Not ready to die yet.
Who: Hattie, Rhodya, Terzo, Winston
Where: The Leaking Cavern
When: Around lunchtime on day 25, month 1, turn 19
What: Candidates help on the construction of the Leaking Cavern. They speak of the chandeliers, impression and the odds of such, and the possibility of point sandwiches. When they're alone Rhodya demands gossip and Winston delivers. Topic? Hattie of course.
Time for a break - /finally/. Rhodya flops into a leather chair she just finished bolting in, wiping her face tiredly. Someone is going around with sandwiches for those too tired to go get lunch on their own, and as Rhodya definitely falls into that category, she takes her sandwich with a smile. Careful not to unwrap it completely, lest any of the settling dust get on her food, Rhodya manages to expose it just enough that she can peek inside at the contents. She comments aloud, "Lesee what we got here, lettuce, cheese... I think that's mayo... and some kind of meat. Sold." She twists off a bite, shields it on the way to her mouth, and pops it in.
Winston's big and buff and good at hauling things around. So he hauls things around and holds things up and moves this just an inch to the left please. When time for a break arrives he's not quite done having to hold a board for just a second more please. Then that's done and he's ready to go. Although he doesn't take a sandwich he does get a drink to wash the dust away. As for a place to sit, well, he's looking for just the right one.
No sandwich for Hattie, not until one at random gets set down beside her by their distributor and she mutters a 'thank you' without even looking up. She's sat cross-legged on the floor, not far from Rhodya, surrounded by sawdust and tiny odd-corners of stray wood and assorted scraps from fittings. Needle in hand, she tries to stitch together a seat cover in a way so as not to let on that someone's put a saw through it in the course of the day and ripped a - albeit quite neat - little line through the material.
Terzo is among the throng. Well, mini throng one would suppose. From turns of grunt work in his craft he's managed to get himself to the lead of a small group of candidates working on tables. "Hold that tight." Rap rap rap goes the hammer. "Okay, next one." As the sandwiches come around it looks like a good place to stop for now. He sets down the hammer, nodding to his companions as if giving permission. He waits as they chose their sandwiches, then selects his own and something to drink, but oddly doesn't sit with his little crew. Instead he ends up near Hattie, sitting with his back against stone and watching the others with mild interest.
Glancing up to see where everyone is now that the room, like the dust, has settled down, Rhodya spies Winston and beckons him over with a wave. Her real interest, though, is for Hattie, whom she leans her cheek down on the table to watch more closely. Her expression is bemused, and she glances at Terzo to see if he shares the feeling. Looking back to Hattie: "Ain't you gonna put that down and rest a second?"
The right spot is found and Winston ambles over grabbing a sandwich and a second drink on his way. He grins at Rhodya and sits down on the floor beside her chair. The second cup he stretches out and places right by Hattie's sandwich. If she notices the movement and looks up she gets from him a smile and a little wink. Unlike Rhodya he doesn't ask any questions of the continued work. Eyes watch her a moment before he lifts them to see who else has joined them. Terzo gets a nod of greeting and a grin.
A couple more stitches and Hattie opens her mouth as though to answer Rhodya without looking up, but then that cup gets set down and she blinks at it for a moment. Terzo's feet get a quick glance as she looks his way and eventually does look up to shoot him a curt nod. "It's bothering me," she answers Rhodya as her gaze shifts in her direction. "Just a few more minutes," is an attempt at assurance, couple with a slight smile. Winston gets a nod with an even fainter version of the smile, then she looks down to her work again.
Terzo meets Rhodya's look with a raise of his brows before he follows her gaze to Hattie. Oh, her. Well, he certainly doesn't seem surprised by it, perhaps more cynical. But the response get a chuckle. "Bothering you?" He drifts his eyes around the place, still 'under construction', as if to emphasize this fact, before returning to her. "Really the whole place bothers -me-. But to each their own I suppose." He leans back his head and closes his eyes, listening.
Rhodya chuckles, picking her cheek up off the table again. "Sure, gotta finish it. Just so long as you weren't plannin' on using the whole lunch time to stitch seams, 'cause I promise you, the sandwiches ain't that bad." She looks at hers. "Kinda good, actually." Her eyes wander past it, taking in the changes that are coming over this room, and she hums thoughtfully. "Not so sure what I feel about it. Once they put up that whole chandelier gig, I'm afraid the place'll be too fancy to have me in it."
"Nonsense," Winston says with a shake of his head. "Place won't be too fancy. Just a little nicer." He grins at Rhodya when he speaks, but soon enough his eyes wander right back to Hattie as he watches her stitching along. "Whole place is under construction," he says with a flick of his glance to Terzo. "Can see though how one thing would be a bother if it's something done by carelessness on someone's part. There's fixing things and breaking things after all."
