Logs:Practice Makes Perfect
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| RL Date: 4 August, 2013 |
| Who: Ali, K'del |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr, Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Ali and K'del discuss the baby issue. K'del buries any guilt he's feeling over Tayte. (Hint: there's a lot). |
| Where: K'del's Island, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 7, Month 6, Turn 32 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: E'dre/Mentions, Hattie/Mentions, Tayte/Mentions, Yvalia/Mentions |
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| With things the way they are these days, there isn't a lot of time where both of them are free for long enough periods. Thus, at the end of a warm day, Ali forgoes even the usual niceties of cooking for rather more adventurous pastimes. Afterward, completely relaxed for once, the Fortian woman's lying on her stomach, head pillowed on her cheek, just kind of watching K'del. After a moment, she finally murmurs, "Do you think we still should be jealous of them?" after a pause, like she's realized she's started a conversation without the context that was entirely in her head: "Ammie and Karel?" K'del lays on his back, his head pillowed upon his folded hands, elbows extended on either side. When Ali speaks, he turns his head to look at her, smiling, though he's visibly confused for several seconds before her clarification makes sense of everything. "Why, because they're happily married and settled down, living in their little love nest forever and ever with nothing to drag them away?" Putting it like that, it turns his expression briefly wistful. "Maybe. But... being us isn't so bad, is it?" Is it? He's hesitant. "It's not so bad," Ali agrees, and maybe she even senses that hesitation for once, though she doesn't linger on it. "Except-" a pause, something wistful of her own in her voice now, "They probably have a dozen kids running around underfoot by now." She pushes up now, resting on her elbows and chin propped on her folded hands, so she can better see his expression. "We'd have some catching up to do. If- if you'd want that." /She/ wants that, it's obvious in the tense, waiting air, in the anxious look that sinks into her expression. K'del shifts, turning his head so that he can meet Ali's gaze in this new position. "Shells, Ali," he says, but it's definitely not a case of 'omg you crazy'; he's laughing, even, smiling through it. "Sort of figured that was a given. Part of the deal. Saw you with Hattie's latest, seen the way you look... you know I love kids. I'm one of nine, remember, and there's nothing I'd like more than for my kids to have that kind of experience. All of them." Ali exhales a tenseness she likely wasn't aware of, a chorus of relief. "I didn't want to- to assume, even though you said-" But now she's all smiles, practically /glowing/ with delight, leaning forward to seek his lips with hers. "Girl or boy first?" she asks, murmuring against his lips. Let's face it, she probably already has names picked out for /either/ already. If there was any lingering something from K'del, it's gone, now: Ali's delight has wiped it all away, left him to return that kiss with wholehearted pleasure of his own. "Either," he says, promptly. "As long as he or she is healthy. I'm more used to boys... but I'm beginning to learn girls now, too. And babies... kind of miss my boys being babies." "'Learn' girls?" Ali echoes teasingly, laughing, but her gaze is still soft as she agrees, "Looking after Nehmet has been-" she exhales, shifting her weight until she's half leaning over him, hands resting against his chest and chin propped on top. While the dark-haired woman's silent for a bit, she doesn't seem unhappy- quiet the opposite, in fact: a sudden smile appears. "Your Turnday's coming up. I dragged you off to Nerat last Turn for an evening of dancing- do you remember?" she's smiling at the memory of it; maybe that's why their alter egos are have been on her mind, too. One of K'del's hands drops to play with Ali's hair, affectionately tousling it. "Girls," he says, very faux-seriously, "play different games. Did you know that?" Mention of his turnday makes him laugh again. "Of course I remember. It was a wonderful night." He's wearing his 'reminiscing' expression, though he adds, after a moment, "The boys and I are going to camp at my parents' place, this turn. Yvalia might join us for a couple of hours. But... we can still do something. For it, and for your turnday, after." "I always used to play with my brothers, so- I'm not really a good judge," Ali says, though his touch to her hair elicits a smile. "I was closer with them than my younger sisters. I never really- played dolls, or house or anything, because that was real for me, not make-believe." There's a moment of delight: "Camping? That's a wonderful idea. I can make some food that'll keep for a few