ones). So suddenly, Tayte is pulling back away from him enough to look up at him with a trembling lip and tearful eyes, brows raised high in concern. "Are you mad at me?" Is this better than having to talk about how she is or isn't fat? The fact that his hand has moved to her belly means one of her hands has covered it there, and gosh she looks like she's about to lose it all over again, even if the sobs have totally ceased in this moment (that probably should scare them both). Whoops. Yes, K'del is definitely scared. And floundering, despite his very best efforts. "No. Of course I'm not mad at you... why would I be mad? I'm worried about you. Let me look after you, sweetheart. I'm here for you." Has he remembered, yet, that he was supposed to pick up Vali? Maybe not. This is kind of distracting, after all. "We should get something beautiful designed for you. A dress that highlights this." He's presumably referring to the belly. At least Scary Pregnant Women have short attention spans, so she jumps back to the original problem once he's answered, "Highlights it? Who needs to highlight it? I might as well head over to the hatching grounds since I'm big enough to lay a clutch of eggs!" Firelizard eggs, maybe; though that would raise some serious questions about Tayte's extracurricular activities or about H'vier. Sad has gone to mad now as she pushes herself out of K'del's arms and starts to stand, having to shift with a frustrated noise from the way that she always used to get up to the new way of getting up which involves a little less grace, but more balance. Relinquishing his hold, K'del rocks backwards, eyes trained on the Vintner as she stands. "You look beautiful," he repeats, firmly. "In a robe. In a sack. In anything. Know it's got to feel weird and be frustrating, but... you do look beautiful. I can't wait to meet Vali's little sister or brother. It's not so many months, now, right? In a way, I miss Iska being that tiny." If he talks at her enough, she'll forget that she's upset, right? Right? "Beautiful." The word sounds bitter as Tayte suddenly glares at K'del, "Beautiful for anyone but you." If it had just been 'beautiful', that probably could've skidded under the radar, but calling Tayte beautiful and then mentioning Iska, which inevitably means Ali... well. The anger only lasts as long as it takes Tayte to stride purposefully toward the liquor dresser and pull out a bottle. By the time she has it in hand, though, she's sobbing all over again. Well done, K'del. No, really. He looks genuinely crestfallen-- and he may as well be saying stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid out-loud, given how clearly it's written on his face. "Tayte--" he begins, as he attempts to clamber to his feet and hurry towards her, though this time he's hovering instead of rushing in to offer his arm. "Tayte, I'm sorry." "No, I'm sorry." The sorries have started. Tayte is setting the bottle on the dresser top and turning to press herself against K'del in a tight, tight hug. "That wasn't fair. I'm not fair. I'm not myself. I'm sorry, Kas. You shouldn't have to be dealing with me. You should go. I can sob on my pillow." She's not sobbing now, so much as sniffling, but the sound of her alto leaves no doubt how genuinely sorry she feels, right now, in this exact moment. There are absolutely no guarantees about the next moment. Or the one after. "Shh, shh," says K'del, his long arms now wrapping snugly about the Vintner and drawing her in further. "Not going anywhere, not while you need me. It's fine, honestly. Babies... it happens." He could tell her all about Avey's hysterics, but that would probably be crass right now, right? So. "You don't need to worry about me." It's good that he wasn't going anywhere, because even though Tayte said he should go, it's not like her arms were anything but tight around him. Of course, it's not like the hugging that once was. Not anymore. Not with something between them. Although, just then, that something is inclined to be someone. Thump. And pressed so tight? If K'del isn't too distracted, he just might have felt it. Tayte must have because suddenly she's still and silent, breath drawing slowly. Thump. K'del's experienced this before, of course, but even so: abruptly, he grins. "Hello, little guy," he murmurs, clearly rather more to the unborn child between them than to Tayte - she's been superseded. Temporarily. And not... in the complex way their relationship exists, promise. That would be gross and Twilight-esque. "It's okay. Your mother isn't really upset, promise." "How do you know it's going to be a guy?" Tayte murmurs, her voice suddenly hushed, as though the baby can hear them. Which, of course, it can. Thump. "Have Vali and Iska worn you out on girls so soon?" There's a gentle tease in her voice. She sounds more herself. Maybe the movement is grounding somehow, providing so much focus that everything else is forced out of the picture. "Don't," admits K'del, with a low, careful laugh, as though he's equally afraid of being too loud... or offending the maybe-girl inside. "But 'guy' can be gender neutral, right? Do you have a preference? Hoping for a little boy to balance out your family? Or another girl?" He's managing not to sound wistful; if anything, he seems pleased. Tayte's nose wrinkles, folding the freckles, "No. 'Guy' cannot be gender neutral. It's guy." She rolls her eyes at K'del and then shifts her hands down to her belly, away from him, but she does pause long enough to scoop up his hands once they're off her to bring them to where the movement is continuing at random intervals. Slowly, quietly, "I just want a healthy baby." One that doesn't die in the middle of pregnancy. Or ever, really. She'd probably prefer one that didn't die ever. K'del, suitably chastened, gives Tayte a semi-apologetic glance. His hands are easily shifted; his expression turns to one of pure, quiet delight. "Seems like he or she is," he murmurs, in answer. "The way it keeps moving around like that. Safe, happy and healthy. Getting excited to meet mamma." And then, equally quiet: "Where's Vali?" Her smile was there. It really was. Just in the moments where K'del spoke of the baby being healthy. But then gone again. Because. "Oh no! Vali." A glance toward the door, "I completely lost track of time," And sense. "She must still be at the nursery. And thinking I've forgotten her. Oh no. No. No no no no no." It's a panicked look that returns with her eyes back to K'del's face. "She'll hate me." Think fast, K'del! There's still time to stop the sobs from making a triumphant return. Oh. Whoops. K'del looks stricken, but it seems to be largely because of Tayte's distress rather than the thought of Vali abandoned. "No, she won't hate you," he says, firmly. "We've had talks, Vali and I. About what the new baby means." He leans forward, pressing a kiss to Tayte's forehead, one hand lifting so that he can stroke her head. "Why don't I go fetch her and bring her back here? We could spend some time as a family, the thr-- four of us. Or I could take you both out." There's a sniffle. But no sob. Disaster averted! Level up, K'del! "Alright. But. Maybe you could take the long way back so I have time to do something about all of this?" A nod indicates the bras on the bed and the skirts on the floor and the-- well, the whole big mess. K'del gives Tayte's hair another stroke. "We'll take the scenic route," he promises. "Maybe we'll inspect the lake for ice." It's clearly far too early in the season for that, but it won't stop him. "You'll be all right without us, for a little while?" Because if so? He's ready to head out into the cold to fetch their daughter. For family time. "Yes, yes. Go, go." Tayte even has a bit of a laugh for his concern, as if to say, 'why K'del, whatever would make you think I wouldn't be?' He'd better go while the going is good. In the meantime, well... She'll do something about these clothes. Hopefully not anything that involves setting them on fire in her frustration. That... would be fun to come back to. No, really! Are the wings bored? It would give them something to do... Weyrling training! OhsweetFaranth. Do not let them near my clothes. Not even the burned ones! Oh. Well. Fine then. Tela would understand. Maybe. Well, she'd disown me for burning my clothes instead of giving them to her. But. After that, she'd understand. Waste of good clothes! But. Okay. Fine. |
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