Logs:Everything Will Be Okay
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| RL Date: 12 April, 2015 |
| Who: Farideh, Laine |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Farideh apologies to Laine after the feels fiasco. |
| Where: Candidate Quarters, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 7, Month 7, Turn 37 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Paz/Mentions, Faryn/Mentions, Itsy/Mentions, Tess/Mentions, Madilla/Mentions, Drex/Mentions, Itsy/Mentions, Edyis/Mentions, Shaus/Mentions, Fionn/Mentions, Tevrane/Mentions |
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| It's late. Those shifted bunks and that accusatory circle of chairs that had seen such an outburst earlier have been tidied and the candidate quarters returned to their usual state of disarray. There's a lingering air of uneasy tension following the guided group therapy session led by Tess, but most candidates have turned in for the night. A few are still whispering across bunks or reading by dimmed glows; among them, Laine's pulled her makeshift curtains tight around her cot, but there's a faint light within that may indicate her awakeness. Her stormy entrance back to the dorms (complete with stomping and heavy sighing) may as well have been a DO NOT DISTURB sign hung around her chest. Some people don't know the meaning of privacy, and one of those people happen to be Farideh. She creeps through the darkened room, heedless of any stares she gets, with both of her hands full, towards Laine's bunk; once there she crouches down beside the lower cot. "Laine," she whispers loudly, "are you awake?" Even if there's a light within, it's safer to ask, right? She leans up against the edge of the bed and sets her gifts on the floor. "I want to apologize-- for-- earlier," she says quietly, aimed towards the curtained off bunk. There's the distinct sound of rustling--perhaps of someone turning over in their bed--but, for a stretch of time, no response. Long enough, in fact, that Farideh might assume Laine is still sleeping and begin making her way back to her own cot. But eventually, and with no small amount of testy sighing, Laine pulls back those sheets and loosely wraps them around the bedpost. "I'm still pissed." But she's there. She's scooting to the edge of her bed, swinging her feet onto the floor (just narrowly missing that pile of... whatever-it-is) and crossing her arms. She purses her lips, considers Farideh. "Specifically. Apologize for what." The other girl isn't exactly patient, but she still crouches, through the silence, looking glum. She is completely surprised when the sheets are pulled back and Laine emerges, even if she is still angry about the whole affair. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I didn't know-- are they really? Dead? How do you know? I thought--" Farideh stops talking and rises slowly, to perch nearby Laine on her bed, without an invitation; not for the first time. "I have to remember I can't just say what first comes to my tongue. I need to think about it first. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, or, make you mad. I really didn't. And--" She reaches down for a little flask, which she holds out to her fellow candidate. Corners of her mouth pulling into a sullen frown, Laine doesn't answer, not right away. Instead, she shifts forward and plunges a hand under her bed; she feels around before she sits up. She lobs the light little package into Farideh's lap: a bright red handkerchief, tied up. Inside, should Farideh open it, there's a chipped thirty-second mark and a scrap of leather thirteen sets of seven marked off in charcoal. "Wrote a letter. To both of them. Sent 'em to Lady Tervane. Got--" Her voice hiccups. "Got this back. Mark is Shaus'. Kerchief is Fionn's." Flatly: "They're dead." Laine sits in silence, staring at her hands, twining her fingers, then finally looks up, over at Farideh. All the rancor is gone from her voice and her shoulders are slouched. "It's okay, Farideh. You didn't know." She accepts the flask, but doesn't drink. "I'm sorry, too." A surprised sound leaves her lips when Laine tosses the package at her, but Farideh manages to catch it between her hands before it rolls off her lap. "Lady Tevrane--" She sucks in a breath and looks at Laine with concern in her eyes. "I didn't think she would-- she's not the type-- oh, I'm so sorry, Laine. How long have you known? Have you been holding it in all this time?" Her fingers brush over the handkerchief almost reverently, her gaze dropping to the package. "Don't say you're sorry. You," she glances up, "didn't say the wrong thing and piss everyone else. Did you hear what Edyis said?" Another sound, this one disgruntled, as she shakes her head and shifts to put the bundle of items on the bed. "I don't know what they were thinking," obviously, the healers. Now Laine drinks, a long pull from the flask. She shakes her head, a dismissive toss and a short, quick flick of her hand. "Few months ago. It's-- I'm fine. Worse was not knowing." But that jaw works, and Laine sighs a long breath through her nose. "Edyis? That shit about you?" There's a critical wrinkle to Laine's brow. "Don't. Don't even give it a second thought. Healers should've known better. How long before those egg hatch? 