Logs:Equal Opportunity Egg Touchers
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| RL Date: 19 June, 2015 |
| Who: Dee, Eadgyd, Kaelige, Lilah, Eliyaveith |
| Involves: Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: A hatching full of rainbows and unicorns interrupts Dee and Eadgyd's quiet 'conversation' (also full of rainbows and unicorns). |
| Where: Candidate Barracks and Hatching Sands, Fort Weyr |
| When: Day 16, Month 1, Turn 38 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Jemizen/Mentions, Paislie/Mentions |
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>---< Candidate Barracks, Fort Weyr >----------------------------------------<
The Candidates' Barracks is longer than it is wide, with the head of each
cot head against one of the two side walls. Alongside each cot, there is a
hook affixed to the wall where a Candidate's robe may be hung, while
clothes and personal effects are usually kept in the trunks at the foot of
each. Designed to house about a hundred young men and women at any given
time, the place alternates between feeling cramped when dragons go out on
Search and very empty when there is no clutch on the Sands.
The beds are neatly made when Candidates are imminent and expected to be
kept that way by each young person who claims them. Between clutches, they
are stripped bare, with linens kept in cabinets along the walls nearest
the entrance. Candidate robes are stored in a large nook off to the side
for Candidates to pick and choose from; especially old or filthy robes are
discarded regularly, with new ones made by the seamstresses or apprentice
weavers in their spare time. Dee is probably not the person Eadgyd would wish to see approach her cot and invite herself to a knee next to it. Nevertheless, that's just what happens at this quiet moment in the barracks, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. There's a bracing breath, and then a simple, "Eadgyd, I need your help." Hazel eyes look to the older girl, expression contrite. "You were right. I'm sorry." Dee sounds like she means it, and like it costs her something undefinable to express it, but whatever struggle might've led to doing so has been done before now, and now there is just the remnants of it in her face along with the resolve to do the right thing. Eadgyd is seated almost in the middle of her cot with something that might be the remains of the leg of a chair in her hand. With a small blade, she's slowly carving thin pieces of wood from the main piece, leaving those remains scattered across her bedspread. As it stands now, there doesn't look to be much artistry involved -- just the beginnings of a very pointy stick. She glances up from her work when Dee kneels by the bed, eyeing the other girl with an arched eyebrow for just a moment before her gaze drops back to her hands. "I don't want an apology. What was I right about?" is her brusque answer to the younger girl's plea. "Well, you have one anyway for later, in case you do." Dee replies reasonably (ridiculously) of the apology. She shifts from one knee onto both and lets her hands fall to her knees, lacing in her lap. "It was thoughtless of me to ask Paislie what I did. But she wants to do it. Only, I'm going to fuck it all up. There's--" She looks up at Eadgyd briefly, and then away again, as if looking at the shorter haired candidate, recognizing that it's specifically her that Dee is talking to about this, makes it harder. "We have a lot of plans. A lot of research done. But not really any experience. And I can't get Paislie in trouble. Can't get my brother--" She looks again, but this time, it's with a sort of pleading for Eadgyd to understand. "Do you know what to do? Would you help us?" Something that might be 'unreal' is uttered on a low breath past Eadgyd's lips as she stares down at her carving. She's collecting a neat little pile of wood shavings beneath it, creating more work for whoever's on laundry duty in the process. "I hope it's worth it," she states in the idle tone of someone who has no great stake in this. "That's a lot of pressure on you, knowing that you got her involved. Imagine if her own sister has to throw her out." The words are transparent bait, accompanied by the quiet slice of blade against wood. Her smug smile tugs against her lips, just waiting to grow into a full-fledged smirk as Dee admits to her troubles. She allows for a long pause, letting the other girl twist in the silence. And then, "I know what to do. I just don't see a good reason to get myself thrown out." It's not for Eadgyd's gratification that Dee looks miserable when she's asked to imagine. Obviously, the feel-friendly brunette has imagined and feels awful about it. "Please, Eadgyd?" Somewhere along the way, someone must have told her how to say the other girl's name correctly, for it's right now. She keeps her voice low, "There's nearly a third of the class involved," well, not quite, but nearly, "Do it for them if not for me." The