"They could be deadly," Hattie counters, fighting a smirk and losing the battle as her eyes flick up to fix on Rhodya again. "I could be waiting to make sure you all survive their consumption." She reaches to tuck a few stray lengths of hair back behind her ear and accidentally hits the flower threaded behind it in the process. Winston gets outright ignored for a good while after that. "Faranth, that chandelier thing... To hear that guy go on about it, you'd think it was his life's work." Blink. "Maybe it is." Brown eyes slant towards Terzo. "Bother you in this state or otherwise?" she questions.
Terzo's eyes open vaguely to look at Winston before offering a grunt and a shrug. He closes his eyes again. "I don't mind the 'fancy' really. Especially after the look of those old tables. I'd be hard pressed to even repair stall boards with the left overs, still, I don't care much for some of the design features... Chandelier included." He states, looking to Hattie pointedly. "Chandelier just seems... overkill."
Rhodya eyes her sandwich with newfound wariness, poking a finger at the white substance she tentatively identified as mayo. She brightens up suddenly and smiles at Hattie. "Guess if it's tained, I'm already a goner," she says, and takes another bite. While she chews, her eyes flick from Winston to Terzo. "Well, don't tell what's his name," because Rhodya hasn't been working with the chandelier man, thank God, "but I'm afraid it'll fall on me, too. Say what you will! I'd propose a mission to sneak in here and steal the thing out, so it can't be used, if I weren't so sure he'd break his heart over it." She looks around the room, finding the smith safely away in his own corner of the room, not heartbroken yet but none too pleased with his sandwich.
If Hattie's ignoring him, well, Winston is not returning the favor. His eyes drift to her when he's not focused on something else. When her fingers hit the flower he smiles and watches her hand for a moment. The talk of the chandelier however gets his attention. "I like it," he says with a grin as he picks up his sandwich and eyes it suspiciously. "It's a good business move. A little something different to draw people in who've never seen one. Then they figure it's so nice in here they may as well have a drink. People coming in on tithes you ask if they've seen it and they say no and you show them and get them to buy a drink or two. Smart move."
"I can see people coming in, getting blind drunk and /then/ getting blinded by the sharding thing and falling on their asses," Hattie mutters, belated glance over at the decorative item's creator too late to make any difference as to whether he heard or not. Oh well. She turns the seat cover over and bends closer to it to examine her stitching, then holds it up to the light. A grimace and she folds it; sets it down to one side and concentrates on her sandwich instead, holding it briefly up towards Rhodya in a 'cheers, here's to being goners' gesture. She steals a glance towards the ceiling. "Could kidnap the fixture instead," she considers.
Terzo snorts at Winston's view. "Except for those who won't because it just shows where their money is going. No, I'm more for a balance of form and function, -personally-." He inclines his head on the last word before settling back against the wall. "But I suppose not everyone's practical. So maybe you're right." He flinches a little at Hattie's words but past the language... "That too." He lolls his head along the wall to look towards Rhodya. "Problem with kidnapping is where would you hide it? It's out of place in -here- let alone most of the rest of the Weyr." Pause. "Unless you wanted to bury it in the muck heap."
"A fixture bein' that little round thing they're goin' to hook it to, not the actual bit?" Rhodya. She doesn't know furnishings. "I'm sure he'd find a way to turn it into a statue or something, but at least they don't hang statues over my head." She puts her hands together and cracks the knuckles, looking at Terzo with a grin. "Long as they don't put it in the living cavern, I'd say that's a win." She grabs her sandwich, notices Winston blanching at his sandwich, and wiggles her at him. "Don't be a wimp," she baits him.
"Not sure I am ready to die yet, Rhodya," Winston tells her with a laugh. "Think I might pass." He looks at the others, shaking his head a little. "You are all a bit cruel. That man has put so much work into this and you want to bury it? To get rid of it? Let the man have his sunshine. How would you feel, Rhodya? If someone took all your boots and shoes and burned them?" He looks at Terzo as he asks, "And you? All your work gone because someone didn't like it? I don't find this particularly amusing to talk about." He shakes his head and falls silent.
"Yeah," Hattie confirms, "what they'll stick into the ceiling to hang it from." She looks up at the ceiling again to make sure the fixture hasn't taken up residence yet. "Anyhow, we don't get a choice in the matter. It'll be there for the grand re-opening whatever we do, I fear. Just gotta put up with the guy or don't give him an excuse to go on so." Another glance towards the man in question happens whilst she nibbles on her sandwich a bit, then turns into a frown at Winston's lecture. Though instead of launching anything back at him, she only sets her jaw and eases her shoulders back. "We won't have much reason or time to be in here for a good while if we don't leave the Sands alone, anyway," she says to the room at large.
