With Love, Lujayn
Who: Carisandra, Lujayn, Milani, Niena
When: day 26, month 7, Turn 15
Where: Lake Shore, HRW
Summary: Letter-writing and skipping stones.
Lujayn heads towards the lake shore, one hand already scooping up an opportune rock while the other holds a small bag. She waves to Carisa and Niena, glad for the cool breezes that relieve some of the stifling summer sun. "Sorry for the wait, I had to talk some ink out of the scribe. He didn't believe I actually wanted to write something.." A rueful smirk crosses her face. "How's the rock-throwing so far?" She sits herself down, removing a few pieces of scrap hide from the bag along with a pen and the ink. "I do intend to write that letter. Somehow, in between skipping stones and the firestone."
Carisandra grins as she answers. "Still looking for proper skipping stones." and she shows Niena the two smooth rocks she's found, each a half a finger length or more having at least one flat'ish side to it. "The flatter the stone the better." Looking up at Lujayn "Good luck managing to fit that in. Bet you don't finish it till late tonight after bedtime."
Niena nods studiously and begins searching, putting even more care into it than she did with the pebbles for the necklace. After a few minutes she has four potential skipping rocks.
Carisandra and Niena are scavenging the shores for rocks to skip, while Lujayn sits nearby writing a letter. "No harm in trying," The tall girl maintains, carefully filling the pen and contemplating her words. "Dear...everyone?" She scribbles, unsure. "Wonder who'll end up reading this." Her other hand fingers the rock she found earlier, watching the other two candidates.
Carisandra nods and finds a couple more stones. "The trick is how you throw it. Like I said, I never get more than 3 skips out of any of these. You have to throw it so the flat side hits the water at just the right angle." She pauses and grins at Lujayn. "You can probably show her better than I can."
Milani ambles up from the direction of the pond, hair still quite wet and dripping down the back of her dress. A rolled up towel is fitted under her arm and her sandals flap a little as she walks, making a soft *snick snick* sound against the gravelly shoreline. "Oh hey there!" she calls out as she draws near. "Skipping stones?"
Niena watches Carisandra closely, then tries with her first stone. Part of her problem is that her wrist is all wrong, and she ends up throwing overhand rather than skimming it. The stone makes a half-hearted attempt at coming back up, then plunks.
Lujayn nods, looking away from her nearly blank page. "Sure," She hops up, ink dotting the ground around her. "I've never tried to teach anyone. Just hold it like this," Arranging her index and thumb around it, Lu demonstrates easily, "Then pull it back and flick it out with your wrist, more like it's going to the side instead of straight out." She does so, letting the stone spin through the air and onto the water, skipping once before fading into the depths. "Hey, keep trying. It almost went for it."
Milani pauses just shy of the other girls and peeks through as Lujayn demonstrates. "Yep, that looks about right. S'all about keeping it flat to the water before you toss it." She shoots a glance towards the writing stuff Lujayn abandoned. "Whatcha writing?" Gee. Aren't we curious today.
Holding the stone pretty close to the way Lujayn showed Niena, Carisandra casts one out and it gives a halfhearted bounce and plops. "Yup. Lots of practice." she mutters to herself. "Give it a try Niena."
Niena nods, her expression one of almost painful concentration, and adjust her finger and thumb to something approximating what Lujayn did. As she begins the throw, though, she twists her wrist so that the stone once again belly flops. She gives an apologetic smile.
Lujayn twists around. "Hi, Milani. Carisa gave me the idea of writing back to Fort, but I haven't gotten very far," She grins. "Just the greeting." Now wandering back to the abandoned hide, scouting for rocks along the way, she bends down to retrieve it. Straightening in time to witness Niena's next attempt, now watching intently. "That's the way," She encourages patiently. "It'll happen sooner or later."
Milani sets her towel down and perches on a nearby rock, watching the attempts at stone-skipping. "Keep that wrist straight!" she chirps with an encouraging grin for Niena and Carisandra. "Oh? Miss your friends and family still? Writing's good. I need to write to someone myself soon."
