Logs:Elements of Trust
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| RL Date: 27 August, 2015 |
| Who: K'del, Leova |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Amidst a regularly scheduled meeting, Leova has two more personal matters to raise. |
| Where: Council Chambers, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 27, Month 8, Turn 38 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Alida/Mentions, F'manis/Mentions, Taikrin/Mentions, U'sot/Mentions |
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| There weyrlings have all been tapped, some of the wings have been shuffled, and on the whole, things are relatively quiet (such as these things go) at High Reaches, if one ignores dismay over the herdercraft's recent ruling, and the usual watchfulness as summer turns to autumn and tithe season. 'Relatively quiet' does not preclude meetings, of course, ever-present, and today's finds K'del in conversation with Leova, the stack of books at his elbow indicative of a recent venture to the records room, though they're not the subject at present. "Is U'sot ever going to retire?" he wonders, with the idle play of a smile. "Or just keep you doing this kind of thing for him until he drops?" "Reckon that's what's keeping him around," Leova says, wry. She runs her hands through her hair, which needs clipping. A strand or two glints silver. "If he steps down, he'll keel over, won't know what to do with himself. And then again, most days he don't act nigh on eighty." "No," agrees K'del. "He really doesn't. It'd be weird, the dragon infirmary without him. Or without you." That is delivered with a forward bob of his head, acknowledgement that aims to be merely casual. He flicks idly at the edge of some of the papers in front of him, fingertips running over the rough surfaces. Vrianth's rider gives him a slow nod: appreciated. "Like to think that won't happen anytime too soon." Amber eyes consider him, consider the flick, consider the agenda and what's been crossed off. What's still there. And what's not there at all. "Glacier." She hesitates. "Glacier?" K'del's surprise is audible in the reptition of that wing's name, and the question mark appended to it. His fingers still, pressing flat into the surface of the table as, slowly, he gives the greenrider a nod: go on. "'Not what it used to be,'" wry as a quote. "Not that it has to be. But. Vrianth needs something else, 'specially if I'm going to be more of this." Leova's looked to his gaze, and now she keeps looking. "Not a request, yet. Taikrin's... aware." Her mouth tips up at one corner, not quite a smile. "But. Thought I ought to let you know, I'm open." She is. Vrianth... There's surprise there, still, in K'del's pale blue gaze, though it meets Leova's squarely enough. "Appreciate your openness," is what he says, after an exhale that is more thoughtful than required for breathing. "There's nothing in particular that's caught Vrianth's eye? Aside from, she needs the activity, the focus." "Mm. Been trying to keep her from getting too opinionated," but she's Vrianth, and Leova can't be anything other than fond. She sobers, though. "It's not up to us. And. Like to think there's more out there that maybe we don't see," this a verbal as well as physical nod of respect. "Activity's spot on. The more work I do in the infirmary, the more restless she gets. And the focus: not so much drills as to look impressive. Something as does well with initiative, hm? And appreciates," but she pauses. "Don't mean to take up too much of your time. 'Specially with," her nod to the rest of the list. "More along the lines of Snowdrift, then," supposes K'del, "with a purpose, than something showily acrobatic, like Icicle." But he's aware of that pause, and yes, the rest of the list. He straightens. "For the moment, my time is yours. But shall we agree, I'll keep your comments in mind, and we'll see how wings go." "More like," Leova supposes. "Prefer split fewer ways," but there's that one-shouldered shrug: preferences are a luxury, with wings. "Anyhow. Thank you." She sits back. Her hands touch, briefly, the wood of her seat. "Taikrin tasked me to talk to you about Alida, about taking her back or getting her gone." K'del's nod confirms what his words do not: preference noted. Of course, even if he did intend to offer more of an answer, he's distracted from it by mention of that particular bluerider, the unhappy twist of his expression suggestive of his feelings towards her as much as his words. "Taikrin did, did she." Flat. For all her consideration of other loyalties, Leova doesn't throw her wingleader off the proverbial cliff. Her low alto does hold sympathy. "Would it be simpler on you, on F'manis, if she went back?" "That," says K'del, after a moment's hesitation, "isn't really the question, or the point." Blue eyes lift to focus on Leova again. "It's whether Alida can be trusted in Glacier. Whether she's actually learned... not just learned not to throw non-existent weight around in the holds, but also here." "Here?" He can't need an invitation. Leova asks even so. K'del indicates the doorway with a nod of his head. "Strode