please is in her tone. "I'll give you whatever support you need. Whatever I can do. And I won't ask questions." In theory. "That's unfortunate for them. They're all going to get caught," Eadgyd answers in a callous tone, the words punctuated by a breathy, exhaled laugh. "Tell me, did Kaelige turn you down? Is that why you're here? Probably knows there's no way you do this without getting caught, even if I help." She pauses in her carving, using the pointed end to flick a few shavings off the bed. Then she lets that go and aims the knife in Dee's direction, holding it was one might a pointer while giving instruction. "So you want me to risk losing my home while helping a third of the candidate class to do the same, all for some strangers who aren't our responsibility?" Dee looks at Eadgyd, all the more hurt for her words, eyes going to the knife. She's pushing herself up and back, from the bed. "If we Impress together," if they make it that far, "we're going to be stuck together a long time. I want you to help us do something good." It's simple, but that's all she manages by the time the AWLM is sticking their head in the door to summon the available candidates to the Sands. Dee doesn't look back at Eadgyd, but rather hurries, her head down, to something preferable to the continued conversation (which is saying a lot). Hatching Sands, Fort Weyr The pale, golden-hued sands occupy nearly the entirety of the Hatching Cavern, with the dam and sire traditionally claiming the north with their eggs scattered throughout. To the right are the Galleries, which stretch up nearly the entire length of the wall and provide the only visual break in what would otherwise be a monotonous tableau. Lighting comes from both the entrance and through glow baskets spaced throughout, ensuring that the place is well-lit at all times. The heat here is tolerable, but only barely, and heat mirages are relatively common. Turns of hatchings have resulted in the sands being littered with fragmentary bits of shells despite thorough cleanings, subtle bits of history being left behind. It is a beautiful afternoon at Fort when Lilah lets them back on the Sands again, with large, soft flakes visibly swirling in the opening above the cavern though melting away before they ever come close to the Sands. Again, Eliyaveith paces, away from her eggs in deference to allowing the Candidates close enough to them, but still as agitated as last time. It is dryly that the goldrider greets the Candidates again with the warnings that come with any egg touching; only touch softly, don't try to kick or punch or bite; do not run or wave your limbs about. The usual. And from there, she takes them from the assistant weyrlingmaster onto the Sands, adding, "And watch your words. She can hear you." Dee may have left the barracks glad to get away, but at Sands' edge, her footfalls falter and she hesitates before crossing onto the Sands. She's attentive to the instructions given her, but the tightness to her expression and frame betrays her ill-at-ease state. Hopefully, she won't be sick on any eggs. Or near the eggs. Or ever, really. Kaelige follows a few paces behind Dee, his head tilted enough that his eyes can't be seen beneath the edge of his hood. His hands are tucked into pockets, and he'd been quiet on his way to the Sands, either deep in thought or staring after the Southerner. He pauses as she hesitates much like anyone would in an orderly lined fashion, but doesn't push- yet- and simply continues on as she crosses onto the Sands without intervention. A brief but present bow is given to both its clutchmother and the weyrwoman amidst those movements. Eadgyd wears a sullen expression and looks more than a bit reluctant to once again tread upon these sands, remembering all too well how things ended last time. With any luck, she'll walk away without invoking the wrath of gold or rider. She's the last to hit the sands, hesitating in the entryway as though she might still turn and head for the hills if given the opportunity. "Do not throw up, either," adds Lilah with a look over Dee, a hint of annoyance showing in the soft features of the goldrider as she does so. Once Dee is onto the Sands, her breathing seems to come more shallowly for those who notice that kind of thing. She does manage a mimic of Kaelige's bow to Eliyaveith, falling back in the group as they are able to fan out behind Lilah. She gulps at the goldrider's words, nodding as if she could help it if the time came. She bites her lower lip, glancing back at Eadgyd, as if contemplating some word to the older girl, but a brief look toward Eliyaveith later has her just going silent again. "Are there any you especially like?" She asks quietly of Kaelige, though probably she's directing it to any of the candidates near him (including Eadgyd if she qualifies). None of the reluctance that the girls display follows with Kaelige. And while he doesn't display overt comfort in particular on the hot