Logs:Inanimate Egg-Shaped Objects
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| RL Date: 8 June, 2015 |
| Who: Dee, Lilah |
| Involves: Fort Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Lilah is not the redhead Dee thinks she is; they chat anyway. It could have gone better. (Or worse.) |
| Where: Galleries, Fort Weyr |
| When: Day 10, Month 13, Turn 37 (Interval 10) |
| OOC Notes: Back-dated! |
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>---< Galleries, Fort Weyr(#745RIJMas$) >------------------------------------<
The entrance to the Sands and Galleries alike is little more than an
archway and a section of flat stone that curves into a broad pathway in
front of the Galleries that are carved into the right-hand side of the
Hatching Cavern. This pathway is set with three flights of stairs that
lead all the way up to the upper tiers of the Galleries; one set near the
entrance of the cavern, one set at the northernmost end, and one set
between both. Beyond the pathway, that flat stone dissolves into the Sands
proper, a golden expanse that sits before the large, odd engraving that
lines the far wall -- an etching that details the rotation of the Red
Star.
The Galleries themselves are rows of flat seats carved from the stone wall
and stacked backward to allow observers the best view possible of the
golden sands. Those at the bottom are protected from wayward dragonets by
a railing, while dignitaries from outside the Weyr -- Lord Holders, other
Weyrleaders, Craftmasters and their ilk -- have a specially designated
spectator's box at the topmost row. Eliyaveith is currently a restless figure on the sands, pacing around the perimeter of her clutch that has been spread so specifically out in such a way that pleases the brooding queen. She stops in her slow circle briefly every once in a while, to stare at this egg or that egg with an intentness to every detail of the egg in question, before she moves along again in that endless circle. But between those circles of the large queen, one can see the full extent of those eggs, even the gold egg that still has yet to be separated from the rest of the clutch. Currently, it is snuggled up against the Sailor's Hope egg, a position that would be ill advised if they were anywhere near hatching. And despite her dragon's restlessness, Lilah isn't on the sands with her. The goldrider is in the back tiers of the galleries, working on-- is that knitting? Yes, she is knitting. Horribly, if the varying sizes of her stitches are anything to go by, but at least it is keeping her hands busy. She has resorted back to her faded, worn grey uniform, hair thrown up in a messy bun. Where looking at Elaruth's clutch took effort, took attempts and even had some undesirable physical side-effects, looking at Eliyaveith's takes only a pause at the rail as Dee steps into the galleries and a stubbornly defiant look. It could be mistaken as something directed outward, what with it occupying her face and there being no mirror handy, unless one counts the Broken Mirror Egg, and that's not nearly close enough and wouldn't provide an accurate reflection in any case. She stares some moments at the eggs this way before making move to turn to find a seat. As she steps onto the first set of stairs, her hazel gaze sweeps and she begins to move toward Lilah, pausing suddenly and awkwardly as she starts to draw near enough to realize the redhead is not the redhead she was looking for. Having come too far to politely fade off into the smattering of spectators, she presses on with a greeting, "May I join you, Weyrwoman Lilah?" "Have a seat; it is a surprisingly good view of the top of the eggs, from here," Lilah offers in answer, though there's only a stutter to the repetition of her needles as she answers. Yet, there is a muttered frustration afterwards as she loses her count, needles dropped so that she can start tearing out those stitches to restart the row. "Though, I bet that you have already seen as much as there is to see." "Actually, ma'am," Dee's tone is apologetic as she drops onto the row beside the goldrider, "This is my first chance to see them, save for a quick peek during the clutching." Her eyes are on them now, though her approach didn't miss the knitting. "Does she have you knitting sweaters for them?" She wonders as if this might not be a strange thing to think of the looping and overlapping yarn. A brow curves upwards as Lilah's response, though she replies dismissively all the same, "And there they are. They aren't likely to do much of anything worth watching. At least, not for a while." As she loses her count again, the goldrider throws the whole mess of the knitting into her lap, abandoning any attempt to resume as she slides a look towards Dee. "Something to keep myself entertained." A pause, before she questions, "So, what do you think, then?" "No..." is a grudging agreement with Lilah's first, "but maybe they know we're here?" Dee suggests it with slightly raised brows and an expression that might be willing suspension of disbelief. "Are you here so she knows you are or because you like to watch eggs do nothing?" She wonders in the next moment, glancing to the redhead. Only then does she offer an answer, "They're a fine looking clutch. Those two," the colorful ones, "remind me of some I saw my very first clutch, when I was young. Sometimes even the things that are boring are unforgettable, I guess." There's