in here, a while back, and said, 'Put me back in Glacier, K'del.' No greeting, no acknowledgement of why... she seems to be operating under the misapprehension that no one cares about formality or rank at High Reaches. Said as much, outright. And that... you know I'm not a stickler, not for the most part, but there's no way..." Leova rubs her forehead, now, and now it's the fine scars of her hand that catch the light: fewer than on her palm, but there. "Alida." Her exhale pushes into a quiet sigh. "Wasn't with others about, was it?" "No," is quiet, and acknowledges that this is a good thing. Even so, the Weyrleader adds, "Does make you wonder what she says to other people, though. Not like you can ban a person from talking to impressionable weyrlings, or what-have-you." Beat. "Would've granted her request, probably, if she'd approached it differently. But if I can't trust her..." He watches Leova. "Aye." She sees it. Her hands fall away, but there's still a crease in her forehead, as though it aches. "Not that we got any weyrlings this round," isn't an excuse, only a distraction before Leova's gaze rises to his again with, "She's a hard woman to trust, most days." Taiga, too, went without weyrlings. Or perhaps that was deliberate? K'del doesn't comment. "She is that," he agrees. "Not sure she and I will ever see eye-to-eye. But," he allows, then, "that's true of many people. It turns out I am not universally beloved!" His mock horror and dismay is over-exaggerated. Leova, even Leova, has to chuckle. "Wouldn't it be nice, some days?" In answer, K'del outright grins. "Might get boring," he supposes. "Might lead a person to do less than their best, if a person were inclined to laziness." With one finger, he nudges away that stack of books beside him. "Suppose my question is... do you think she can be trusted? Not to imply any decisions rest solely on your opinion, mind." Leova tilts her head in recognition of that. "Some days..." Some days turn out to be days to get tough questions. Or, questions that should be tough. "Depends on what you're wanting to trust her for," the greenrider says straight out. "Don't mean that as a dodge. More: reckon you can trust her to get places on time, to work hard, to not be gabbing her mouth off on duty." That might be a slight smile, there. If he's still encouraging more, "Seems as she cares about the dragons and not working them overhard. Think she means to back people up most days. But in what's happening right then, mind, not necessarily looking ahead for consequences. Can you trust her not to get a wild hair and screw up? Don't reckon so. But she'd do that in any wing. And respect..." K'del listens in silent thoughtfulness as Leova speaks, his occasional nod-- for what Alida can be trusted, for the gabbing, for the dragons-- the only punctuation to his side of this exchange. It's that last that gives him pause; a long, slow nod, this time, and then: "And respect?" A prompt. "Mm. Don't know as she'll ever toe the line," translates pretty well to suspecting she won't. Leova runs her hands through her hair again. "About killed me the once, when she admitted she screwed up over the Hold, and I said she should tell you, and she wasn't having anything of it. Got so much pride she could choke on it," says the woman who'd had to learn to swallow a long time ago. "But I don't believe telling me is telling you." K'del seems genuinely surprised, and perhaps a small amount pleased, at this information, though his nod certainly indicates agreement with that last. "Can't imagine she'd ever be able to work her way up to telling me," he allows. She's... well, she's herself. Guess I'll give it some thought. Do appreciate the insight; what she shows to me isn't what she'll show to you, and I know it." His gaze flicks, somewhat reluctantly, back towards the table. There's a list. "Be better to have it sorted before any leadership changes, anyway. If she were to swallow her pride... but no matter. Shall we?" Back to the list. For the pride-swallowing, "Lay out what she'd have to do to earn her way back, and she might surprise you," Leova says, more matter-of-fact than with fervor. She might. She might not. Either way, she's disposed of for the afternoon, and soon the rest of the list will be too. Those impending changes, the ones that brought a slight frown, will take... longer. |
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Comments
Alida (23:48, 27 August 2015 (PDT)) said...
Oh, the damnable PRIDE thing. I feel like a line in a B movie: "If ya know how ta ask (her) right, she'd do anything for ya."
Squishy (23:57, 27 August 2015 (PDT)) said...
It's too late on impressionable weyrlings.
Still this was interesting to read!!
Faryn (00:20, 28 August 2015 (PDT)) said...
Get it together Alida.
H'kon (07:16, 28 August 2015 (PDT)) said...
All Leovas are in Glacier.
Leova --> Glacier
Not Glacier --> Not Leova
- brain breaks*
Leova (07:49, 28 August 2015 (PDT)) said...
Now I want B-movie quotes for everyone, Alida!
H'kon: The crazy thing is, I didn't intend it going into the scene. It just came out.
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