Sands, at least he doesn't look green at the gills or displeased to be here. Well, once he draws back his hood one could note that, which he does out of respect for Eliyaveith shortly following the bow he'd given. His fingers run idly through his messy black hair, as he takes a few steps forwards, a lull given in his path to allow a sidelong look over his shoulder to see the last of the group to join them. Bluegreens briefly linger on Eadgyd, a smirk finding its way onto his expression, but drawn back by the familiar voice beside him. "Aye, he mimics her quiet tone, likely more out of fun than wanting to be in particular that low in volume. "Which ones do you like?" Innocent questions for once? Since everyone else is doing it, Eadgyd follows suit with a bow, albeit a brief and awkward one. She snaps back upright quickly, stiff and clearly uncomfortable in her movements. As she approaches the eggs, however, those movements become quite calculated. She times her already lagging steps to allow even the slowest of her fellow candidates to get to the eggs first, so that by the time she arrives, there's not a shell free for her. She hovers by one of the eggs which sports fewer candidates, careful to keep some distance between herself and Dee (and Kaelige by extension), patiently waiting her turn. In fact, she's so patient and accomodating that she even allows another candidate to slip in and touch the shell ahead of her. Dark eyes fall on Eadgyd as she does that, not missing it, but neither does Lilah call her out on it. Instead, her gaze slides away to watch another Candidate for a moment, and then another, ever roaming. Kaelige's response prompts a flicker of a smile from Dee, "Are you going to tell me which?" She's looking more at the eggs than the boy though, "They're different up close." She observes, though it can't be a wholly new revelation for her. "I think I'll have to rethink those I've admired the most from afar. There are subtleties here you can't see from the stands." She steps closer to the Carved in Luck Egg, another candidate just stepping from it as she does, one hand stretching out so she can brush her fingertips across its surface. It's only a moment before she's glancing over her shoulder and offering, "Eadgyd, would you like to--?" with a gesture to the pale green egg, clearly offering her spot; it's probably a peace offering. "Worried something will break shell and nip at your fingers?" Kaelige, significantly less helpful, notes to Eadgyd not much more than a beat after Dee's gesturing. "I might." Is his response to Dee as he leaves her to turn to the first egg near him and not a particular one. He stops before the Forgotten Markings Egg, and just as the time before that he'd been able to see them up close, he removes his gloves prior to touching any of them. After stuffing them in a pocket, bare fingertips progressing to palm too lays lightly on the shell. Time's hardening them, even now it seems different than before. "But I wouldn't want to admit a bias. Maybe after." It seems like a reasonable thing, perhaps, though his voice has a teasing quality to it. The boy who steps in front of her with Eadgyd's 'kind' offer gives her a strange look over his shoulder, likely doubting her sudden altruism. The smile she offers in return is blatantly false, showing too many teeth while her eyes remain flat. Her head jerks in Dee's direction at the sound of her name, and that scowl almost instantly begins to claim its place again. "No," i her too-quick, hard answer. And then, perhaps mindful of what Lilah said earlier, she amends more kindly, "I'd rather touch this one." For Kael, she has only a dark look that holds a warning of what happened the last time he pressed his luck with her upon the sands. It's a subtle thing, the way Dee's and Eadgyd's tension seems to agitate Eliyaveith further; her pacing comes slightly closer to the eggs, peering over the egg that Eadgyd waits on. But Eliyaveith doesn't come to claim her eggs back, though she draws Lilah back to her side as a hint of ichor appears at her paws. It doesn't surprise the goldrider, at least; it isn't the first time it's happened. Dee answers Eadgyd's answer a suit-yourself shrug before replacing her fingertips and trailing down the shell. There's a quiet murmur to the egg from the girl, though only the tone carries - one soothing and gentle. She may have tension for herself, but for the eggs she's able to be selfless and reassuring. "Alright, but after," Dee lifts her voice enough to let it carry to Kaelige. She doesn't spend over long with the green egg, but as she touches eggs, a pattern becomes clear: she chooses to touch the smaller ones, the ones getting better odds in the caverns for hatching greens and blues. Kaelige gives the egg he stays at what seems it deems to be an appropriate amount and no more, shifting to the side to avoid a small collection of candidates lingering indecisive between a couple of others. He stops this