[Jaeyi] Fort Weyr totally needs a day spa.
RL Date: 7/11/10
IC Date: 3/10/23
Arch-Ceilinged Den of Iniquity, Fort Weyr
The arch-ceilinged inner weyr itself would have been circular if it weren't for the reddish brick wall to the left, which both gives separation from the bathing area and provides the single flat wall in the whole place. Against that wall, shelves of books frame a large but plain bed made up with a simple red and white quilt, with a low dresser sitting at the bed's foot. The room's focus, however, is the hearth set opposite: large enough to host a decent-sized fire, though the mantel is very plain, its tiles having faded from the matching brick color they had been overpainted long ago. Before it is a warm-toned rug upon which sit a comfortable upholstered chair and side-table, angled to take advantage of the fire in cool weather, a handful of floor cushions at their feet.
Not too far from the hearth but closer to the front of the weyr are a round table and two wicker chairs, by which are a narrow, tall cupboard and, protected from the hearth's heat, a wine rack well-stocked with bottles.
It's taken some arranging to make sure all the details are all set-- T'rev is off doing Wingleader stuff for a while, Jaeyi's taken the time to make sure there are desserts, drinks (alcoholic and otherwise), and copious amounts of girly stuff on hand. The bathtub is lined by soap and oil and lotion; every bit of cosmetics she owns are on the main table; silk bathrobes (yes, she has a solid half-dozen of them) are laid out over the back of the sofa, and she's busy piling all her hair up and tying it with ribbons off her neck, waiting for Vanissa and Isandre with giddy girlish anticipation.
It's taken some persuasion to get Nissa to go along with the idea, not that a luxurious soak and girly chat doesn't appeal, but the rest of it? She's just not quuuuuuite sure about, little dubious as to the need, but she'll go along. Liath, having bourn her and passenger to Mecaith's ledge and couched for easy dismount, flitters off to visit where she can find a receptive companion elsewhere. The murmur of voices precedes the girls as the greenrider, steps aside to allow Isandre to enter her brother's weyr first. Then Nissa arrives in her usual nonchalant manner, hair a-tumble and no real attention taken to her casual loose blouse and voluminous skirt. They're clean, they match, but you know, they sorta scream: waystation. "Hey, Jaeyi." Then it's a wowed scan of all the preparations, "Ya went all-out."
Though the general idea needed little persuasive backing to sell to Isandre, the idea of invading T'rev's weyr to pull it off? That's where she hesitates - right at the entrance between outer weyr and inner, until Nissa's presence behind her causes the healer to bustle in, skirts flaring about her legs as she focuses on the baker, careful not to allow her gaze to stray too much. "G'day, Jaeyi," she greets softly, approaching the other young woman, eyes flickering over the preparations with one eyebrow arching upwards. "Indeed ye did - never have I seen so many girl things t'gether in one place - even when I was 'pprenticed. Where d' ye get all that?"
Brightly, Jaeyi answers, "Not so much all out? I mean, most of it I already had anyway, just had to get it up here from the Hold. I guess I just sorta collected stuff?" She waves a hand toward the table, the line of nailpolish-- all reds and pinks-- answering Isandre in the same comment. "Come in, come in, come in," she adds busily, putting the last ribbon in her hair and standing up to snag a pair of robes, dark red and pale purple, held out toward the two of them in a 'take your pick' gesture. "T'rev's out for a while, so we can kinda have the run of the place? Like, take a bath, paint your toes, put curls in your hair."
Vanissa's hands, half-raised to give Isandre a gentle nudge in the small of her back, drop without making contact when the healer moves into th weyr without needing her encouragement after all. Her low-voiced assurance, "Tole ya T'rev won't mind Jaeyi havin' us up," comes just as the other girl steps forward. Not all-out to Jaeyi makes it all the more impressive to Nissa, tawny brows hike up as she eyes the array, lingering on the nail polishes like they might just bite her. Hazel eyes slide a sidelong look at Isandre, maybe trying to discern which robe the healer might prefer as her hand reaches for the dark red, tucks it over one arm and heads to one of the chairs to work her boots off.
Sea-green eyes flicker over the offerings, Isandre's eyebrows arching up as she reaches out to accept the pale purple robe, running her fingers over it thoughtfully. "I've never done anathin' like this," she admits softly. "I like t' be female and all, but never really done much t' be so, ye ken?" Still, she settles down in a chair near Nissa, reaching down to slide off her sandals, absently tugging the straps straight as she sets them neatly off to the side, out of the way. "Oh." Pausing, she reaches into one of the hidden pockets of her skirts, coming up with a pair of small blown-glass bottles filled with pale amber liquid. "I brought these - wasn't sure if ye'd want them. Scents," she adds, "from m' collection. Me dam and I made them turns ago, but they're still good."