Terzo snickers a little. "Mass murdering of runnerbeasts? I think I wouldn't be the only one who he'd have to answer too, honestly. Besides that, it wasn't destroying it... just covering it in manure. You could clean it off." He reasons, but raises a brow at Winston. He gives him a long apprasing look. Someone's touchy. "It's just a laugh, boyo. Chill. I don't think anyone was seriously concidering it." Brow raise. "Speak for yourself." he says to Hattie. "I'm pretty sure I know of a few letters I can get written to get me out of this if that's the case. I'm too much of an asset at the barns." He says plainly, no smugness too it so much as certainty.
Rhodya blinks at Winston, a bit of color picking up in her cheeks. Lucky for her, Hattie and Terzo speak first, and by the time they've had their say, she's decided she no longer needs to say anything. Not that her sudden avoidance of his eye doesn't speak for itself, in a way. Time for a more pleasant topic! "Eggs are getting hard, huh? I mean, I ain't been in to touch or nothing, but I've heard they're gettin' to that age where they start to hatch. And then - who was it that had the numbers on how many candidates to how many eggs? Anyway, I heard it's something like one-in-three goin' to Impress." She raises her eyebrows and taps a finger at each of her companions in turn, counting them off. Then she grins. "So who's it gonna be?"
Winston raises a brow and looks at Terzo. "You'd pass up a chance to impress so you can still go drinking?" he asks with disbelief in his voice. "Really?" He doesn't seem to quite be able to process that. Shaking his head he grins at Rhodya and tells her, "Wasn't me. I don't have any numbers on it, but that sounds about right doesn't it? Have to make sure they get plenty of options when they hatch. But should be soon, yea. At least that's what I heard." A small bite is taken from his sandwich, isn't he a brave studly man?! Looking at each of the others he shakes his head. "Not a betting man. Got my ideas like everyone else I suppose, but don't feel the need to risk bad luck to anyone by speaking them. Besides who can tell what a dragon will want?"
"Well, I ain't that desperate to get plastered," Hattie tells Terzo. "And I've got no intention of doing so if anything happens on the Sands. Can't go drinking if there's a baby-" she pauses and doesn't sound so sure about that word and what it entails, "-that needs looking after. Being that's what's going to hatch, essentially." She wraps what remains of her sandwich up and clambers to her feet; bends again to retrieve the seat cover and place it safely on the table. The needle and its stray thread get tucked into her belt. "Can't even see the day," she tells Rhodya, with a rueful smile. "So can't really go guessing." Her arms stretch high above her head before she turns to head for the door. "Need some fresh air, I think. Back in a little while."
Terzo stares at Winston as if he's grown an extra head and arm all at once. "...what? Who said anything about drinking?" He raises his brows. "I was saying I wouldn't be back here after the hatching regardless of if I impressed or not... I said I was needed at the stables. Where did drinking come in?" He looks to Rhodya and Hattie, but eventually shakes his head. "I know runners... herd breasts and caprines and such... dragons? Even firelizards? They don't make any sense to me." He watched Hattie rise absently before looking back to Rhodya. "They're unpredictable... not just in choice but in what's going to hatch. With beasts you can tell a bit better based on the parents."
"I understood," Rhodya assures Terzo. Then she amends, "Well, wasn't totally clear on it, but I figured you weren't talking about quitting." She pauses to send a smile and a wave after Hattie. "Okay, you enjoy yourself. Speakin' of funnin' folks, though, what a lot of downers you all are. It wasn't a serious question. S'pose I can understand not wanting to jinx it, though: I was thinking that too for a while, then I changed my mind, 'cause I seem to do that about fifty times a day lately. Terzo's got the right of it," she suppposes. "We're gonna walk out there one day and it won't matter what any of us all thought or said or worried about. They're gonna come cracking out and make their own decisions."
"We've been talking about the Leaking Cavern. You said here. And in here we are," Winston says for their assumption. "But if you don't want to impress why'd you take the knot? Could have said no. Can walk away any time." Hattie /is/ walking away and the stores worker turned candidate watches her go every step until she's out the door and out of sight. There's a small smile on his lips that he wipes away by the time he's looking back at the others. "Well, we've been inhaling dust so our brains are probably not at their best," he tells them with a chuckle.
Terzo looks at Winston long with the same disbelieving expression, a hint of derisive laughter in his voice. "Perhaps that's the reason for it... you brain is dust covered, because you -still- did not understand what I said." He watches him watch after Hattie. "Or perhaps your hormones are impeding your thoughts." He says more ruefully. "Which -are- you thinking with right now?" He rolls his eyes and goes to stand, dusting himself off. "I didn't say a -thing- about not wanting to, but clearly..." He gives a bit of a snort. "...repeating myself--or clarifying in any way it would seem--has no effect." His visage changed as he smiles a polite smile to Rhodya, "Good talking with you. Hope the sandwich settles well." And Winston he completely ignores as he heads off with a shake of his head.