time at the Tangled Web Egg, his glance at first following the ragged lines across it before his fingers join that trek, almost finding some sort of idle enjoyment out of tracing the tendrils. But attention would drift beyond the egg to Eliyaveith, and after a few long seconds of watching, a sigh heaves his chest and he drops his drops his focus back to the shell. The importance with which he puts this event is notable in decently respectful behavior, and the way he looks at those eggs. Not all unlike Dee, he lingers longer by particular ones, larger ones. To Eadgyd, "You should try to touch all of them. You never know." And there's a tilt of his head towards the suspected golden shell even. He's lacking the sarcasm there even if his smirk isn't lost. As he passes nearer Dee again, he adds "After. And you pick a couple too." He makes no comment on her selection, yet, given his own. As that boy finally moves away from her chosen egg -- really, just the egg that happened to be furthest from Dee and Kaelige when she planted herself here -- Eadgyd finally steps forward to lay her hand upon the familiar shell. She traces fingertips along the false cracks in the egg that's reminiscent of shards of broken glass, finding comfort in the lines she has followed before. She may not be offering up her favorites aloud, but she doesn't seem eager to depart from what she has tried before to lay hands upon still unfamiliar shells. "I don't want to encourage anything," she answers to Kaelige, when a glance tells her those words are being direct to her. "Let her touch them." Her head jerks in Dee's direction. It seems to be a pattern in these Candidates; after all, they aren't the only ones avoiding particular eggs. It is when one weyrbred girl remarks to another as she avoids that warped egg in particular, "No, I'm not going to touch that one. I don't want to end up with a deformed dragon," that Eliyaveith's agitation grows into a loud rumble even despite her rider's attentions. There is worry, certainly, in the way the golden queen watches the Candidates avoid her babies, the rumble ending on a plaintiff croon to her rider. It is Lilah that steps forward, practically snapping without realizing she repeats Kaelige, "I do not care how you feel about the possible dragon that is inside, but none of you are leaving these Sands until all of you have touched every egg or you have given me your knot." Dee had just turned her head as though to address the Weyrwoman when Lilah steps forward and hands down the edict that is met with varying responses. Dee's is largely surprise, though the comment from the other girl didn't go unheard. Still, the brunette doesn't make a show of herself as she steps toward the slightly malformed egg. "Hello," she offers softly, but probably loud enough to carry in the wake of the announcement, to the egg before holding up both hands to lay them gently upon the shell. It's only once she's doing so that she peeks back toward Kaelige and Eadgyd, expression unreadable, but certainly not wholly at ease. "I think you're missing the point of Touching." Kaelige's sarcasm is heavy there, a broader smirk drawing expressive lines on his exposed face, but his words only come mere seconds before the junior weyrwoman's announcement. The smirk is restrained, subdued by it as his gaze flickers back to the Queen pair for a moment then to the eggs once again. Even as she speaks, the eerie teen is still in motion anddespite the warning he takes a more deliberate path to find just that- the Picking a Path Egg. The sickly shadows of it probably unsurprisingly interest him. His fingertips follow swatches of colors, following along the borderlines of the untainted sections yet never touching those, as if in a silent joke to himself. There's even a silent chuckle from him, if anyone's watching close enough- which he'd hope not. He notices perhaps somewhat late that Dee approaches the warped golden-hued egg, his hand pausing in its exploration of the egg he's 'meeting' to watch her. If Eadgyd just so happens to elbow that weyrbred girl hard in the side as she passes her, well, that was a complete accident. As is the hiss of, "In your case, I think you'd better take what you can get." But in spite of this oddly protective (if abusive) moment, she doesn't seem any more inclined to wander toward the other eggs, particularly the one with the golden sheen. Her fingertips move to rest lightly upon her knot, contemplating, as though there's really a decision to be made between touching eggs and returning that white knot to Lilah's hands. Finally, eventually, her hand drops away from her knot and her feet begin to move in a meandering way toward that warped shell, pausing so she can touch others as she goes. Her gaze flickers after Dee as she approaches the Captain's Lucky Egg, but it doesn't linger there. Instead, Lilah's attention returns to Eadgyd as she fingers her knot, watching her passively and waiting. When she moves