'Course we're wound tighter than springs. It's all bullshit." Another drink from the flask before Laine offers it back to Farideh. "A few months?" Farideh is both horrified and astonished, choking on a bitter laugh. "You should have said something. I'm not the best at comforting, but we could have-- I don't know, gotten drunk at a gather, thrown old crates off the diving cliff-- anything. Visited Nabol, tried to talk to Lady Tevrane." She frowns, staring down at her hands. "Yeah. I thought she was my friend, but apparently--" it's rueful, mildly amused, "I'm just a pretty face." There's a sigh, long and dramatic, and she takes the flask, taking a long pull with a grimace; whatever's in it isn't up to her standard, but it's strong and that's what counts. "Aren't you worried about the hatching at all?" she asks, after wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I didn't think--" Laine falters. "No one gives a shit about two dead thieves. Not really." If she's echoing Farideh's words earlier, earlier with Tess, it's not intentional. The tanner tips her head back, stares at the bottom of the bunk above her. "Throwing crates off the diving cliff. Can we still? I like that." There's a long silence while Laine chews her lip, thinking. Then there's a wry smile, into the dark. "I mean. You are a pretty face. But not just." That smile creeps into her voice when she glances over at Farideh. That smile flickers but doesn't fade. "I guess. A little. But it seems-- silly. To worry about. It'll happen, or it won't, and..." Shrug. "That's how we see them, but not you. You should be able to grieve them, right?" Farideh offers the flask back with a sad expression. "I think anyone would say the same thing about-- Drex and Itsy. Who cares about two sailors, when they're two out of many, and they could easy just drown at sea. We would care." She lifts her thin shoulders in a shrug and sighs quietly. "I shouldn't have said the things I did. I really mean it. I'm sorry and--" She makes to bump the other candidate's shoulder with her own, in a commiserating gesture. "It may be fine, you may think you're fine, but that doesn't mean anyone can take that away from you or-- say the things I said. Don't let anyone. Not even me." There's a face, a displeased one, before she sighs, again. "I'm sure it will be, but it's the-- not knowing? Of what will on the day." Laine takes the flask and brings it to her lips, and when she brings it to her lap, loosely held in her hands, it's with a grateful expression. But the tanner just captures her lip again in her teeth and stares thoughtfully at her lap, even when Farideh bumps her with that friendly shoulder. "I know you didn't mean it. I know. It's-- we're okay." Laine manages a smile, weak but sincere, and meets Farideh's eyes. "And I'll be okay. And the hatching with be okay." Everything will be okay! "The not knowing sucks. But. We'll come out the other end, one way or another, and," beat, and a kinder edge to that smile, "And we'll still be friends, whatever happens, so." Another shrug. It'll be okay! "I think everyone else is still mad at me," Farideh says, and purses her lips, sweeping a look towards Edyis' bunk and then down the way to Faryn's. "You'll be okay?" She flicks a glance towards Laine, at the same time she reaches a hand to squeeze one of hers. "I can kick Yesia out of her bunk and sleep here tonight, if you need someone." It's a sincere offer, which of course would bring them all no small amount of joy; there's not even a smile though, just heartfelt candor as she waits for the tanner's answer. "I think everyone else is still mad at me," Farideh says, and purses her lips, sweeping a look towards Edyis' bunk and then down the way to Faryn's. "You'll be okay?" She flicks a glance towards Laine, at the same time she reaches a hand to squeeze one of hers. "I can kick Paz out of her bunk and sleep here tonight, if you need someone." It's a sincere offer, which of course would bring them all no small amount of joy; there's not even a smile though, just heartfelt candor as she waits for the tanner's answer. "They'll get over it. Remember," Laine squeezes back at that hand, "Everyone's feelings are valid. And we should support each other in their blah-blah-whatever-feelings." Is she being ironic? It might be hard to tell. But there's another brief tightening of her fingers, for good measure, but the tanner affirms, "I'm always okay. Don't kick Paz out. Pretty sure I've heard you snore." She bites back a chuckle. "'Preciate the offer. And-- and the apology." One more squeeze and Farideh is standing, leaving the flask to Laine. "I do not snore," is all she says, pretending at haughtiness with a chin lift and an arrogant smirk. Her voice however, when she speaks, is soft. "Goodnight, Laine." It's simple - a goodnight, goodbye, and then she's creeping back towards her own bunk in the dark. |
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