Once again, Rhodya has to pretend like she didn't just hear something. Her eyes roll up and she studies the ceiling with interest. She comes back to answer Terzo's farewell, though, smiling at him and patting her stomach. "Got my fingers crossed. Have a good one, now," she wishes him. After he's gone, she looks at Winston and informs him, "He's gone, the discussion is over." She flips her own hands out in a don't-involve-me sort of way, shaking her head and returning to her sandwich.
Hands clench into fists when Terzo makes his hormone comment, but Winston doesn't say anything. Doesn't say anything or do anything but takes a bite from his sandwich. Around that sandwich he issues a few select curses to the departed man. Looking at Rhodya he tells her, "I'm not saying anything, Rhodya. Not a sharding word." But he's not a happy camper at all.
Rhodya eyes him for a second. She hums to herself, poking an escaped bit of lettuce back into her mouth. "Everybody's strung tight, and not everybody's gonna be nice to you. Or me." Lest he feel alone. "We get on," she concludes philosophically. Her gaze remains on Winston, though, and after a few moments it turns sly. "Sooo?" She gives him a knowing smirk, but damned if her meaning isn't obscure anyway.
"Closer to the hatching I suppose nerves are on edge," Winston agrees with a nod as he abandons his sandwich with a grimace. "All tastes like sawdust," he complains as he takes a drink from his cup. And since Rhodya is being obscure he just looks up at her and asks, "Something wrong? You got a problem you know I'll help you take care of it."
"Oh, come on!" Rhodya rolls her eyes, but she's grinning now. "Hattie! I was completely right and you ain't admitted it yet, but I hear," she gives him a significant look, "things." Whatever everyone else is finding wrong with their sandwiches, Rhodya clearly isn't, because she keeps picking it up for a nibble. Maybe she got the last good one.
Looking at his cup for a moment while she goes on Winston looks up after he's got his thoughts settled. "Hattie and I have an arrangement," he tells her with a nod and maybe a slight smile he can't keep away. "There's nothing to be done until after the hatching however. Or longer if either of us impresses." Then he leans forward and lets out a groan. "Shells, Rhodya. Told her I'd wait for her if she did and I didn't. Never waited for a woman in my life. It's a mess is what it is."
Rhodya's eyebrows go up, but her grin softens into a gentle smile. "Well, I /am/ impressed. Didn't know it went that deep, but she's a strong woman. I can believe she'd hook you." She forms her index finger into the appropriate hook and gives it a little catch motion. "Ain't nothing wrong with a good wait, and ain't nothing wrong with getting set on somebody either." Tilting her head, bird like, she inspects him. "D'you think you'll be able to? Wait for her, I mean, given your take on the whole commitment thing?" Yep, she said the dreaded word.
She's enjoying it way too much and Winston can summon up a smile for that. A little teasing, a little friendly and a bit embarrassed. "Never gone back on my word, Rhodya. Not to anyone. Which does not mean it will be easy, but she knows what I was like and...she didn't turn me away. Not sure that's good for her, but shells, woman. You are enjoying this way too much. Told her I'd wait and I will. A woman like that does not come along every day. Be a bigger fool than I am if I didn't try."
"I think I'm enjoying this one just the right amount," Rhodya informs him with a wink. "Besides, I'm not trying to rub your nose in what you said. I figured it's gonna be hard for you, you might want somebody who's not Hattie to talk to about that, and here I am. I'm no man you can get all buddy-buddy with, but I've known smitten and I'm all for seein' more of it in the world." Activity behind him catches her eye, and she notices several of the guys directing the project (led, of course, by the insistent smith of chandelier fame) starting to pack down their lunches. Figuring break time is nearing a close, she hastens to do the same.
"Appreciate it," Winston tells her with a wry grin. "All your proper enjoyment of the situation. Suppose eventually she'll come to her senses, but until then I suppose a man's got to do what a man's got to do." And this man has to pick up his sandwich and cup. "And I appreciate the offer to talk. Probably be taking you up on it since there's no sense telling the world I got this bad." Frowning a moment as he stands he tells her, "We ain't done anything you understand? Just...won't have her knot risked. Not for this. So you can tease me all you want, but I appreciate it if you watch your words around gossips. Not saying you're one, but there's some as are and I won't have her hurt." Bout of protectiveness gone he says, "Think I'm going to step outside right quick." And he suits actions to words then returning before too long to get back to work.