Carisandra tries again, this time getting one full bounce out of it but a belly flop when it lands. "Can you tell I don't do this very often?" she asks no one in particular. Her next cast zooms straight into the water with barely a plop. "Hey, that was a pretty good dive. Now why can't I dive like that?"
Niena tries again, this time managing not to throw it or to twist her wrist, and is rewarded with a skip. She squeals happily and jumps up and down. "I did it! Thank you!"
"Not that much," Lujayn finds herself admitting. "Just those few days at first, but lately I've been so busy...haven't had time to think about Fort." She looks the barest bit guilty for forgetting, glancing momentarily downwards. "Carisa's mum writes all the time, and I thought maybe I should let everyone know how I'm doing." She stoops to examine a few rocks, but leaves them all where they lay. "Who d'you write to?" One curiosity to another. Lu grins broadly at Niena's success, catching the glee with soft laughter. "That was a good one!"
"Well I guess that's a good thing then!" Milani says encouragingly to Lu. "Being too busy to be homesick, because I'll bet it's an awful feeling." The tall assistant headwoman slips her sandals off, drawing her feet up onto the sun-warmed surface of the rock and curls her toes against it. "To my brothers, my grandmothers, my grandfather." Beat. "And I'm planning to write to A'son and tell him his dragon's a wherryhead for going to catch an /Istan/ queen."
Niena tries again, still concentrating hard. Again she gets a skip and smiles in relief, as if afraid the last time was just a fluke.
Lujayn considers the other girl for a moment. "I'll leave these here for you," She decides not long after, taking her unfinished letter but leaving the ink and blank pages of hide for Milani. "No time like the present, right?" She scoops up that stone she'd been eyeing, stepping forwards and offering it to Niena. "Try this one, it's pretty flat. You might get two." A wistful smile. "They'll be missing me in firestone sacks by now. Good luck with the stones." She waves to those remaining, setting back off across the bowl.
"Ha, thanks Lujayn," Milani eyes the remaining hide and ink a bit suspiciously then slides to her feet, also ducking down to catch up a couple of different stones. "Good luck with the sacking, Lu!" she calls after the runner-candidate, then stands beside Niena to observe her next toss.
When: day 26, month 7, Turn 15
Where: Lake Shore, HRW
Summary: Letter-writing and skipping stones.
Lujayn heads towards the lake shore, one hand already scooping up an opportune rock while the other holds a small bag. She waves to Carisa and Niena, glad for the cool breezes that relieve some of the stifling summer sun. "Sorry for the wait, I had to talk some ink out of the scribe. He didn't believe I actually wanted to write something.." A rueful smirk crosses her face. "How's the rock-throwing so far?" She sits herself down, removing a few pieces of scrap hide from the bag along with a pen and the ink. "I do intend to write that letter. Somehow, in between skipping stones and the firestone."
Carisandra grins as she answers. "Still looking for proper skipping stones." and she shows Niena the two smooth rocks she's found, each a half a finger length or more having at least one flat'ish side to it. "The flatter the stone the better." Looking up at Lujayn "Good luck managing to fit that in. Bet you don't finish it till late tonight after bedtime."
Niena nods studiously and begins searching, putting even more care into it than she did with the pebbles for the necklace. After a few minutes she has four potential skipping rocks.
Carisandra and Niena are scavenging the shores for rocks to skip, while Lujayn sits nearby writing a letter. "No harm in trying," The tall girl maintains, carefully filling the pen and contemplating her words. "Dear...everyone?" She scribbles, unsure. "Wonder who'll end up reading this." Her other hand fingers the rock she found earlier, watching the other two candidates.
Carisandra nods and finds a couple more stones. "The trick is how you throw it. Like I said, I never get more than 3 skips out of any of these. You have to throw it so the flat side hits the water at just the right angle." She pauses and grins at Lujayn. "You can probably show her better than I can."
Milani ambles up from the direction of the pond, hair still quite wet and dripping down the back of her dress. A rolled up towel is fitted under her arm and her sandals flap a little as she walks, making a soft *snick snick* sound against the gravelly shoreline. "Oh hey there!" she calls out as she draws near. "Skipping stones?"
