Logs:What Hatching Feasts are All About
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| RL Date: 8 September, 2013 |
| Who: Aukiri, K'zin |
| Involves: High Reaches Weyr |
| Type: Log |
| What: Good food and pretty girls! (K'zin and Kiri meet at and enjoy themselves at the Hatching Feast for Tsanth and Hraedhyth's clutch.) |
| Where: Living Cavern, High Reaches Weyr |
| When: Day 2, Month 10, Turn 32 (Interval 10) |
| Mentions: Aishani/Mentions, Azaylia/Mentions, F'manis/Mentions, K'del/Mentions, Z'ian/Mentions |
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| Living Cavern, High Reaches Weyr Stalactites hang high above this enormous cavern like a jagged chandelier or an inversion of the Spires themselves, but shadows cling to them instead of light. Below lie great tables arranged in rows, each large enough to serve a fighting wing, while in the nooks and alcoves around the cavern's edge sit more sensibly-sized tables, from six- and eight-seaters down to intimate spots for just a couple of diners. The only really open space is around the kitchen entrance, smelling of food and rarely quiet, and by the nearby serving tables with their long buffet of the day's offerings. Tapestries on the smooth walls -- some faded and others newly woven -- only slightly mute the sea of sound when a meal is in full swing, but they add cheerfulness augmented by the glowlight from wall sconces and the centerpieces of each table. Still, shadows always creep along the ceiling and into the mouths of the exits -- the myriad small hallways at one end of the cavern and, at the other, the twisting tunnel to the bowl near an array of coathooks and and hatracks -- and late at night, when the glows are allowed to dim, the chamber can seem very dark indeed.
Kiri is not one of those VIPs, not in the slightest. He's spent most of his time in line for the food, and has only just got clear of the tables, and the people surrounding the tables and balancing plates and eating and visiting and making exiting nighimpossible. For all that, when he pops out (with grunting and squirming more reminiscent of a clutching than a hatching, truth be told) he doesn't seem all that vexed. Even when he's wandering aimlessly looking for a seat, when many are filled up. And when that couple near K'zin gets up to dance, and he sweeps into their spot on the bench, well those freckles are shining in outright triumph. There might be quippy comments for the manner of Aukiri's movement through the chatty crowd, if only K'zin had seen. But there was food. Better food than has probably been seen in 'Reaches Living Cavern for months. So K'zin saw nothing, and, indeed, doesn't notice the departing dancers or Kiri's coming. But when he sees something delicious on the other man's plate that isn't on K'zin's, this draws the bronzerider's attention, "Oh, man, where was that and how did I miss it?" It's only after this is asked that K'zin's brown eyes rise to find the face of the owner of the plate, "Oh, hi," 'Stranger Who Might Think I'm Crazy Now' is implied but not said in the silence that follows. That. Kiri looks down, first, and then shifts up onto one butt cheek, the better to carefully extricate the utensils he'd shoved into a pocket in the food line. It's with a fork that he prods at that. "Behind a plate. Kind of... pastry crumby? Maybe a meat pie or something." And that is then nudged a bit nearer to Aukiri himself. A coined tuber that was propped up against it rolls and falls flat. "Unless they put dessert pie in with all the supper stuff." K'zin looks at the plate, and then back at the throng of bodies that block the food tables from view. "Well, crackdust." The rider sighs after a moment of contemplation. "I'm not going through all that again." He nods toward the obstacles to the food. He'll have to go without. Fortunately, he has a lot of other tasty looking things on his plate. "I don't think I've seen you before. Are you visiting for the Hatching?" The question is posed conversationally, and with manners, before he stuffs his mouth full. Aukiri stabs the tuber coin with his fork, lifts it, bites off half. He's chewing when the second question starts, but he's frozen once it's fully asked. "No," with food tucked into the corner of his mouth, and a queer little crinkle between his eyebrows. "You're like the twentieth person who's asked me that. You guys all just hang out in a tiny little group or something?" The grin with that shows a few pieces of tuber against his teeth, but hey. His fork gestures to that thing on his plate, and he swallows. "What've you got?" And the bronzerider's plate gets a closer inspection. "Pretty much." K'zin's answer comes wryly. "To be fair, it's a hatching feast though. There's lots of people here who aren't from here." And lots who are. But it might be more of a fair question tonight. "And really, it's not that we hang out in little groups, seems like lately most people don't hang out here at all if they can help it. It might have to do with the food." He notes, though the room seems plenty full tonight. "Roast wherry with mashed tubers and gravy," K'zin uses his fork to point, "Meatloaf, steamed fingerroots, pot pie, and underneath I've forgotten what's there." It is a bit of a mountain and the insides can't be seen. "Oh, and quiche." He points, licking his lips as his fork dives for it. "I'm K'zin, by the way." Aukiri's grin stays put, although his eyes dull a little as the bronzerider gets toward the end of his list. "Maybe that's what that big dish was," he suggests, face doing a full change into some sort of knowing, eyebrow-lifting