Where: The Leaking Cavern
When: Around lunchtime on day 25, month 1, turn 19
What: Candidates help on the construction of the Leaking Cavern. They speak of the chandeliers, impression and the odds of such, and the possibility of point sandwiches. When they're alone Rhodya demands gossip and Winston delivers. Topic? Hattie of course.
Time for a break - /finally/. Rhodya flops into a leather chair she just finished bolting in, wiping her face tiredly. Someone is going around with sandwiches for those too tired to go get lunch on their own, and as Rhodya definitely falls into that category, she takes her sandwich with a smile. Careful not to unwrap it completely, lest any of the settling dust get on her food, Rhodya manages to expose it just enough that she can peek inside at the contents. She comments aloud, "Lesee what we got here, lettuce, cheese... I think that's mayo... and some kind of meat. Sold." She twists off a bite, shields it on the way to her mouth, and pops it in.
Winston's big and buff and good at hauling things around. So he hauls things around and holds things up and moves this just an inch to the left please. When time for a break arrives he's not quite done having to hold a board for just a second more please. Then that's done and he's ready to go. Although he doesn't take a sandwich he does get a drink to wash the dust away. As for a place to sit, well, he's looking for just the right one.
No sandwich for Hattie, not until one at random gets set down beside her by their distributor and she mutters a 'thank you' without even looking up. She's sat cross-legged on the floor, not far from Rhodya, surrounded by sawdust and tiny odd-corners of stray wood and assorted scraps from fittings. Needle in hand, she tries to stitch together a seat cover in a way so as not to let on that someone's put a saw through it in the course of the day and ripped a - albeit quite neat - little line through the material.
Terzo is among the throng. Well, mini throng one would suppose. From turns of grunt work in his craft he's managed to get himself to the lead of a small group of candidates working on tables. "Hold that tight." Rap rap rap goes the hammer. "Okay, next one." As the sandwiches come around it looks like a good place to stop for now. He sets down the hammer, nodding to his companions as if giving permission. He waits as they chose their sandwiches, then selects his own and something to drink, but oddly doesn't sit with his little crew. Instead he ends up near Hattie, sitting with his back against stone and watching the others with mild interest.
Glancing up to see where everyone is now that the room, like the dust, has settled down, Rhodya spies Winston and beckons him over with a wave. Her real interest, though, is for Hattie, whom she leans her cheek down on the table to watch more closely. Her expression is bemused, and she glances at Terzo to see if he shares the feeling. Looking back to Hattie: "Ain't you gonna put that down and rest a second?"
The right spot is found and Winston ambles over grabbing a sandwich and a second drink on his way. He grins at Rhodya and sits down on the floor beside her chair. The second cup he stretches out and places right by Hattie's sandwich. If she notices the movement and looks up she gets from him a smile and a little wink. Unlike Rhodya he doesn't ask any questions of the continued work. Eyes watch her a moment before he lifts them to see who else has joined them. Terzo gets a nod of greeting and a grin.
A couple more stitches and Hattie opens her mouth as though to answer Rhodya without looking up, but then that cup gets set down and she blinks at it for a moment. Terzo's feet get a quick glance as she looks his way and eventually does look up to shoot him a curt nod. "It's bothering me," she answers Rhodya as her gaze shifts in her direction. "Just a few more minutes," is an attempt at assurance, couple with a slight smile. Winston gets a nod with an even fainter version of the smile, then she looks down to her work again.
Terzo meets Rhodya's look with a raise of his brows before he follows her gaze to Hattie. Oh, her. Well, he certainly doesn't seem surprised by it, perhaps more cynical. But the response get a chuckle. "Bothering you?" He drifts his eyes around the place, still 'under construction', as if to emphasize this fact, before returning to her. "Really the whole place bothers -me-. But to each their own I suppose." He leans back his head and closes his eyes, listening.
Rhodya chuckles, picking her cheek up off the table again. "Sure, gotta finish it. Just so long as you weren't plannin' on using the whole lunch time to stitch seams, 'cause I promise you, the sandwiches ain't that bad." She looks at hers. "Kinda good, actually." Her eyes wander past it, taking in the changes that are coming over this room, and she hums thoughtfully. "Not so sure what I feel about it. Once they put up that whole chandelier gig, I'm afraid the place'll be too fancy to have me in it."
"Nonsense," Winston says with a shake of his head. "Place won't be too fancy. Just a little nicer." He grins at Rhodya when he speaks, but soon enough his eyes wander right back to Hattie as he watches her stitching along. "Whole place is under construction," he says with a flick of his glance to Terzo. "Can see though how one thing would be a bother if it's something done by carelessness on someone's part. There's fixing things and breaking things after all."