wryness there, if only thinly. "No, I am here so that they know that I am," is Lilah's murmured answer, shameless in the face of the Candidate's judgement where she might not be otherwise. "If anything happens, then-- It can't be blamed on us, can it?" Her gaze slides to the eggs, though, whether for her own suspicions of the eggs or for Dee's answer. There is a lingering look at the top of the gold egg, the warping hard to see from this angle and from this far away, before she refocuses on those colorful eggs with a tip of a nod. "Isn't every clutch? At least, until they hatch." "Oh," is more shape than sound on Dee's lips in dawning realization of just what Lilah is saying to her. The skin folds between her brows as she considers Eliyaveith on the Sands. "Is that why she's here too? For them?" Them who are not the eggs? "I suppose you're right about that. The eggs do seem to be an awful lot less important once the dragons are out of them." She fidgets a bit, even as she leans forward to look onto the Sands. "How are you both finding it? This. This clutchmothering thing." It's not reference to the clutch that wasn't, not really, but rather earnest and curious inquiry into the junior pair's experience. Dark gaze drawing back to the golden dragon, so distinct from the pale sands she occupies, as Eliyaveith noses gently at one of her eggs, carefully sniffing it. (Maybe that One Pair, Many Months Egg does actually hold a scent.) Lilah shakes her head softly, a buried affection that so rarely shows coming to the surface as she answers, "No. She's here for her children. They hold much more interest for her, but then-- They aren't just inanimate objects to her, are they?" She doesn't expand on that clearly rhetorical question, not as she picks back up her knitting needles to attempt another row of stitches. She adds to the question, a dry invitation, "You'd have to ask Eliyaveith. She is the clutchmother, after all." "Are they to you?" Dee asks with mild surprise at the idea that eggs are inanimate objects. Her brow furrows as she forces her hazel gaze away from Lilah and out to the eggs. It's almost certainly safer than to gawk at the redhead. "I've heard about golds that tell their riders about the eggs. About who's in them. Or what they think, or feel or dream." She chews her lower lip, "It's hard for me to think of them as anymore inanimate than a baby in the womb. Just because I can't see the movement or feel it, doesn't mean it's not moving, living, growing." All this is offered quietly and simply, though certainly Dee wasn't asked her thoughts. A look is leveled on Dee even as the younger woman looks away, Lilah's brow curving upwards at her response, though the steady movements of fingers and needles along the yarn continues even before she glances back to the eggs out on the sands. "Yet, if you tried to watch and stare at a baby growing in another woman for three months, I think even your fascination would turn to boredom," she replies flatly. "I suppose it would." Dee only grudgingly agrees. "I can't remember if my mother being pregnant with my brother was fascinating to me or not. We're too close in age." She purses her lips slightly, a look of confusion, "Do you not... I mean, I know some pairs are closer than others, but does her feelings about the clutch not... sort of... bleed into you? It seems like something big, you know? Feelings wise, it feels like..." She trails off because who better than a Farmcrafter to realize when she's suddenly digging a hole? Lilah gets a guilty and embarrassed sort of look, but at least the girl doesn't then dig deeper. From the way Lilah's expression sets, the narrowing of dark eyes and the thinning of soft lips, it is clear that Dee has started to dig herself a hole with this line of questioning, stepping over some sort of invisible line. "I can still share her feelings and have my own, if that answers your question," she murmurs slowly, carefully. "If you find a dragon on the Sands, you may understand that some day. Or maybe you will get lucky, and you won't ever have to worry about bonds again." Sometimes the best way to cease digging a hole is to quietly slink out of the shallowest part. The attempt is made by way of saying, "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to imply." Then, "I wouldn't go that far. I doubt the craft would ever place me outside the Hall or to a Weyr." Meaning, the bonds of lifemates would always be relevant to her, if not intimately. Rather than elaborate though, Dee rises from the row and asks the predictable, "By your leave, ma'am-- I should get back," to somewhere that isn't here with the pitfall she prepared so proficiently. "Didn't you?" Lilah challenges at that first apology, her brow curving slightly. But at least the goldrider doesn't continue pushing her into that hole as she rises and excuses herself, only falling silent to study the Candidate before she tips her chin in dismissal for the girl. "No," simple, and reiteration, "I am sorry to have done," is added whether Lilah chooses to accept the apology from the tall candidate. "I hope your vigil passes pleasantly," Dee adds as she's turning to go once the chin tip is given. It's a quick process for her long stride to take her down to the rail, where she pauses briefly to look one last time at Eliyaveith and the eggs before ducking her head and exiting the cavern. |
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