Logs:Good Leadership
| |
|---|
| |
| RL Date: 12 April, 2013 |
| Who: Quinlys, E'sren |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: E'sren took on some extra responsibilities, oops! And tells Quinlys to see if she wants to kick his ass. She doesn't, and they talk, and then something unexpected happens. |
| Where: Training cavern, HRW |
| When: Day 1, Month 7, Turn 31 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Mave/Mentions, I'zech/Mentions |
  |
| Weyrling Training Cavern, High Reaches Weyr All the furniture here has been pushed to one side of the room to allow a large pathway opposite: room enough to let weyrling dragons pass from the bowl's archway to the cavernous barracks at the back. None of the furniture matches, either: it varies from big cushioned, claw-footed chairs to those of plain wood, while the most seating is at the two stone tables ringed by low and equally hard stone benches. Without the tapestries that decorate many of the Weyr's other interior spaces, the room always echoes with noise, no matter how few are there. What it does have, however, are several colorful murals: on one wall, a detailed diagram of a dragon's anatomy; opposite, next to a creaky wooden door, a number of painted and labeled wing formations. Near the entrance is a large-scale version of the Weyr's badge, while the back wall, by the barracks, features a detailed map of the continent. The latter area's also home to one big, beat-up couch, black or maybe blue -- the thing's so old and filthy it's hard to tell, though it's certainly comfortable.
Olveraeth does not animate the dragon-cut-in-half, just for funsies, in his reply, though there's a sense that perhaps he'd like to-- that he's heartily amused by this imagery. His assent is quick in coming, though it takes his rider a little longer to arrive, and when she does, she's jogging. "You would catch us when I'm all the way on the other side of the Weyr," she accuses, on approach, though there's no sense that she's seriously put out. "What's up, future Weyrleader?" She might not be put out, but E'sren looks kind of really sorry when she jogs in. Confused, and sorry. "Wait, why were you... I'm sorry, did he say it was an emergency or something?" He gives his meandering lifemate a slightly accusatory glance, clearly not in the loop as far as the dragon-y exchange that just took place. Still, she's here and he asked her to come and so he gathers his thoughts and does a curt little nod like he's deciding something. Ahruth slows but doesn't stop, perhaps to stay away from them so none of his wing stretches knock anyone over. A wry look, including lifted eyebrow and smile, are afforded, and then he's out with it. "Okay. Try to keep an open mind. I offered to help a friend with a project, it's this play, and I'm not going to let it interfere with my... everything." There. He's done. He stands there with his hands at his sides and his eyes kind of squinted readily. "Olly," says Quinlys, pressing the back of one hand to her forehead in a pretty good rendition of long-suffering lady, "thinks I'm getting soft. He said he'd time me, just so he could prove I wasn't as quick as I said I was." It's a long story. But she's suitably smug, and not even that winded, so perhaps she won. In any case, she flops down into one of the chairs, giving E'sren a glance that is complete with raised brows. "You think you can manage extra-curricular in addition to all your weyrling stuff? And, you know, maybe leadership stuff as well? Do you actually intend to sleep at all?" "Were you quicker?" he has to know, but then attends to the latter. She didn't immediately tell him he's an idiot for getting involved when, yeah, he has a full plate as it is, so he sinks down into another chair and leans forward with elbows on knees, hands clasped. "I think," he starts out slowly, "that it was one of those things that happened along and she needed help and I kind of know what I'm doing with that stuff. But no, I don't intend to sleep." At least he's honest? "I know it's probably not awesome. But I already said yes. And it's not some crazy display of leadership, but..." There aren't any other words actually, he just shrugs and looks down at the floor. Quinlys' brow furrows, and if E'sren looks at her, it's probably pretty easy to see that she's less than enthusiastic about these developments. It's there in her expression, but also in the way she straightens, now, that relaxed pose becoming something more professional, and much less friendly. She doesn't even answer the question, and, instead, concentrates on the more important point at hand. "It's not awesome, so. I mean, I get why you-- I'm just saying, if your studies, if your training, suffers even the slightest bit? We'll forbid your participation in this project, end of story. Okay? Ahruth comes first, before friends, before anyone." It isn't in E'sren to get defensive, or talk back, but when Quinlys raises Ahruth's