days- unless you're truly roughing it. But- Yvalia?" she echoes, curiously. The dark-haired woman's grimacing now, though- likely as not at the reminder of /her/ Turnday and perhaps just /which/ Turnday it is. "No; spend it with your family. We'll do something after. I'm going to take some time, when Hattie's back- she's practically insisted on it. There's /time/." Which is a concept that, for once, has her relaxed, at ease. K'del's expression goes through a range of emotions as Ali speaks, and he looks downright uncertain at mention of Yvalia, but by the time Ali finishes, he's smiling again. "Good," he says. "We'll do something then. It's... Yvalia is the daughter of a friend," hesitation, "the one I mentioned? The one I adopted. If her mother says yes, she'll come with us for an afternoon or so. Hey," he interrupts, nudging her. "We're both turning a certain old age this turn. So we can feel old together. But it's not really that old. There's plenty of time." "Your adopted daughter," Ali remembers, and it makes her smile, oblivious to any uncertainty. "Is that why you're learning to play girl games? You should practice braiding my hair- I bet she'd like that." That nudge earns a wrinkling of her nose, even if it elicits a brief wry smile. "It's different for you. Men get /distinguished/. Women get /old/. Although I think-" she pushes up a little, leaning forward over him, /staring/ at his hair, reaching up with one hand. "-is that a gray hair?" Probably joking. /Probably/. Ali's smile over Yvalia does a lot to soothe K'del; his smiles return to to something broader, something more relaxed: how easily he abandons his own sense of guilt for something more pleasant. That turns rapidly, though, mock horror displayed across his expression. "No. Though, being blond... you'll look good, though, getting older. It certainly won't bother me." "See how easily you dismiss it? /Distinguished/," Ali says again, this time with an echo of mock disgust at the inequality of it all. Abruptly, she goes silent and still a moment, expression one of listening intently, before she exhales, something of uncertainty flickering across her gaze as she sits up. "Issy checking in- seeing whether she can-" a moment's hesitation. "-we have riders missing. I /should/ get back soon." "Riders missing?" K'del sits after Ali does, echoing those words with uncertainty. Sadly, these days? He has none of the spies he used to, keeping him informed on the goings on in other Weyrs. "Won't keep you," he adds, though it's obvious he'd like to; like to keep her here for as long as he can, really. "The- the dragons I mentioned at Boll- it could be them. Issy can't hear them, exactly- she says they're fuzzy, but she keeps checking to see if she can-" the look Ali gives K'del suggests that /she/ doesn't want to go, either, and it makes her bite her lip, but, "I don't like to leave E'dre there too long, by himself. He's- been having a hard time of it. I'll- make you up some things, for your camping trip. Give you can excuse to come by to pick them up?" She's not so good at disingenuity, it's plainly an excuse- especially since the /thought/ prompts her to lean over and give him a heated farewell kiss. K'del obviously finds the idea perplexing, but the truth is also that he's easily distracted by Ali-- and he doesn't let his thoughts linger on it for long. Having returned the kiss with equal measure of heat, he grins, running a hand down her arm even as he's nudging her away: duty calls. "If we're going to try and make a family," he points out, "practice is required. I'll come by. And in the meantime... don't work too hard, all right? You or E'dre-- shells, but it's strange thinking of him as a responsible, reasonable Acting Weyrleader. Tell me when I should drop in, and I'll be there. We Wingseconds can be flexible." "Lots of practice," Ali agrees with a grin to equal his, reaching for his fingers to press against them briefly. It's with reluctance that she slips out of the bed, casting about on the floor to find her discarded clothing and put it back on. For his talk of E'dre, there's a wry look over her shoulder as she's buttoning up her shirt. "He's- getting better. Hasn't punched anyone /this/ time. Yet," she concedes, her gaze roving over him for a moment. "I will. Take care of yourself," she murmurs, as she heads for the door, shrugging into her flight jacket as she goes. "Good for him," is K'del's conclusion, cheerful enough. He doesn't hold any grudges against the brownrider; if anything, he seems pleased. He stays where he is while Ali dresses, watching her in a way that speaks to great fondness (and, okay, there's some pleasure there, too: she's not exactly unattractive to his eyes!). "And you," he says, after her. "If you need anything..." but she knows that. Cadejoth will follow the gold pair upwards, heralding their departure with a rumble: alas. |
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