Logs:Lilah's Congratulations
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| RL Date: 12 June, 2014 |
| Who: K'del, Lilah |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr, Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Lilah comes to give K'del her congratulations. Eliyaveith is very patient with Cadejoth. |
| Where: Western Bowl, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 19, Month 13, Turn 34 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Azaylia/Mentions, R'hin/Mentions |
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| Western Bowl, High Reaches Weyr The bowl's vast dirt floor extends in a rough oval from west to east, only sparse clumps of grass surviving between the crisscrossed pathways of daily traffic. To the northwest stand massive gates to the world beyond, allowing people, livestock, and tithes to pass beneath some of the seven jagged spires that stand sentinel over that area of the bowl. In late afternoons, their spindly, fingerlike shadows stretch over that end of the bowl all the way to the living cavern's hulking brass doors in the far north. Eastward, the bowl sprawls on toward the lake, sloping slightly downward to allow runoff from rain and snowmelt, but to the south it's caged by more cliffs of dark, rough-cut granite. Rocks poke up from the ground here, a few large boulders and many smaller outcroppings worn smooth in spots by time and use. A few ground weyr entrances dot the wall, the most frequented ledge set up like a patio while the largest ledge services the Weyrleaders' complex, directly beside the huge entrance to the hatching sands. A more human-sized entrance, left of that, leads to the galleries. Steady, today's snowfall sticks, creating dunes on the bowl floor. It's afternoon, and despite regular comings and goings in High Reaches' bowl, the snow has managed to stay prettily pristine-- though perhaps that's because it's still snowing, adding a new layer over footprints here and there. K'del's bundled up against the cold, trudging across from the far end of the bowl; he's got his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his coat, his expression - or what's visible of it, given the heavy scarf - more disgruntled than pleased. Lilah doesn't come without warning; it's negligible if Eliyaveith would let her intrude on another Weyr's territory without at least asking permission first. The young queen seeks out that permission from Hraedhyth, from Iesaryth, and then finally from Cadejoth as she shares through flames, « She seeks him. » Firmly, so that Lilah can't go back on that now as they appear in the skies above High Reaches, the bronzey-copper queen dark against the falling snow as she slowly wings downwards. By the time that Eliyaveith has settled enough to let her rider off, snow has practically turned Lilah's red hair white, and it seems that the goldrider has left her gloves behind because even as she slides to the ground, a bare hand lifts to try to wipe away that snow in her hair as she catches sight of the Weyrleader. There's a restlessness to Cadejoth's answer; he is a caged beast, a wolf locked in a pen, unable to roam. His thoughts are tangled within the chains that are usually his strength, and it is terrible. It's unlike him, to lack a verbal reply, but the words are not forthcoming, now. In any case, it clearly doesn't matter: there, indeed, is the new Weyrleader, and given the way his head abruptly turns towards the foreign queen, he's had some warning of her arrival. "Lilah," he says, as he approaches. "Have you developed such a fondness for High Reachian winters?" "Well, when I return back to Fort, it makes it feel so much warmer," Lilah answers with a quick smile, there for a moment before it disappears as she straightens away from her dragon. "And, I wanted to stop by to offer my congratulations. He caught her, and nothing too surprising seems to have happened." Eliyaveith launches away from the ground as soon as Lilah has stepped away, making her way to land on an empty ledge. The ledge has enough protective covering that it doesn't have snow for the gold to deal with as she makes herself at home. Yet, her mind extends to Cadejoth, a brush of warmth that tries to detangle the chains there and yet somehow reassure the bronze at the same time. It is only at her rider's memory that she remembers, « You are hurt. Are you healing? » Despite the tension that so obviously sits behind K'del's eyes, he manages to smile in answer to Lilah's comment, even if he doesn't verbally reply. "Surprising? Maybe not." But his expression is hard. "Frustrating and difficult, well, guess that's just to be expected. Thank you, though." There's a pause before that 'thank you,' rather making it seem like an afterthought. Still. Still. His gaze slides after Lilah's queen - her flight capable queen - hovering for a moment before it flicks back. "She looks well." There is fire and smoke amidst Cadejoth's chains, remnants of his queen; it doesn't stop Cadejoth from accepting Eliyaveith's warmth, though more, it seems, out of boredom and frustration than anything else. « Slowly, » he answers, with a rattle of annoyance. « Too slowly. » « Time will pass soon enough, » assures Eliyaveith, calm even in the presence of that annoyance. Soon. There is curiosity for the fire and smoke, placing the familiar presence with a question. « Is it always like this? When you win? » "She's fine, always. Even if she hates it to be dragged away from Fort," Lilah replies, her own gaze sliding up to