expression. The rest of his tuber thing is eaten. "Lots of stuff was gone or gone soggy by the time I got up there." He lifts his now-empty fork in salute to the bronzerider. "Kiri." Whose attention is caught by a twirling couple getting a bit too close to the table. "This whole place exploded, huh?" Grin's back. "Oh, was it? I didn't think I was there that long ago, but I did get stopped by that bluerider from Monaco," K'zin glances back toward the faces as though looking for that one in particular. Looking down at his plate and then to Kiri he makes a decision and his plates is nudged forward. "Well, if I got something you wanted and got none of, help yourself." Share and share alike. "It did, but I'd rather it explode this way than any other. This hatching feast isn't as eventful as the one after my dragon's hatching, but I guess there's only so many times a Weyrwoman can turn out to be a descendant of a Vijay that the former Weyrleader put to death." He delivers it dead-pan but cracks a smile at the end. "So what do you do here, Kiri?" He steers the conversation toward a less political subject innocently enough. "Other ways sure could be something to see, though. For a quick second, anyway." Kiri wrinkles up his nose, and rubs idly at a freckled cheek with the back of his fork hand. The deadpan just gets a little shrug and nod. "Guess you still win at hatching feasts, huh." After some deliberation, a piece of meatloaf - which turns smaller in transit, when a chunk falls back to K'zin's plate - is transferred. "You can have some of that," that, "I guess. If you want." It's a roll he reaches for, though. "Help the Tanner, mostly. What about you?" A single brow rises and his head cocks to the side as K'zin regards Aukiri silently. "Is that the kind of thing you can 'win' at? Personally, I thought it pretty much sucked. Really killed the festive mood. I'm really not much into competition anyway." He glances down to the plate, that was nudged, gesturing, "I'm really more an 'everybody wins' strategist." K'zin accepts the bit of that offer, but he keeps what he takes down to a simple forkful that's deposited onto his plate. "I ride with Taiga." K'zin answers, "Drills, sweeps, errands, nothing terribly exciting. You like it? Working with the tanners? Wouldn't rather be one of them?" His fork indicates a tired and dazed looking new weyrling surrounded by a small-group of well-wishers. "Oh." Kiri's face only falls a little, before he's firing off a shrug, affable. "But everyone remembers that one, I bet." While he samples that meatloaf, he slowly nods in answer to K'zin's personal information. "And that's... not the wing with the girl weyrleader, right?" The arch of his eyebrow, the slight turn of his head, it could almost be charming. If not for the whole words bit. "Nah, I've gots kills enough to-" and then he actually looks in the direction of one of those newly-minted dragonriders. "Oh, hah. I dunno. Guess you did, though." "Unforgettable." K'zin agrees, "At least while Aishani is still with us here. Though seems to me like there's a number of other unforgettable events that have become quite the opposite over the turns once the people involved aren't around to keep it fresh in the minds of the weyrfolk." What's he talking about? Maybe he doesn't know. It sounds sort of rambley. He finds focus in answer Kiri's question after a few bites. "No, it's the wing with the former weyrleader as wingsecond." Because that's really the easiest way to identify it. Don't tell F'manis. "The girl weyrleader is Glacier. Not that the name matters much unless you're working for them directly." At least K'zin recognizes the the Weyr isn't all about the dragonriders. "Kills enough to-?" The bronzerider asks interestedly. "Yeah, I did." There's probably more of a story there, but he doesn't volunteer it. At last not when there's another bite of food on his fork to be enjoyed. Aukiri swallows his food, takes a moment to run his tongue over his teeth and clear out remaining meatloaf while eyeing that bronzerider. It's one blink, and then a happy little smile. "I guess to make a coat? Leathers? A big old book? Depends what's needed, doesn't it?" He looks back to where that weyrling- was. And then checks the dance floor again, prodding the rest of that meatloaf with his fork. "Tanned skins are good for all sorts of things, if you do it right." It's possible to watch K'zin's brain work, the chewing slows. No smoke appears out of his ears or anything so exciting, but his brow knits in concentration, trying to follow the connection between kills and coats and leathers and-- Nope, he doesn't get it. Rasavyth must be otherwise occupied or just not care enough to chime in with an assessment of the situation. "I don't get it." The bronzerider admits. "Maybe because I was a Smith not a Tanner. You got kills enough but-- you mean, like, enough to get the leather to make those things?" His eyes follow the other's to the dance floor, "Got a pretty girl in mind for a dance?" He queries curiously. That smile on the freckled boy's face teeters in amused indecision. And when he winds up with, "Guess you've got to be a tanner to get it," the look is immensely self-satisfied. Kiri's non-fork hand rubs quickly through his hair, and he shrugs. Another little look out to the floor. "None in particular. You know a good one?" "Guess so," K'zin concedes. And he may never know it was all a misunderstanding over a mouthful of food. But that doesn't seem to bother him. Now they're talking about girls. "Several." His eyes bounce across the dancers and the pretty