name he does look up to meet her gaze head on. Very evenly he says, "I know he comes first. I know that. I wouldn't ever neglect him for anything." It isn't an argument, it's a promise, a solemn one too, that he's making for her, as someone whose job it is to keep them all safe and healthy. Because yeah, he fucked up, but he isn't gonna fuck up more. "I'm just..." and this he does have a problem with, "...really bad at saying no. Right now. But I can work on that." There's kind of an open end to that, like he's going to work on that if she's going to make him work on that. It's the correct way - or certainly a correct way - to deal with Quinlys, it seems, because that solemn promise draws the weyrlingmaster's head into a sharp, forceful nod. "I know you wouldn't," she says, letting her words hang for several seconds, serious and certain, before she continues. "You should. The thing is, E'sren, people take advantage of people who don't say no. And if you really want to lead people, one day, you need to be able to take the hard line-- say 'no, that's not what's best for me and mine'. You know? I'm not saying you need to break your word, this time, or anything like that. But 'no' is a good word. Revert to toddlerhood, back when 'no' was the greatest word ever." He retains that grave expression, brow furrowed for his earnest vow, jaw set to match, but when she draws that comparison he has to grin the relieved grin of someone who made it past something. "So you're saying immaturity can be a useful tool." There may be a smidge of sass in there, in his squinted eyes like she's just bestowed upon him some great secret. E'sren tosses it though in exchange for once-again sobriety. "You're right. I do need to be... I dunno. Like my mom? She's always been this really tough lady, no bullshit, you know? I think she wanted me to be more like her, and I wasn't. But maybe I can take some pages out of her book still, huh?" "I'm saying--" Quinlys stops, and then, abruptly, just laughs. "Maybe that is what I'm saying. I don't know. I'm making this all up as I go along, apparently." She doesn't seem to mean that seriously. Her follow-up, too, is more serious, made after a thoughtful inhale, accompanied by a thoughtful exhale. "Like your mom, then. Yeah, exactly. I mean, we all have to work out what works for us, and just trying to be like someone else isn't usually the right way, but you can still take pointers. It's a good base point, somewhere to start from, while you work out the rest." Hey, she's laughing. Excellent. And his grin grows, all laugh lines, but he still accepts the advice with the kind of responsibility he knows now that she expects. "Yeah. With her here now, too, it's gonna be easier to take those pointers as they come." Which is kind of a comment on his relationship with his mom, and how often she doesn't let him have his way. After thinking about it first, and seeing Quinlys as a bluerider who was once also a weyrling, and is now where she is, E'sren quirks one corner of his mouth up in a strange sideways wince and asks, "Is this gonna hurt my chances at all?" Quietly, "I hope she's proud of you." Quinlys isn't asking the question, though - it's a statement, and one she follows up with more thoughts, quickly, quite as if she doesn't intend to give him space to answer it. "Guess you'll have to wait and see. That said-- good for you, being upfront about it. And acknowledging that it might not have been the smartest decision in the world. I don't know if that's really a show of leadership, but self-awareness is important, too." Beat. "It's not like leaders don't do dumb things sometimes." And he was going to, or maybe not really but E'sren opens his mouth like he has something to say, Quinlys's interruption might actually be a blessing if he didn't actually have anything prepared. Her answer is as much as he can expect, but it doesn't leave him down-faced or -trodden. "At least I pulled that part off." If he's one thing for sure it's blatantly positive. Her comment on leaders earns her an easy smirk. "Did you ever do anything dumb? I know you were practically born into the leadership program and everything." A little tease from their first conversation about that stuff, delivered gently. Quinlys, do something dumb? Quinlys? Her, "Hah!" is heartfelt, though, and perhaps quietly uneasy - especially when combined with the sudden shift in her expression. "I do a lot of dumb shit, E'sren," she says, a few seconds later. "Even now. You may need to learn to say 'no'; I need to learn, even now, to lead with my head and not my heart." It's quieter, and much more serious, though that fades a moment later when, laughing, she adds, "You should hear what Meara says about me, sometimes. I have to laugh. But me and her? We lead differently. That's just how it is." Well that's comforting. E'sren spends a quiet moment thinking on what she's said, and nods slowly after. "It's weird, I've known some