"They could be deadly," Hattie counters, fighting a smirk and losing the battle as her eyes flick up to fix on Rhodya again. "I could be waiting to make sure you all survive their consumption." She reaches to tuck a few stray lengths of hair back behind her ear and accidentally hits the flower threaded behind it in the process. Winston gets outright ignored for a good while after that. "Faranth, that chandelier thing... To hear that guy go on about it, you'd think it was his life's work." Blink. "Maybe it is." Brown eyes slant towards Terzo. "Bother you in this state or otherwise?" she questions.
Terzo's eyes open vaguely to look at Winston before offering a grunt and a shrug. He closes his eyes again. "I don't mind the 'fancy' really. Especially after the look of those old tables. I'd be hard pressed to even repair stall boards with the left overs, still, I don't care much for some of the design features... Chandelier included." He states, looking to Hattie pointedly. "Chandelier just seems... overkill."
Rhodya eyes her sandwich with newfound wariness, poking a finger at the white substance she tentatively identified as mayo. She brightens up suddenly and smiles at Hattie. "Guess if it's tained, I'm already a goner," she says, and takes another bite. While she chews, her eyes flick from Winston to Terzo. "Well, don't tell what's his name," because Rhodya hasn't been working with the chandelier man, thank God, "but I'm afraid it'll fall on me, too. Say what you will! I'd propose a mission to sneak in here and steal the thing out, so it can't be used, if I weren't so sure he'd break his heart over it." She looks around the room, finding the smith safely away in his own corner of the room, not heartbroken yet but none too pleased with his sandwich.
If Hattie's ignoring him, well, Winston is not returning the favor. His eyes drift to her when he's not focused on something else. When her fingers hit the flower he smiles and watches her hand for a moment. The talk of the chandelier however gets his attention. "I like it," he says with a grin as he picks up his sandwich and eyes it suspiciously. "It's a good business move. A little something different to draw people in who've never seen one. Then they figure it's so nice in here they may as well have a drink. People coming in on tithes you ask if they've seen it and they say no and you show them and get them to buy a drink or two. Smart move."
"I can see people coming in, getting blind drunk and /then/ getting blinded by the sharding thing and falling on their asses," Hattie mutters, belated glance over at the decorative item's creator too late to make any difference as to whether he heard or not. Oh well. She turns the seat cover over and bends closer to it to examine her stitching, then holds it up to the light. A grimace and she folds it; sets it down to one side and concentrates on her sandwich instead, holding it briefly up towards Rhodya in a 'cheers, here's to being goners' gesture. She steals a glance towards the ceiling. "Could kidnap the fixture instead," she considers.
Terzo snorts at Winston's view. "Except for those who won't because it just shows where their money is going. No, I'm more for a balance of form and function, -personally-." He inclines his head on the last word before settling back against the wall. "But I suppose not everyone's practical. So maybe you're right." He flinches a little at Hattie's words but past the language... "That too." He lolls his head along the wall to look towards Rhodya. "Problem with kidnapping is where would you hide it? It's out of place in -here- let alone most of the rest of the Weyr." Pause. "Unless you wanted to bury it in the muck heap."
"A fixture bein' that little round thing they're goin' to hook it to, not the actual bit?" Rhodya. She doesn't know furnishings. "I'm sure he'd find a way to turn it into a statue or something, but at least they don't hang statues over my head." She puts her hands together and cracks the knuckles, looking at Terzo with a grin. "Long as they don't put it in the living cavern, I'd say that's a win." She grabs her sandwich, notices Winston blanching at his sandwich, and wiggles her at him. "Don't be a wimp," she baits him.
"Not sure I am ready to die yet, Rhodya," Winston tells her with a laugh. "Think I might pass." He looks at the others, shaking his head a little. "You are all a bit cruel. That man has put so much work into this and you want to bury it? To get rid of it? Let the man have his sunshine. How would you feel, Rhodya? If someone took all your boots and shoes and burned them?" He looks at Terzo as he asks, "And you? All your work gone because someone didn't like it? I don't find this particularly amusing to talk about." He shakes his head and falls silent.
"Yeah," Hattie confirms, "what they'll stick into the ceiling to hang it from." She looks up at the ceiling again to make sure the fixture hasn't taken up residence yet. "Anyhow, we don't get a choice in the matter. It'll be there for the grand re-opening whatever we do, I fear. Just gotta put up with the guy or don't give him an excuse to go on so." Another glance towards the man in question happens whilst she nibbles on her sandwich a bit, then turns into a frown at Winston's lecture. Though instead of launching anything back at him, she only sets her jaw and eases her shoulders back. "We won't have much reason or time to be in here for a good while if we don't leave the Sands alone, anyway," she says to the room at large.