Niena watches Carisandra closely, then tries with her first stone. Part of her problem is that her wrist is all wrong, and she ends up throwing overhand rather than skimming it. The stone makes a half-hearted attempt at coming back up, then plunks.
Lujayn nods, looking away from her nearly blank page. "Sure," She hops up, ink dotting the ground around her. "I've never tried to teach anyone. Just hold it like this," Arranging her index and thumb around it, Lu demonstrates easily, "Then pull it back and flick it out with your wrist, more like it's going to the side instead of straight out." She does so, letting the stone spin through the air and onto the water, skipping once before fading into the depths. "Hey, keep trying. It almost went for it."
Milani pauses just shy of the other girls and peeks through as Lujayn demonstrates. "Yep, that looks about right. S'all about keeping it flat to the water before you toss it." She shoots a glance towards the writing stuff Lujayn abandoned. "Whatcha writing?" Gee. Aren't we curious today.
Holding the stone pretty close to the way Lujayn showed Niena, Carisandra casts one out and it gives a halfhearted bounce and plops. "Yup. Lots of practice." she mutters to herself. "Give it a try Niena."
Niena nods, her expression one of almost painful concentration, and adjust her finger and thumb to something approximating what Lujayn did. As she begins the throw, though, she twists her wrist so that the stone once again belly flops. She gives an apologetic smile.
Lujayn twists around. "Hi, Milani. Carisa gave me the idea of writing back to Fort, but I haven't gotten very far," She grins. "Just the greeting." Now wandering back to the abandoned hide, scouting for rocks along the way, she bends down to retrieve it. Straightening in time to witness Niena's next attempt, now watching intently. "That's the way," She encourages patiently. "It'll happen sooner or later."
Milani sets her towel down and perches on a nearby rock, watching the attempts at stone-skipping. "Keep that wrist straight!" she chirps with an encouraging grin for Niena and Carisandra. "Oh? Miss your friends and family still? Writing's good. I need to write to someone myself soon."
Carisandra tries again, this time getting one full bounce out of it but a belly flop when it lands. "Can you tell I don't do this very often?" she asks no one in particular. Her next cast zooms straight into the water with barely a plop. "Hey, that was a pretty good dive. Now why can't I dive like that?"
Niena tries again, this time managing not to throw it or to twist her wrist, and is rewarded with a skip. She squeals happily and jumps up and down. "I did it! Thank you!"
"Not that much," Lujayn finds herself admitting. "Just those few days at first, but lately I've been so busy...haven't had time to think about Fort." She looks the barest bit guilty for forgetting, glancing momentarily downwards. "Carisa's mum writes all the time, and I thought maybe I should let everyone know how I'm doing." She stoops to examine a few rocks, but leaves them all where they lay. "Who d'you write to?" One curiosity to another. Lu grins broadly at Niena's success, catching the glee with soft laughter. "That was a good one!"
"Well I guess that's a good thing then!" Milani says encouragingly to Lu. "Being too busy to be homesick, because I'll bet it's an awful feeling." The tall assistant headwoman slips her sandals off, drawing her feet up onto the sun-warmed surface of the rock and curls her toes against it. "To my brothers, my grandmothers, my grandfather." Beat. "And I'm planning to write to A'son and tell him his dragon's a wherryhead for going to catch an /Istan/ queen."
Niena tries again, still concentrating hard. Again she gets a skip and smiles in relief, as if afraid the last time was just a fluke.
Lujayn considers the other girl for a moment. "I'll leave these here for you," She decides not long after, taking her unfinished letter but leaving the ink and blank pages of hide for Milani. "No time like the present, right?" She scoops up that stone she'd been eyeing, stepping forwards and offering it to Niena. "Try this one, it's pretty flat. You might get two." A wistful smile. "They'll be missing me in firestone sacks by now. Good luck with the stones." She waves to those remaining, setting back off across the bowl.
"Ha, thanks Lujayn," Milani eyes the remaining hide and ink a bit suspiciously then slides to her feet, also ducking down to catch up a couple of different stones. "Good luck with the sacking, Lu!" she calls after the runner-candidate, then stands beside Niena to observe her next toss.