Logs:Discourse Goes Off Course
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| RL Date: 23 February, 2013 |
| Who: Kaeden, Nicky |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Nicky is fervent. Kaeden thinks the debate's questions are flawed. |
| Where: Nighthearth, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 25, Month 1, Turn 31 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Brieli/Mentions, H'kon/Mentions, K'del/Mentions, Taikrin/Mentions, Azaylia/Mentions |
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| Nighthearth, High Reaches Weyr With its entrance located between the kitchen and the living cavern, this tiny bubble cavern is cozy, always kept warm and is filled with comfortable chairs and a small round table. At the far end, there's a hearth, outlined in ruddy, aging bricks, where a pot of stew simmers in the evening hours. Generally quiet, the nighthearth is the haunt of insomniacs and those seeking quiet from the bustle of daily Weyr life.
With no hide or other reason to be up, Nicky looks as if he would be better off sleeping when he comes into the nighthearth. He makes a beeline for the klah pot, grabs whatever night-time nibbles are available, and drags himself over to plonk into a chair close to his fellow candidate. "C-can't sleep," he grumbles, resting his elbows on his knees as he leans forward, with his klah mug cupped between his rough hands. "Wh-what're you reading?" Kaeden slowly lets his head fall between his fists until he can scrub fingers through his dark hair. He then eases himself up, only to flop back against the chair, brown eyes regarding Nicky for a moment. "You know, I still don't have a sharding clue," he grumbles, voice tired and just a little scratchy. He pushes the heels of his hands against his eyes, then sits up a little more properly. "It seems I don't 'get' Weyr hierarchy. Which is one hell of a joke right now, let me tell you. But some rider gave me this saying it'd help explain, but..." He shakes his head and flops an arm over the side of the chair before letting his head fall back again, though he slouches in the chair just enough to prop up his head a bit. "Why can't you sleep?" "I d-don't get it, either," Nicky says around a yawn, which he doesn't bother to stifle. He swivels around in his chair so that he's able to kick his legs up over the side, leaning well into the back of it. It's almost a position he could fall asleep in. "I just keep waking up. M-maybe too many... t-too many girls in the dorms?" The rise to make it a question is accompanied by a squint, one that might almost be willing Kaeden to agree with him. "You're holdbred... r-right?" "The girls are keeping you up? Better not let the others hear that," Kaeden teases, his smile sloppy and just as tired looking as everything else. "I just wanted to see if I could memorize this sharding hide. Otherwise I'd be staring at the ceiling, listening to other people snore while thinking, 'I wish I had memorized that sharding hide'." He leans down long enough to grab the mentioned item, then carefully rolls it up before leaning back again. "Yeah," he answers, turning slightly in the chair to make it easier to face Nicky. "From 'Reaches. The... other 'Reaches. Hold. Thing. Why?" Around Nicky shifts again, only this time it's to be able to lower his voice, keeping the conversation just between the two of them. "I'm from F-Far Reach." Which Kaeden might recognise as one of the 'Reaches outlying holdings. "Um..." He looks around them to see if there's anyone near, worrying his bottom lip as he does so. "Wh-what do you think about... about how things, er, are, h-here? I m-mean... d-did you hear what happened? W-with the wings?" With mouth open, about to answer, Kaeden is suddenly derailed by the development of a large yawn. He shoves a fist against his mouth to stifle it, but he's only partially successful. Once recovered, he blinks blearily at Nicky a couple times. "Shells, sorry. Um... the wings. Oh! Yeah, a bit. That's what prompted this stuff, actually," he says, ending with a sigh as he slaps the rolled hide against his knee. "The rider was right, I just don't get it. I mean, at the Holds, the people in charge are there 'cause they earned it. Proved themselves. Sure, sometimes the Holder or Steward steps in, but..." He stops, shrugs, then leans back in the chair again. "Feels like meddling, but I can't seem to tell one rider from another right now. Shells, I thought Brieli was a candidate the other day. I'm going to get myself skinned and sent back to the Hold on a skid at this rate." He pauses for a smaller yawn, then peers over at Nicky. "Your turn. What do you think?" Nicky listens to Kaeden with little nods of understanding here and there. "I'm, um, confused. I-I mean, it's worked for... for how long? Since Weyrs began? A-and it's worked all that time, but..." He shrugs his broad shoulders, curling his long legs up onto his chair and raising his mug to his lips. "I don't understand h-how it works, for what you said. Who said th-they've earned being in charge? And..." Again, he casts his gaze around the room, leaning closer to Kaeden to continue, "If they chose who was in ch-charge, we wouldn't have women t-trying to be Weyrleader." Kaeden rubs the bridge of his nose a couple times and stares toward the hearth for a long moment after Nicky finishes. There is more a hint of a frown than an actual expression, more apparent in a squinting of his eyes. Finally a true frown appears before he regards the other candidate again. "If a Weyr's leaders had always been chosen by its people rather than its dragons' flights, though, who's to say there wouldn't have already been female Weyrleaders by now?" "Th-there haven't been." Nicky withdraws, looking a little nervous when his opinion isn't echoed in the other candidate's reply. "It should be b-balanced, th-that's why there's only m-men who ride bronzes and women who ride g-gold dragons, so th-there's balance... it's how it's always be-been." He hides behind his klah mug as he drains what's left, then offers to get the other candidate a mug while he gets up for a refill. "I don't th-think there's a reason why a w-woman c-can't do it, but... b-but she shouldn't. It should be a m-man. That's t-tradition." Kaeden waves off the off of klah and gives Nicky a crooked