Terzo snickers a little. "Mass murdering of runnerbeasts? I think I wouldn't be the only one who he'd have to answer too, honestly. Besides that, it wasn't destroying it... just covering it in manure. You could clean it off." He reasons, but raises a brow at Winston. He gives him a long apprasing look. Someone's touchy. "It's just a laugh, boyo. Chill. I don't think anyone was seriously concidering it." Brow raise. "Speak for yourself." he says to Hattie. "I'm pretty sure I know of a few letters I can get written to get me out of this if that's the case. I'm too much of an asset at the barns." He says plainly, no smugness too it so much as certainty.
Rhodya blinks at Winston, a bit of color picking up in her cheeks. Lucky for her, Hattie and Terzo speak first, and by the time they've had their say, she's decided she no longer needs to say anything. Not that her sudden avoidance of his eye doesn't speak for itself, in a way. Time for a more pleasant topic! "Eggs are getting hard, huh? I mean, I ain't been in to touch or nothing, but I've heard they're gettin' to that age where they start to hatch. And then - who was it that had the numbers on how many candidates to how many eggs? Anyway, I heard it's something like one-in-three goin' to Impress." She raises her eyebrows and taps a finger at each of her companions in turn, counting them off. Then she grins. "So who's it gonna be?"
Winston raises a brow and looks at Terzo. "You'd pass up a chance to impress so you can still go drinking?" he asks with disbelief in his voice. "Really?" He doesn't seem to quite be able to process that. Shaking his head he grins at Rhodya and tells her, "Wasn't me. I don't have any numbers on it, but that sounds about right doesn't it? Have to make sure they get plenty of options when they hatch. But should be soon, yea. At least that's what I heard." A small bite is taken from his sandwich, isn't he a brave studly man?! Looking at each of the others he shakes his head. "Not a betting man. Got my ideas like everyone else I suppose, but don't feel the need to risk bad luck to anyone by speaking them. Besides who can tell what a dragon will want?"
"Well, I ain't that desperate to get plastered," Hattie tells Terzo. "And I've got no intention of doing so if anything happens on the Sands. Can't go drinking if there's a baby-" she pauses and doesn't sound so sure about that word and what it entails, "-that needs looking after. Being that's what's going to hatch, essentially." She wraps what remains of her sandwich up and clambers to her feet; bends again to retrieve the seat cover and place it safely on the table. The needle and its stray thread get tucked into her belt. "Can't even see the day," she tells Rhodya, with a rueful smile. "So can't really go guessing." Her arms stretch high above her head before she turns to head for the door. "Need some fresh air, I think. Back in a little while."
Terzo stares at Winston as if he's grown an extra head and arm all at once. "...what? Who said anything about drinking?" He raises his brows. "I was saying I wouldn't be back here after the hatching regardless of if I impressed or not... I said I was needed at the stables. Where did drinking come in?" He looks to Rhodya and Hattie, but eventually shakes his head. "I know runners... herd breasts and caprines and such... dragons? Even firelizards? They don't make any sense to me." He watched Hattie rise absently before looking back to Rhodya. "They're unpredictable... not just in choice but in what's going to hatch. With beasts you can tell a bit better based on the parents."
"I understood," Rhodya assures Terzo. Then she amends, "Well, wasn't totally clear on it, but I figured you weren't talking about quitting." She pauses to send a smile and a wave after Hattie. "Okay, you enjoy yourself. Speakin' of funnin' folks, though, what a lot of downers you all are. It wasn't a serious question. S'pose I can understand not wanting to jinx it, though: I was thinking that too for a while, then I changed my mind, 'cause I seem to do that about fifty times a day lately. Terzo's got the right of it," she suppposes. "We're gonna walk out there one day and it won't matter what any of us all thought or said or worried about. They're gonna come cracking out and make their own decisions."
"We've been talking about the Leaking Cavern. You said here. And in here we are," Winston says for their assumption. "But if you don't want to impress why'd you take the knot? Could have said no. Can walk away any time." Hattie /is/ walking away and the stores worker turned candidate watches her go every step until she's out the door and out of sight. There's a small smile on his lips that he wipes away by the time he's looking back at the others. "Well, we've been inhaling dust so our brains are probably not at their best," he tells them with a chuckle.
Terzo looks at Winston long with the same disbelieving expression, a hint of derisive laughter in his voice. "Perhaps that's the reason for it... you brain is dust covered, because you -still- did not understand what I said." He watches him watch after Hattie. "Or perhaps your hormones are impeding your thoughts." He says more ruefully. "Which -are- you thinking with right now?" He rolls his eyes and goes to stand, dusting himself off. "I didn't say a -thing- about not wanting to, but clearly..." He gives a bit of a snort. "...repeating myself--or clarifying in any way it would seem--has no effect." His visage changed as he smiles a polite smile to Rhodya, "Good talking with you. Hope the sandwich settles well." And Winston he completely ignores as he heads off with a shake of his head.
