Logs:Keep Going
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| RL Date: 20 June, 2015 |
| Who: Hattie, E'dre, Wroth, Elaruth |
| Involves: Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Realising she can't keep things hidden much longer, Hattie asks for E'dre help. |
| Where: Records Room, Fort Weyr |
| When: Day 15, Month 1, Turn 38 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: N'muir/Mentions, Lilah/Mentions, Dee/Mentions, Bridget/Mentions |
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| These days, E'dre's temper has calmed and he hasn't been actively punishing candidates or barking orders at his wingmates. The lull has slowly begun to repair what damage the brownrider's foul mood and behavior may have caused. Even so, he hasn't been actively socializing with his wing. To stay focused on the work requiring his attention, he's settled in the records room in a back corner with the intention of remaining unbothered. For the last few hours, this ploy has been successful. So successful that at some point, the brownrider has nodded off with a styllus in his hand and his chin propped on his hand. He's quietly snoring and none of the recordskeepers present seem inclined to wake him. Bit by bit, Hattie makes her way down the spiral staircase from the Weyrleaders' complex, nothing in her arms, and nothing to her but some intent that has her looking down one aisle, then the next, and then-- E'dre. It's unlikely that he's the object of her search, but a few silent signals to the recordskeepers later, they're heading out and she's heading towards him, slowly, as if she could change her mind at any moment. She eventually reaches the desk he's chosen and grabs a chair from the next one over to settle down opposite him, her head resting on folded arms. Maybe she's going to join him and nap. But no, she soon murmurs, "E'dre...?" E'dre's nap goes uninterrupted throughout Hattie's search and the recordskeepers departure. He doesn't seem inclined to waken even as she settles opposite him. The murmur is enough to give him a nudge towards wakefulness and he blinks his eyes a few times as he tries to settle his brain to wakefulness. He drops his hand and straightens with a start, noting Hattie sitting there. "Shit," he mutters as he rubs his face savagely, "Were you there long?" He leans back in his chair and self-consciously rubs at the back of his neck as he half-smiles at her. "I'm getting old." "You've only a few turns on me; you're hardly elderly," Hattie chides, voice not so much louder than the murmur she used to wake him. "But no, not long," she promises. "I was half-tempted to join you and let some poor soul discover us napping together like some of Elaruth's babies, though." She sits back in her chair and lets her smile fade, and just looks so very tired for a moment before her features reanimate and mask some of those darker shadows. "Are you awake?" the Weyrwoman presses. "...There are some things I need to tell you and ask of you, but I can wait for another time." "That'd be a sight," E'dre doesn't stop the laugh that bubbles up as his grin widens, "and all the gossip that'd go with it too." Hattie's expression doesn't go unnoticed by the brownrider and his concern follows. His brows dip down as his lips press together and he nods. "I'm awake," he tries to lighten the seriousness with a twitch of a grin that falls flat. "What is it? Is N'muir ill?" He sits forward, glancing around briefly to see if any are in earshot. "I haven't noticed anything." Guilt flashes across his features as he shakes his head. "And I haven't been helping much to limit stress, I know, and--," he cuts himself off and focuses on her. "Tell me." "No." Hattie shakes her head. "I am." She doesn't let that sit for too long, lest her nerve leave her. "Or I will be worse, before long." Swallowing hard, she looks down into her lap. "I'm pregnant. Nearly halfway gone. I was told to put aside my duties months ago, but Lilah and Eliyaveith have to be my priority. I need those eggs to hatch healthy dragons, and we've no way of knowing if they're just shells until they hatch or don't." It's all very lacking in emotion, the facts presented all in a rush, with no thought to spare him or herself. "...I can't keep going for much longer, or chances are I'll--" She shakes her head. "I'm so tired," Hattie murmurs. "I just-- I need your help. There are things I need put in place and things that need sorting, and I don't want Lilah stressed out, or thinking she has to do more. I don't want her to know." "Your health comes above any of those dragons," E'dre declares, instantly protective of Hattie's health over the future hatchlings. "Lilah and Eliyaveith are supposed to be your support," he continues, shaking his head as a frown etches into his features. "You shouldn't put--," he shakes his head again, takes a breath and leans back in his chair. "I suppose that practice at a junior weyrwoman is going to come in handy," he admits wryly as he levels a look at her. "I'll agree, so long as you truly find a way to manage /your/ health. I can't have you making yourself so ill, or that you'll lose your child... the idea makes me sick. You take on too much responsibility here." He pauses his tirade and rubs at his eyes briefly. "And N'muir? Does he know?" "Maybe," Hattie concedes, albeit reluctantly. "But I /have/ to know that Eliyaveith can produce viable offspring. I /have to/." Whatever she means, whatever she's trying to say, she just keeps her gaze fixed on E'dre's a little too intensely, like she's desperate for him to understand what she won't put into words. "I have a healer; a