smile. "Y'know, that stuff might be why you can't sleep," he teases in a mild drawl, moving so he's pressed into the corner of the chair enough to bring one foot up to rest one knee on the chair's arm. He lets the other topic lie dormant long enough for the other candidate to refill his mug o' stimulant. Finally he glances down at the rolled hide in one hand and grimaces a little before tossing it into the other corner of the chair. "I don't know. Is it bad I can't seem to care? Not like what I think's going to make a sharding bit of difference, right? Just one more thing I don't get. All I know is there are four riders for two positions, and as far as I can tell, it's tradition mucking things up just as much as dragons doing things they weren't supposed to do. Which sounds kinda dirty, doesn't it." If it sounds dirty, Nicky doesn't get it; he blinks as he spends a few seconds giving it a think over, then gives up. Not worth it, perhaps? He hands Kaeden his mug, then retreats back to his own chair, getting comfortable once more. "Well..." A pause, while ponders the conversation and his reply. "I-I think they had two acting Weyrwomen for a long t-time, and it worked, didn't it? A-and they're both nice, and they b-both seem to, um... balance each other out? I-if you know what I mean?" He blows on the surface of his klah, but doesn't take a sip. "I d-don't know either. M-maybe I'll want to learn more if I Impress?" The boot that's still on the floor slowly rocks back and forth on the heel as Kaeden peers at Nicky, though it would be hard to say whether it was a considering peer or just a tired one. Finally he reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose, eyes closing tightly as he responds. "All I know is, even if a couple bronzes caught both golds, still wouldn't know which pair gets the big knot, and which just gets to brood over a clutch." His hand lowers again so he can go back to peering at the other candidate. "Even the dragons didn't want to separate it out. I guess I just don't get it. They get the job done or they don't. Not like it's the first time a Weyr might end up with a dud. Or two. Or four." "But... but they should choose H'kon. H-he's at least a guy... or just ask K'del back. H-he seems sensible, and nice. D-didn't he do a good job before? I-I would ask him back, if it was up to me." Draping his legs over the chair's arm, Nicky squirms to get more comfortable; he just can't find the right spot. "Between H'kon and Taikrin, though, i-it should be H'kon. Th-that's what I think, anyway." He shrugs, peering over the rim of his mug at Kaeden. "I-I hope I don't Impress a dragon that'll make me 'leader." Kaeden rubs his hands over his face slowly, then lets his head fall against the chair's back before he crosses his arms, trying to make himself cozy. "I don't know. Seems to me, if there were a simple solution, they'd have done it already," the candidate says in a slight mumble. "Just don't know why it matters so much. I guess..." He shifts, not quite comfortable yet. "I guess it matters that riders will follow. But why should sex make any difference? Suppose if it means Holds start pulling away, though..." Kaeden again trails off, then shakes his head and closes his eyes. "Maybe all four of them should just mud wrestle or something. Last two standing get to be leaders." Nicky snorts in amusement at the imagery that the latter comment made draws up in his mind. "I can imagine B-Brieli being good at that, i-if she would get into it." His voice drops a little and he leans towards Kaeden to add, "I bet she fights dirty, but I think I m-might like Azaylia to win." Nick cants his head to one side, running fingers through his curls to push them back from his forehead. "I'm not sure, though. Azaylia and H'kon, or Brieli and H'kon. Wh-which would you prefer?" "That's what I'm saying," Kaeden says, eyes still closed as he hugs his arms a little tighter. "Right now, I just don't care. It boggles my mind how much time and energy are being--." He stops for another sudden yawn, then glances over at Nicky while finishing. "Being wasted over something so pointless. All this crap because one rider has a dick and the other doesn't? That's sharding kiddie stuff, man." His eyes close again as he tries to wriggle even more into the chair's corner. "If they'd spent half the time getting the dragons to figure out which gold flew first, half the problem would be answered right there." "H'kon and Azaylia," Nicky decides with a nod of his head. "But K'del and Azaylia would be b-better. Th-that's who I'd back." He finishes his second mug of klah, but doesn't get up for a refill; it's hugged to his chest instead. "Can dra--" the word's cut off, punctuated by a wide, noisy yawn, " -agons do that? I thought they had bad memories." Sleepily, he scratches at his tummy, then swings his legs back down to the floor. "I dunno. Weyrs are confusing. Even the Smithcraft isn't this complicated and that place is huge." He shrugs, looking at Kaeden with sleep-watery eyes. "I'm about ready to go back to b-bed." Kaeden unfolds the one leg, then pushes himself to stand on the other, as the first needs some shaking out first. Tingly. "Well, maybe they can't now," he replies in another mumble as he stoops to retrieve the rolled hide from the chair. "Just emphasizes where everyone's attention was, doesn't it." Or maybe it doesn't, but what does Kaeden know? "Then again, I'm just a dockhand with a white knot, so... it's not like any of them need our backing anyway." The way he says it is made to sound glum by the level of weariness that's seeping into his bones at this point. The same level that propels both candidates deeper into the Weyr to attempt to find sleep at last. |
Comments
Comments on "Logs:Discourse Goes Off Course"K'del (K'del (talk)) left a comment on Sat, 23 Feb 2013 10:14:39 GMT.
It's really wonderful seeing what standard, 'normal' people think of the situation. I really enjoyed this. XD
Brieli (Brieli (talk)) left a comment on Sat, 23 Feb 2013 16:30:48 GMT.
I would like K'del's comment. Though I would dislike Nicky's opinion. >;/
Azaylia (Dragonshy (talk)) left a comment on Sat, 23 Feb 2013 23:01:00 GMT.
Oh gosh, I so love Kaeden's opinion on things. And Nicky is such a nice, traditional boy.
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