Logs:Wedding Traditions
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| RL Date: 27 September, 2013 |
| Who: Lansha, Madilla |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Madilla's quilting leads to a conversation about weddings and weyrmatings. |
| Where: Resident Common Room, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 1, Month 12, Turn 32 (Interval 10) |
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| Resident Common Room, High Reaches Weyr Just off of the main passageway lies the small cavern that forms the hub of the residents' quarters, kept immaculately clean by the headwoman's staff and warmed in cold weather by a stone hearth to the left and well back from the entrance. Comfortable chairs and a plush fur arrayed before the hearth make an inviting spot to curl up with a book or handicraft, or just to sit and chat. Beyond, additional chairs stand in clusters throughout the room, some upholstered with age-softened hide, some plain wood. At the widest point of the cavern, a round table gleams with polish, though its surface is nicked and scarred from Turns of use. Beyond the table, the very back of the cavern often lies in shadow unless the glowbaskets there are unlidded to cast cozy pools of light. The commingled scents of klah, smoke and polish permeate the air along with the sweetness of rosemary and lavender. Tapestries hang across the entrances to dormitories and more private quarters as well as the exit to the outer hall, colorful protections from drafts. Lansha strolls out of the resident quarters, humming a tune under his breath. Madilla, an easily identifiable figure given her role as High Reaches' Weyrhealer, is a regular visitor to the common room - even though, as a healer, her quarters are all the way across the bowl. It's early evening, now, and the common room is busy: there's a group playing cards near the hearth, while others are engaged in various handicrafts. Madilla, her back to the hearth, is sewing on one of her ever-present quilts, her dark head lowered towards the work with a certain amount of intensity. There's a spare seat just adjacent to her, though given the relative busyness, it won't stay empty for long. Lansha sees a familiar face and heads towards the hearth. "Good evening, Weyrhealer, how are you tonight?" He beams at the woman cheerfully. It takes Madilla several seconds to register Lansha's interruption, though when she does, her head lifts promptly. A characteristically warm smile follows as, rolling her shoulders back in a gentle stretch, she says, "I'm well enough, thank you. Not especially looking forward to the cold, dark walk back across the bowl, but I suppose that's difficult to avoid." Her gaze slides back towards the quilt she's working on - and then she indicates it with a tip of her head. "What do you think, the red next to the blue, or the yellow?" Lansha leans in a little closer to study the quilt, cocking his head to the side a bit and narrowing his eyes. "Hmm. The red, I think. Oh, I'm Lansha, by the way. Tajent's assistant. So what's the overall design there?" He gestures with his head to indicate the quilt. "The red it is," says Madilla, sounding pleased, as she adjusts the positioning of the patches on the table in front of her. "Thank you, Lansha. This one? It's called a 'wedding mark' quilt. Traditionally, you'd have a set colour scheme, but... I like just using offcuts and rags. Plus, really, it's much more fun to decide how things fit together, that way." The healer brushes her fingertips over a piece of soft, silky fabric, eyes fluttering half closed as if in reminiscence of something. Lansha looks over the quilt in appraisal. "It's lovely. Are you making it for someone or just for yourself?" Madilla's eyes open again, narrowing in thought as she considers the quilt, and then widening again as she glances back at Lansha. She withdraws her hand from the patch she was touching, reaching instead for her needle again. "Well, thank you. It's a gift," she explains. "Two of the Journeymen in the complex are getting married. I like the idea of having something new to spread over the bed, when you combine your lives like that. I suppose it's symbolic. In a way, anyway." Lansha nods. "Ah. Well, it would be a wedding gift, it's a wedding mark quilt." He chuckles and shakes his head. "People getting married always strikes me as odd. I guess it's 'cause I'm weyrbred." Instead of resuming her sewing, Madilla lifts one arm above her head and stretches again, rolling her shoulders back and forth, and then her neck. She laughs, eyes dancing, in answer to Lansha's comment. "Plenty of weyrbred people get married - or weyrmated, at least," she says. "Though fewer than do in the Holds, I will grant you that. Marriage is a symbol, too: it's all about committing yourselves to each other, and celebrating that fact with the people you care about. I think they're lovely." Lansha nods. "Well, sure, it's a nice concept, but committing to one person the rest of your life? Where's the fun in that? I prefer the weyrmating concept myself. You go where your dragon takes you, and that's that. None of all the fuss that holders make over weddings. I suppose that since everyone shares everything in a Weyr, it's not so much of a thing, y'know?" "For some," allows Madilla, after a moment, her brow furrowing as she considers it. "But I know plenty of dragonriders who are... true to a partner, with the exception of flights. Not all dragonriders choose... your way of things." She's not blushing, but there's discomfort in her expression nonetheless: and really, she does have a reputation for being holdbred, so perhaps that's not surprising. "I suppose," she adds, musingly, "it comes down to what works best for individuals." Finally, she reaches for her sewing again, needle dipping into the fabric. "As long as you don't hurt others, in the process." Lansha nods. "That's true. And besides, if we all held a ceremony every time someone got weyrmated, we'd be celebrating all the time and nothing would ever get done. Not that I don't enjoy a good party." He grins evilly. "And it would probably horrify the holders, since half the time it's men weyrmating with other men." Madilla's needle pauses. "Would we? I clearly know very different dragonriders to you, Lansha! I know plenty of weyrmated couples who have been together for turns and turns, and rather more dragonriders who simply don't formally weyrmate at all." She doesn't seem horrified by this prospect of men weyrmating with other men, though she has been in the Weyr a very long time, now; she is, however, staring rather intently at her sewing, as if attempting to stare clean through it at the table beneath. "I suppose it takes all kinds." Lansha shrugs. "Oh, sure, I know plenty of riders who are weyrmated pretty much for life, but they just don't make such a big deal about it." He glances at the Weyrhealer curiously as she stares at her sewing. "I guess it might be nice, though, to have a little more stability in your life." "As long as people are happy," concludes Madilla, placidly, with a smile, though she doesn't turn her gaze back on Lansha, this time. "I think it's different for all of us. I certainly prefer the stability, but I've friends who would feel... limited, by that. Or who simply aren't interested. And that's fine, too. But I'm very happy for my friends." The ones, presumably, whose wedding is the reason for the quilt the healer is working on. Lansha smiles. "Well, if they're happy, I'm happy. Oh, by the way, I restocked our supply of needlethorns, we were running low. Took care of it personally. Got the puncture wounds to prove it, too." He looks at his fingers. "Well, I did. They're healed now." This time, Madilla does glance up, expression showing surprise - though only for a moment, as though she's carefully tucking it away beneath that more neutral warmth she usually favours. "Did you? Well, thank you for that. I appreciate it. Supplies as they are, that's one less thing to worry about. Next time, come in and see us in the infirmary; we'll get you some balm for any punctures, clean you all up." Lansha grins. "You're very welcome. And I did get slathered with numbweed and bandaged up in the infirmary. But I'll definitely take you up on that offer next time." "You did. Good - I'm glad to hear that." Madilla's smile is still warm, though now she's reaching to tuck her needle into the fabric, and then fold the fabric up. "I should get back home before it gets too late," she tells him. "But it was lovely to talk to you, Lansha. Thank you again, for the needlethorns." Lansha nods. "No problem! nice to talk to you, too. Have a good night!" He heads down to the living cavern. |
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