Once again, Rhodya has to pretend like she didn't just hear something. Her eyes roll up and she studies the ceiling with interest. She comes back to answer Terzo's farewell, though, smiling at him and patting her stomach. "Got my fingers crossed. Have a good one, now," she wishes him. After he's gone, she looks at Winston and informs him, "He's gone, the discussion is over." She flips her own hands out in a don't-involve-me sort of way, shaking her head and returning to her sandwich.
Hands clench into fists when Terzo makes his hormone comment, but Winston doesn't say anything. Doesn't say anything or do anything but takes a bite from his sandwich. Around that sandwich he issues a few select curses to the departed man. Looking at Rhodya he tells her, "I'm not saying anything, Rhodya. Not a sharding word." But he's not a happy camper at all.
Rhodya eyes him for a second. She hums to herself, poking an escaped bit of lettuce back into her mouth. "Everybody's strung tight, and not everybody's gonna be nice to you. Or me." Lest he feel alone. "We get on," she concludes philosophically. Her gaze remains on Winston, though, and after a few moments it turns sly. "Sooo?" She gives him a knowing smirk, but damned if her meaning isn't obscure anyway.
"Closer to the hatching I suppose nerves are on edge," Winston agrees with a nod as he abandons his sandwich with a grimace. "All tastes like sawdust," he complains as he takes a drink from his cup. And since Rhodya is being obscure he just looks up at her and asks, "Something wrong? You got a problem you know I'll help you take care of it."
"Oh, come on!" Rhodya rolls her eyes, but she's grinning now. "Hattie! I was completely right and you ain't admitted it yet, but I hear," she gives him a significant look, "things." Whatever everyone else is finding wrong with their sandwiches, Rhodya clearly isn't, because she keeps picking it up for a nibble. Maybe she got the last good one.
Looking at his cup for a moment while she goes on Winston looks up after he's got his thoughts settled. "Hattie and I have an arrangement," he tells her with a nod and maybe a slight smile he can't keep away. "There's nothing to be done until after the hatching however. Or longer if either of us impresses." Then he leans forward and lets out a groan. "Shells, Rhodya. Told her I'd wait for her if she did and I didn't. Never waited for a woman in my life. It's a mess is what it is."
Rhodya's eyebrows go up, but her grin softens into a gentle smile. "Well, I /am/ impressed. Didn't know it went that deep, but she's a strong woman. I can believe she'd hook you." She forms her index finger into the appropriate hook and gives it a little catch motion. "Ain't nothing wrong with a good wait, and ain't nothing wrong with getting set on somebody either." Tilting her head, bird like, she inspects him. "D'you think you'll be able to? Wait for her, I mean, given your take on the whole commitment thing?" Yep, she said the dreaded word.
She's enjoying it way too much and Winston can summon up a smile for that. A little teasing, a little friendly and a bit embarrassed. "Never gone back on my word, Rhodya. Not to anyone. Which does not mean it will be easy, but she knows what I was like and...she didn't turn me away. Not sure that's good for her, but shells, woman. You are enjoying this way too much. Told her I'd wait and I will. A woman like that does not come along every day. Be a bigger fool than I am if I didn't try."
"I think I'm enjoying this one just the right amount," Rhodya informs him with a wink. "Besides, I'm not trying to rub your nose in what you said. I figured it's gonna be hard for you, you might want somebody who's not Hattie to talk to about that, and here I am. I'm no man you can get all buddy-buddy with, but I've known smitten and I'm all for seein' more of it in the world." Activity behind him catches her eye, and she notices several of the guys directing the project (led, of course, by the insistent smith of chandelier fame) starting to pack down their lunches. Figuring break time is nearing a close, she hastens to do the same.
"Appreciate it," Winston tells her with a wry grin. "All your proper enjoyment of the situation. Suppose eventually she'll come to her senses, but until then I suppose a man's got to do what a man's got to do." And this man has to pick up his sandwich and cup. "And I appreciate the offer to talk. Probably be taking you up on it since there's no sense telling the world I got this bad." Frowning a moment as he stands he tells her, "We ain't done anything you understand? Just...won't have her knot risked. Not for this. So you can tease me all you want, but I appreciate it if you watch your words around gossips. Not saying you're one, but there's some as are and I won't have her hurt." Bout of protectiveness gone he says, "Think I'm going to step outside right quick." And he suits actions to words then returning before too long to get back to work.