Jaeyi, in a black robe to match the other two, follows the pair of them over to the chairs and quite literally claps her hands together in delight at the bottles that Isandre's brought along. "Mmmmn, thank you," she volunteers promptly, taking the bottles to sniff happily at the contents. "Do you still make them? 'Cause I have a specific perfume that I'd loooove to have someone making instead of trying to buy it out at Gathers all the time." She grins back at the greenrider while she barefoots her way over to the table, noting, "Of /course/ he won't mind. I mean, a coupla girls using his space to get pretty? I mean, I guess you're his sister so that's maybe not so hot for him, but whatever. You want ribbons to keep your hair up in the bath?"
Vanissa lifts her head slightly, tucks unruly waves behind her ears, then it's back down to tug at those boots off with a grunt. Bah! Should have worn shoes. From down there as the second boot comes off she flashes Isandre an impish grin, but the words are directed to the both of them, "I ain't either." Or is it neither? Oh well, says the lift and fall of shoulders as she rises with a smooth motion and backward kicks her boots under the chair. Perfume now, her eyes light up when Isandre brings that out and it's with genuine interest that she listens to the others talk about that. "Nah, but thanks Jaeyi. My hair needs washin'. And... sorry guys, I came empty-handed, but ya got me." Whee! She can be the entertainment maybe?
Tugging on a strand of fine, blonde hair, Isandre studies it for a long moment, then shrugs. "Wet or dry, there's no difference t' it," she grins, as she hands the bottles over to Jaeyi - one is a pale, floral scent with hints of lavendar and lilac. The other is a bit more robust, sandalwood and amber, with a hint of jasmine. "I've been thinkin' on it. Talked t' T'rev some about some o' his trader contacts, an' Hattie, bless her, says she'll arrange for me t' have a place t' plant some common scent flowers. Jus' waitin' until spring Gathers start so I can start gatherin' the necessities." At Nissa's words, she laughs, wrinkling her nose at the greenrider. "Yer good enough."
Jaeyi, about the same time Vanissa says it, smiles brightly at the greenrider and offers, "You brought yourself?" Then beams even brighter when they're thinking along the same lines, arranging the new bottles along the edge of the table with delight at the look of them there, yay. "That'll be exciting," she chatters truthfully. "Someone here locally who can make perfume, I mean. And bath oil and such. We had that girl for a while-- she was a candidate with you, Nissa. Do you remember her? She made soap. But she wandered off." Speaking of, she beckons them to follow on back toward the bath, leading the way to where towels are stacked and bath oils and salts and soaps are all poised at the ready.
Vanissa's saucy wink suffices as her reply to Isandre. "Indeed, courtesy of Liath, Jaeyi," she says lightly as she sheds her clothes and dons the robe without a self-conscious thought. Fingering the material of the belt, she ties it around her waist, then wriggles the thing to settle, clearly appreciating the silken luxury. Draping blouse and skirt on her chair, she nods, "Xhonya, yep I do." She frowns slightly, "She left kinda sudden-like. Dunno why." Those bottles are eyed longingly as she passes the table to follow Jaeyi; she'll sniff them later. "I can help ya with your garden if ya need it," she tells Isandre as she enters the bathing room. "We did lotsa gardening back home."
A bit slower to shed her clothing in company - even if said company is all females, Isandre does eventually slip into the robe, belting it tightly before turning to neatly fold blouse and skirt, placing them carefuly atop her chair. Skimming a hand through her hair, she smiles slightly. "Aye. I've been goin' through some o' me dam's books and journals an' copyin' out the stuff I need. I hope t' make a nice hobby of it, somethin' that ain't so healer-y, ye ken?" For some reason, that causes her cheeks to pink, just slightly, before she shakes her head - smiling towards Nissa. "I'd welcome th' help, an' the company, truth be told." Following in the greenrider's footsteps, she joins the other women in the bathing room.
Jaeyi and bashfulness have never met. Around the bath-side, she drops that robe shamelessly and deposits herself in the bathtub like she's been waiting /all day/ for the luxury. Never mind her morning had probably been occupied with no more than making canolis, fried raviolis, and little sandwiches for this party. "Xhonya, that was her. I don't remember ever buying anything from her, come to think of it." Oh well, and she's sniffing bath salts with water up to her shoulders. "Something not so healer-y. I guess you aren't looking to get too wide of the mark, hmn?" she asks, a tease making her eyes dance while she arches a questioning brow at Isandre.