things to be true my whole life, but now, all of a sudden, it's like I'm second guessing a lot of it. Like I know people make mistakes all the time no matter how old they are, but it's almost like... I dunno, I can't think of you making one, or Meara. I also think that it takes different people to get to different people. Like I don't know if I'd be able to talk to Meara like I can talk to you. Like us talking about the shit we have to change." Quinlys' smile quirks, crookedly amused, and increasingly pleased, especially with the last of what E'sren has to say. "That's weyrlinghood for you," she says, with a nod. "Everything you thought you knew, about yourself and about a bunch of other stuff... re-evaluated. I'm delighted you think I'm infallible, though. That's pretty awesome. It's-- well, that's part of the reason why we have a bunch of different weyrlingmasters, right? Even I'zech has something to offer." Maybe, says her expression. Maybe. "I guess it makes a difference that I'm closer to your age, too. Meara's-- she's someone's grandmother, you know? It's weird." But mostly? Quinlys just seems smug. Infallible? She said it, not him, and he doesn't argue. "Well it's working. Because yeah, Meara is someone's grandmother. She so is. I don't know whose, but someone's. Not mine though. I'zech is..." E'sren trails off to think about this too, but his smile is a good indication of how this is going to go. "He's a good choice I think. I dunno why. I just get this feeling. And you're..." He's going to be doing a lot of that apparently, this time he pauses to look at Quinlys with the kind of guarded, shielded people give other people when they don't want to linger too long just in case. "You're like this... pretty little lady, but you'll kick my ass. And I respect that." Quinlys seems surprised, and genuinely interested, by E'sren's opinion of E'zech, and leans forward in her chair as she considers it. "I hope you're right," she murmurs, barely audible, even as the weyrling is still talking-- and saying nice things about her, to boot! Her smile, however, is brilliant, when he finishes. "I so will," she confirms. "If I need to. Good. It's - well, good. That's as it should be. I mean, Meara's definitely got skills, but it's a different kind of thing, really." For her hope, and for her last comment, and everything in between, E'sren agrees and confirms with a simple eyebrow lift and thin mouth. Yeah, it's all true. "I'm always right," he tells her, all affected arrogance and smug. "But seriously don't worry. He'll be good. And I'll keep an eye on everyone, if you're not around." On her kids, unsaid but suggested. Ahruth has been keeping his distance until now, when he approaches Quinlys to whuff at her, then carries on to the way through to the barracks. E'sren watches him go and mentions a little forlornly, "I guess I might need to go oil him." "Good," says Quinlys, all smiles, even when there's dragon breath - which only has her drawing back a little bit, head shaking. Her gaze follows the blue for a moment, before falling back towards his rider: she nods. "It does look that way, doesn't it? Cheer up: they'll stop growing eventually. And he's nowhere near as big as some of his clutchmates are, or will be." Her head bobs in the direction of the barracks, apparently intended as encouragement. Or maybe it's just that she's eager to send him off closer to his cot... where he might find a thread of silver waiting for him, right on top of the pillow. Cheered, it's always too easy, E'sren braces his hands on his knees as if he's like eighty and pushes down to stand. "He got taller than me a lot faster than I was expecting, but yeah, he's no bronze." He gives her a little smile for the shared blue experience, and tells her genuinely, "Thank you for everything. For not kicking my ass for not being able to say no, even though it's been established you totally, really could kick my ass." And because duty does call, and he did promise her, he salutes and about-faces to follow in Ahruth's wake, and it just so happens some of the things he needs for the task ahead he keeps in his press. Moments later, after finding it and processing what it means, if she's still in the area outside, she'll hear a very distinct, very loud, 'WOO!' and subsequent triumphant laughter. "You're welcome," says the weyrlingmaster, letting her smile follow E'sren towards the barracks. She'll wait for it, too: for the inevitable reaction. It clearly doesn't disappoint. Hurray! |
Comments
Aishani (Brieli (talk)) left a comment on Sat, 13 Apr 2013 04:01:51 GMT.
<
Yay! I want to say something like 'muffin' but then I remember - older than Shani. Still weird.
Azaylia (Dragonshy (talk)) left a comment on Sun, 14 Apr 2013 04:09:30 GMT.
<
Ahahahaha. The 'WOO!' killed me! As did Quinlys bein' so smug. Uh huhm. ;3 I've begun to look forward to Weyrlingmaster scenes, to see how weyrlings and master(s) interact. S'fun!
Leave A Comment