back to touching the eggs, the goldrider's focus also returns to her queen, who seems at least slightly calmer with her rider's edict. Given that the golden-hued egg is now in demand, for all its deformity, Dee doesn't linger overly long, but not so short as to be rude if this is an introduction. Her eyes close in the time she spends there, her lips pressed against one another as if she might be humming, but it's silent. When she steps away, she seeks her own path through the eggs, doing as Eadgyd is in coming. When she's moving past the other girl, she murmurs, "It could be a bronze. It's been known to happen." It's not meant to be a slight to Eliyaveith, but rather a buoy to the other girl who seems no more eager (perhaps even less) than herself to seek it out and touch. Kaelige keeps to himself for this, though he continues to study those who approach that egg with enough unwillingness that even he seems disrupted by it- noted by how his grin has long since dissolved into a rather level expression. He leaves that egg, touching a couple in passing, and pausing longer at the green-touched one nearby, palm smoothing over the smokey white lines that curl across the Carved in Luck Egg. Despite his keen hearing, he's too far for the murmuring, and lets his gaze drop away from the girls. He touched the golden one last time, so he certainly doesn't hurry yet to join the group waiting to greet it, however reluctantly. "A bronze I could live with," is Eadgyd's boast in response to Dee as she eyes up that warped egg from less of a distance than she'd like. There's no disdain for that warped shape in her gaze, but there's visible trepidation as begins to run out of other shells to lay her hands upon. Even the group waiting to touch that particular egg doesn't seem to last as long as it should (weren't there more people?), and eventually Ead finds herself smack dab in front of that possibly golden shell. Hesitantly she brushes fingertips, and then slowly rests her hand upon it. "You know, if you are deformed," a quick glance is cast in Eliyaveith's diection with a grimace of an apology, "You should pick that girl who was running her mouth. It'd serve her right." Her low tone is barely audible, save for those in close quarters. Just as she removes her hand from the shell, she adds, "Or pick someone nicer." A glance goes toward Dee as she steps away, putting some distance between herself and the warped shell before she reaches out to another egg. Eliyaveith doesn't seem to catch Eadgyd's conversation with that egg, at least, even though she watches the Candidates that approach it with a more intense focus than those that approach the other eggs. Lilah is left to observe the others, to make sure that her words are being followed through with. Between them, they likely can catch most of the eggs and Candidates, but they may yet be relying on one or two to be reported by fellow Candidates, since they certainly can't see everything that happens. Dee's next stop is the Wrappings of Risk Egg, her fingers trailing the illusory creases, even leaning carefully to follow low on the egg. She has some private murmurings for this egg, too, but she doesn't linger, as she doesn't with any single egg. It takes time to touch each in turn, but she does, peering at patterns and textures, the tension in her shoulders easing as she loses herself in the lines and colors rather than the what that is within. Pausing in succession from Eadgyd's favored the Broken Mirror Egg to the Luck be an Egg, giving each time though perhaps not all equally, Kaelige is really anything but inappropriate out on the sands even if he can't quite control everything that comes out of his mouth. Only when everyone is gone from it, likely lending towards when most eggs have been greeted by most, does he briefly touch the warped golden-shelled egg. Those bluegreen eyes of his sweep up to Eliyaveith for another moment before he turns away, more or less dissolving into the meandering candidate class without much more flourish. There's relief in the way Eadgyd's shoulders relax, dropping from their upward climb the more distance she puts between herself at that warped egg. It's easier for her to lay her hand upon the next shell without fretting, now that whatever invisible threat she saw in that golden hue is behind her. She never has to test those waters again. There's even the hint of a smile on those thin lips, though she presses them together and tries to disguise it. Lilah holds true to her threat and promise both. As soon as the Candidates have touched all of the eggs (since no one opted to hand over their knot), they are allowed to leave, perhaps faster given the pressure of some on others to hurry. But then it is done, and Eliyaveith can return to her eggs, relieved to draw herself around the clutch again. |
Comments
Alida (02:02, 20 June 2015 (EDT)) said...
Poor 'little' Eli. :( Way ta go, Lilah! :D
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