Eliyaveith's perch as the Weyrleader comments on her. Her fingers tuck under her armpits to keep them warm as her attention returns to K'del, clarifying, "I heard it wasn't surprising for injuries when Hraedhyth rises. How long do the dragonhealers say it will take?" « Like what? » Perhaps Cadejoth simply doesn't notice what Eliyaveith notices; perhaps he's too tangled up in his own concerns. « They won't let me fly. It hurts. It won't pass soon enough. » There's a puppyish truculence to that: this sucks. "Does she? Home is where the heart is, I suppose. Cadejoth, he's always liked to visit, so long as we go home again in the end. It-- Hraedhyth has a ferocious side, it's true. Not sure it was her fault, this time, though. It'll be a while." That, more than anything else, is flat. Eliyaveith tries to project the fire and smoke, but with her own flames and heat, it may still be hard to identify what she identifies. She doesn't press that further, though she is unlikely to unnotice it. Instead, dragonhealer training is applied to try to ease some of that pain, using the power of her color even as she continues to assure, « It will. Soon enough. Should I hunt you something to eat? » Lilah's brow curves upwards, a question held there for K'del's response. Though, when she speaks it with a light, "It's the eggs that really matter, in the end, in any case. I suppose I should offer you my best wishes for a large, healthy, and strong clutch." « She is mine, » answers Cadejoth, ultimately seeming to understand, though he sounds bewildered even so. « I carry her with me. » His mate. Their smoke. He is soothed, however, by her efforts; and perhaps, too, by the company. Alas, that he and his mate are - at present - kept apart. « I have eaten, » he reports back, in recollection. « But thank you. It wasn't as good, pre-killed. » Life, he sulks, is so unfair. "I suspect it's unlikely to be large, given the way they... fell." K'del winces in recollection. "But we certainly hope for the best." A pause. "I'm sorry. I'm not especially good company, am I? Not positive company, anyway." « As you should, » Eliyaveith suddenly agrees with something that she's never encountered before, suddenly thoroughly right in her belief that any mate should do the same. To the last, she only continues to comfort, replying, « You will hunt soon enough. Even if you hunt flightless, like a young dragon. » Like she did, not so long ago. "It can't be easy, any of it," Lilah replies dismissively, though her dark eyes only mark a study of the bronzerider in response. "Though, if I find you too dreary, I do have a bottle of wine waiting for me around here, somewhere." Her chin tips up, relieving K'del from that study as her gaze slides over the ledges that line the bowl as if trying to find a specific one. As he should. Of course! All is as it should be (except Cadejoth's wing, of course). « Flightless, » scoffs the bronze, though even this seems to be an improvement upon his present situation: keep still, Cadejoth. Don't move, Cadejoth. Just rest, Cadejoth. "A bottle of wine?" K'del latches upon this mention with surprise and interest - visible interest, showing even past the dark shadows beneath his eyes, and his general air of exhaustion. "Who is it who has been offering you bottles of wine?" « It will be better, » Eliyaveith repeats, casting that promise in iron and engraving it on silver. It will be, Cadejoth. « Patience. » Lilah corrects with dry humor, "R'hin bought me a bottle of wine. But, he is now holding it hostage." She apparently does not find the ledge, because her gaze drops back to K'del with a wrinkle of her nose. "It was a very good wine, too." Patience is not Cadejoth's strong suit. His strong suit is roaming free, leader of the pack; this is dull. But young as she is, Eliyaveith helps. For now... he'll hold off on doing anything stupid. For now. "That," says K'del, after a moment, "Sounds just like R'hin. You're not likely to get anything less than very good wine with him, mind. Holding it hostage to make sure you come back, is he?" "I don't negotiate with kidnappers," Lilah replies with a hint of a smile, and more dangerously, a thoughtful narrowing of dark eyes. "Though, it isn't like any of these weyrs seem to have doors, do they? Do you know what ledge is his?" Eliyaveith, for her part, is content to be there and ease that pain. At least, for now. K'del gives Lilah a studying glance, heedless of the snow that is collecting on his shoulders. Politeness would have him invite Lilah inside; he's yet to do that, though. "Reckon I know which is his, yes," he confirms, after a moment. "And, as it happens, his has a door. Several doors. With locks." "Mmm." The noise catches on Lilah's lips, a soft thing that isn't given much life as she considers the Weyrleader's response. She answers in more words, dismissive as she says, "Well, I suppose that would be my luck." That only serves to make K'del grin - and though it's not broad and bright, it does seem genuine enough. "Never mind," he says. "No one really gets anything over R'hin. It's just... the way he is. Want to come in, before we freeze? There can be klah." And further conversation, no doubt. Perhaps K'del will even smile more. Or not. "Perhaps I will be the first to do it," Lilah answers, though she doesn't suggest exactly how she will do this. Perhaps that plan is still in the works. But, she accepts the invitation to klah easily, happy to retreat to the warmth of the caverns. |
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