faces on the fringes. "What's your type? You looking for just a dance partner who won't step on your toes or someone who might find a cozy nook with you at the end of the night?" He puts is fork down, even, though most of his plate's been devoured already, so he can focus his attention on making the right recommendation for the freckled-face guy. The confidence brought on by his cunning, and totally on purpose, ruse falters a little when they start talking categories. Kiri's look to K'zin now is sidelong, and he carefully skewers the afore-fondled roll on his plate. "Do those two types," as his eyes follow a redhead for a while, as she and her partner move past, "have to be separate?" If K'zin notices the faltering in Kiri's confidence, his easy manner doesn't let on as his eyes draw back to the man for a moment and he laughs, a hearty friendly laugh. "No, but your options are a lot more limited. Now, if you're willing to put up with some toe crunching, there's a lot more that are likely to make it up to you at the end of the night." The bronzerider speaks as though he has some experience in that matter. "But both..." His eyes scan the faces again. "There are a few out there," He nods toward a pretty brunette swaying at the edge of dance floor across the way. "She might not be a bad choice. If she's had more than a few drinks, your toes are in danger though." Aukiri nods along, still scanning all those people on the dance floor, and with only occasional looks to his tablemate. He's taken one bite of that roll; the rest hangs heavily from his fork, which is slowly, slowly falling toward his plate. "Right," acknowledges the lesson-so-far at the end. "But then... she's more likely to take me into a nook." He tries to make it a statement, but can't keep that upward twist off the end. Sideglance. K'zin can't help laughing, the laugh turning to a grin. "True. Not that, you know, one should aim to make a woman feel like she owes you, but I'm not one to turn away someone feeling grateful." That would make him crazy. And might disgrace bronzeriders everywhere. He points out a few more that he identifies as good dance partners, but a wiggle of his hand, fingers splayed, and a trailed off sentence indicate they might be harder to convince into a nook. "I bet the working with the tanners angle could get you in good with some of the riders. Particularly weyrlings, later, when they're making more and more and more riding straps. You know how to make those, right?" It's not a question meant to challenge, more the sound that he expects anyone working with leather in a Weyr probably does. Aukiri's gaze has started to bounce back and forth, between K'zin and those women upon whom he's passing judgement, clearly reading some medium invisible to the common Kiri. Back, forth, back, forth, "Straps? Oh yeah. Well, I've looked at some, and fixed some. But I'm good with my hands?" His own grin is back, his eyebrows wiggling, and he shifts back in his chair, adjusting his feet and legs, looking back toward that shy-looking brunette girl that's been picked out for him. And then to K'zin again. K'zin's posture subtly shifts, his shoulders sagging a little, his expression becoming a touch more attentive as he talks to Aukiri. From the outside, it probably looks like Aukiri's saying something fascinating, not that he necessarily isn't, but K'zin's now acting the wingman making Kiri look as the one who ought to catch any roving female eyes. He laughs, "That's a good line, too. For them. Anybody looking to knock boots appreciates someone good with their hands. If you want to learn more about straps, I could show you sometime. Ras has me working on a fancy set for him. I bet you could have greenriders cooing over your talented hands in no time if you offered to help them with their straps." Straps, the eternal chore (or nuisance) of riders. "That," Kiri decides, looking square on at K'zin, for almost like two whole seconds! "would be great." A bit of a flush to his cheeks, as the roll on the end of the fork finally touches down, and then is tap-tapped a few times against the plate, in time to the music. "Greenriders." That grin there is the one he turns back to the search. "Oh, dude, you missed it," K'zin murmurs, grinning. In that two seconds, "She looked at you." He lifts his fork and begins to eat slobbishly. Extra unappealing. "There are some greenriders that match up in both categories, but I don't see them here tonight." He notes through a mouthful. Attractive. "Crackdust," Aukiri decides, the word not coming entirely naturally, but, once he's started, pulled off well enough. "I guess," and he puts the roll-and-fork down, "I should probably go and talk to her some, huh? Maybe get her a drink or something." A wary look goes back to the tables, still busy, if now with less of a lineup, and more general milling. "Should finish eating first," K'zin answers through his last bite. "Never know. Once she gets ahold of you she might never let go." The bronzerider's baritone is ominous, but his eyebrow wiggle is comical, so he's probably kidding. Probably. "I've had a little food already. Can always wait in line for more." A smile is awarded to the bronzerider, a look that dwells a moment, and then Aukiri is getting to his feet. "Don't want to take the risk that it might not be the same for this girl." The edge of his plate is pushed in K'zin's direction, even while Kiri faces the other direction. "You can eat anything you want off that." He squares his shoulder, puffs his chest, and off he goes. |
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