It's a concept that hasn't occurred to Nissa, that Isandre would consider such, "Ya wanna do stuff that's not healer-y?" The word healer-y falls naturally from Nissa's lips without thought as she follows Jaeyi into the water after shrugging out of the red robe and laying it aside where it won't get splashed. Likely the silkiness was the only thing that prompted her to don it in the first place, rather than simply walking to the bath clothed in naught but her birthday suit. "Hmm, yeah, I wanted to watch her make that soap, too," Nissa says with lingering disappointment as she sinks to her chin and sighs blissfully. Her mind returns to Isandre's comment and she's got to know, "Would ya like to try rock climbing with me and T'rev sometime?"
Despite her previous lag, it's amazing how fast Isandre can move when she goes from berobed to bebathed in a few seconds flat, tucking her short, plump body beneath the water and staring at the two women with a slightly startled expression. "Well - there's only so much a body kin do, an' this at least I already know," she replies softly, as she leans back and shakes her head, pale hair spreading out around her. "An' scents are nice an' relaxing, and they make good gifts when y' need one." Lips twitching slightly, she wrinkles her nose playfully at Jaeyi, then laughs at Nissa. "Kin ye see me climbin' anythin' more stressful than th' stairs, gel? Thankee, but I think anythin' that physical'd make me tired just thinkin' of it."
Incredulity painted plainly in the dropped chin, Jaeyi blinks to Vanissa; "You do that?" Rock-climb. She shakes her head busily at the mere notion of it, passing a bottle of pinkish salts toward the greenrider-- rose-smelling, with a 'pass muster?' look. "I'll teach you to cook, if you ever wanna know," she volunteers as a nice, safe alternative to rock-climbing. "I'm not sure it's true about a man's heart, but it's definitely a quick short-cut to his pants, knowing your way around a kitchen. And then you can teach Nissa and me to make perfume." She beams, like she's just solved the riddle of the sphinx, smart cookie.
Vanissa pouts, albeit playfully at Isandre. "It's not... hard. Ella does it too." Disappointed yes, but she doesn't press. Jaeyi gets blinkblinked right back. "Yes? T'rev takes me. Ya never go?" So disillusioned! "I guess that also means ya won't come cliff-diving with us either," she says with a sidelong look at the healer that borders on mischief. "Although ain't nothin' stressful to that. Just step off and let yourself drop." She's mid-sniff to that bottle of salts, coughs suddenly on the phrase 'to a man's heart' and squeaks, "This's nice!" Passes it to Isandre, coughs, offering no reason as to why, "I could stand to brush up on my cooking skills."
"I've no need t' a man's heart, much less his pants, but I'd love t' learn to cook," Isandre says dryly as she sniffs at the salts, nods approvingly. "One o' me favorite scents," she murmurs, passing them back to the baker - her salts, ultimately her decision. "I kin teach ye how t' make scents, though. It's not hard - can be time consumin', especially when ye work with th' fresh stuff, but it's soothing." And, she'll admit to them what she wouldn't before, "An' t' be honest, there's some healers as hold a scent can help with makin' ye feel better. Peppermint t' soothe a cough or cold, lavendar t' soothe a racing heart, and so forth. I canna remember what they call it, but." But.
"Good gracious no, I'm not built for climbing rocks." She takes the bottle back and upends a more-than-healthy quantity of salts into the water, shaking a few grains around, then adding a splash more before Jaeyi screws the cap on and puts it all back with the others. "No?" to Isandre, head cocked on the doubtful question. "Girls don't seem to go for it the same way," she adds as if apologetically. "Could you now," is her baiting answer to Vanissa, lashes all fluttering to prompt the question the greenrider's skirting.
"The smell of lavender give me a headache," Nissa, not disagreeing with Isandre, mind. "But the smell of Gramp's peach cake bakin' certainly helps a body's mood real quick. Too bad ya can't bottle that." It's sort of a question, tawny brows lifted slightly. But here she's less subtle than Jaeyi, her (as per usual) tongue leaping before her brain, "Aw, ya just said ya wanted to do less healer-y things. An' since the rocks and cliffs are out, I thought ya might come to t'tavern with me?" Unspoken: meet some fellas. Jaeyi's lash-fluttering raises a faint flush to the greenrider's cheeks. Quickly, "Waystation food's kinda plain." Which explains nothing of her motives. If, indeed, she has any.