midwife. I'm actually able to escape her less and less these days, but I'm doing as much as what she tells me to as I can /and/ delegating as much as I can get away with without making it look like I'm not doing my job." She scrubs a hand over her face. "...N'muir has known since I have. He wants the baby too, and I know... that's not going to happen if I keep feeling this awful." E'dre has never been intuitive enough to catch on to hints, no matter how bluntly delivered, and he stares back at her with a mildly blank look to his gaze. "You can't control whether or not Eliyaveith will produce viable offspring," his delivery is clinical and blunt, "and if that ends up being an issue then we'll have to negotiate for another junior. Maybe we /should/. Is Lilah even fit to help out when you need to take obvious time off from your duties?" It would seem his opinion of the gold has not changed. "No- nevermind. Don't worry about it. I'll do what I can. What is it you need me to do specifically? I can draw C'stian into some of my duties. I'll give the excuse of training him." He frowns at her, taking in a fuller view of any signs of illness he may not have noticed before. "I'm an ass, and I typically don't get along with Lilah, and I know in the past we've had our issues. I promise you Hattie. Whatever you need, I'm here." It might be a coincidence that Hattie pales and looks sick to her stomach when E'dre disparages the suitability of their current junior, or perhaps it's mention of needing a new one, for she insists, "I don't have that kind of time, nor the energy to monitor a foreign junior who could turn out to be worse than useless," with a dull edge to her words. "...You will have to learn to get along with Lilah, one way or another," she murmurs, momentarily catching one hand in her hair. The gesture could easily be one of despair or a matter of restraining herself from reaching out across the table to embrace the Weyrsecond when he makes his promise. Rather than fling herself at him like that, she simply blinks her eyes wide a couple of times and utters, "Thank you," even more quietly. "Most things, I can hand over to Shevena and her team. It won't be a matter of menial labour. Instances of managing people, documents... keeping an eye on the Candidates..." She has the grace to cringe a little at that last bit. "Even just claiming we were in a meeting or have a meeting if I can't be where I'm meant to be." E'dre looks away from Hattie when he notices her paleness, guilt flashing and then it's gone by the time he looks back. "I won't mention replacing Lilah again," he tells her, some form of another promise but without the word to back it up. "And I'll do my best to get along with her. It helps that Eliyaveith is on the Sands and Lilah is fairly occupied." He may not be able to handle a hug but he does reach across the gap to offer her his hand. "All right. Wroth will listen to Elaruth. If you need me, have her call us. The rest I will figure out." He aims for a joke as he lifts a brow at her, "Do you think I can pull off a sudden change of heart and care to monitor the candidates better? So long as I'm allowed to assign the more annoying ones horrible chores, I think I'll be placated enough to be nice to the rest." He looks to his paperwork and then up at Hattie. "I'll do my best not to fall asleep on the job." His humor fades as he shakes his head and begins to pile his papers together. "Now that I know and my help is available, you have to promise to back off and do what you've been asked to do by your healer." He looks her in the eye. "Promise that and I'll impress you with how much of an ass I can /avoid/ being." "I think you can probably pretend not to want to kick the more irritating ones into sometime next turn just as well as I can," Hattie answers a little dryly. "Maybe better," she adds, reaching out to curl one hand a bit too tightly around his. "One of them figured out that I'm pregnant. Not one of the annoying ones, but I hope to Faranth that she keeps her mouth shut for a while. She said she wouldn't tell." She looks down into her lap again. "...I'll tell Lilah after the hatching. If the eggs hatch. Just... don't tell anyone until then. It shouldn't be too long now. " Her fingers tighten around E'dre's hand for a fraction of a moment, then she retreats back into her own space. "I promise," the Weyrwoman says softly. "I'll do everything Bridget tells me, if I can just have until the hatching." Maybe that's addressed more to the universe than the Weyrsecond himself, for she speaks as she rises from her seat, her focus distant. "...I'm going to... sleep. Thank you. Really." E'dre follows her as she stands, gathering his records to his chest and then he shifts them under one arm. "Until the Hatching an after, I'll be here for you. For N'muir too," he adds, needing to somehow note now that his promises have been made to Hattie that he will also be there for the Weyrleader. "Sleep, Hattie. I'll get what I need to in order so I can be of most use to you." He watches her for a moment with a frown and then steps forward to offer her his other arm. "I'll walk you there and make sure no one stops you to talk." He puts on his most aggravated scowl, his brows dipping down and his lips tightening into a grim line. "Think it'll work?" he asks her slyly with a wink, his only break in 'character' as he leads her out and takes her to her weyr. After he leaves, Wroth nudges against Elaruth's mind. « We will do what is needed. » And hopefully the two of them will be able to do what the Weyrwoman needs. |
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