"Can make a lotion as smells of peaches," Isandre muses as she idly brushes a hand through the water, spreading the salts and scent about. "A perfume wouldna be so good, but lotions, and soaps, aye." Jaeyi's comment earns her an eye and another wrinkled nose, before she laughs softly. "Not interested in girls neither - leastwise, ain't met one t' twitch my skirts at. Just not interested in that kind o' thing." Untruth, her expression screams, but if it makes her happy to believe so... "Tavern might be nice. Knock back a drink or two - an' waystation food ain't so bad, if ye got good company," she muses, eyes blurring slightly before they refocus on the other two women.
Jaeyi reaches across the expanse of the bath with her leg, nudging Vanissa's knee with her toes, saying, "You're a liar. Gramps's cooking is never plain. I'll teach you to cook, but you gotta not tell fibs." The fluttering lashes turn on Isandre, ridiculously pretty, while she points out, "Are you suuuure? I'd let you practice the skirt-twitching if you wanna." Like it's just as much a hobby as teaching them to cook would be. "/Especially/ if you can make peach lotion. I'd be your bestest friend forever if you could do that."
To Isandre, "Lotion. That'd be real nice. Needs vanilla too," Nissa notes, quirking Jaeyi an 'am I forgetting anything?' sort of look. "An' somethin' that smells lke butter, if ya can do that." But ooh, that nudge to the knee sets her cheeks aflame. Busted! "True, but he don't make the fancy cupcakes and itty bitty finger foods you do, Jaeyi," she blurts. Then, oh look hair washing time! She slides under the surface, takes her time under there, thus missing the healer's expression. She emerges under a curtain that clings to her cheeks, while feeling blindly for a bottle of shampoo. "Can take ya, Isandre." Oh so casually.
Silent for a long time, Isandre industrously begins to dampen her hair, scowling at the pale strands as they stick to her cheeks, brushing them away. Finally, to Jaeyi, "'Tis a kindly offer, but I've my work an' I've me friends, and now I've a hobby everyone seems t' be interested in - no time for men, or women, in alla that. Anyway." She pauses, tilting her head in thought. "I just think I ain't got it in me, not th' way the Weyr seems t' do it. Flings an' th' such. So best t' stay away from it altogether, ye ken?" Latching on to the change of subject, she beams a smile at Nissa. "A bit o' peach, a bit o vanilla, some sugar an' spice - I bet I kin make ye a great peach pie lotion, with some help from th' lovely baker here." The offer to go to a waystation has her laughing. "T'would be good company, I wager. Ye greenriders know how t' treat a gel t' a good lunch."
Jaeyi shouts, meaning for the words to be heard over the water under which Vanissa's disappeared, "You're a bad liar!" Then, seriously, she repeats to Isandre, "She's a bad liar, and it sounds like you're making a pie. I could absolutely help with that." With such gravity, excepting the burst of giggles while she tosses a corked bottle of shampoo at the emerging greenrider. "I'm not sure that I do ken, really? But to each her own. It's nice to, I dunno, have someone look at you /like that/, hmn? Like, it makes all the effort--" She waves a damp hand indicatively, the bath, the fluffy towels, the smell-good soaps, the nail polish, et cetera. "--kinda fun and worth it. I mean, it's nice to do it for yourself, sure, but if you can curl someone's toes all delightedly, too?"
Nissa SO heard that Jaeyi! But she pretends not to have. She says nary a word about flings, busy as she is (yes, we'll go with that) catching that bottle and pouring a liberal amount into her palm before offering it to Isandre. From under the mass of lather she's working her mass of tawny hair into, she hmms. Her eyes are shut; she can't see them, so they can't see her, right? At least that's how it worked when she was three. Thoughtfully and really (!) this is mere conjecture, she wonders, "What if ya stay away from all that, but it finds ya anyway?" Ignore that miniscule hint of panic in her tone as she asks that. From under the bubbles that slide down her forehead, Nissa peers at Jaeyi under a half-opened eye. "Seems like a lotta work for toes."
Humming softly in her throat, Isandre accepts the bottle from Nissa, pouring a small amount into her palm before meticulously capping the bottle and setting it to the side. Only once she's ascertained it's in a good spot does she begin to massage it into her hair, working up a good, strong lather in the fine pale strands. "I wouldna know," she admits softly. "Men don't look at me like that, nor women neither. Might be nice, for th' right one, I s'ppose, but if he exists, I ain't met him yet." Slender, strong fingers work through her hair, carefully ensuring each strand is coated before the healer disappears under the water - leaving Nissa to face Jaeyi all by herself. See, she's helping. Really.
"Well, not if you're gonna be all shy. You just gotta work with what you have?" Jaeyi's eyes go pointedly Isandre's chest, or at least the water covering it, and she fashions a beam for the Healer. "Anyway, who says it has to be just /one/? You could have yourself a whole string of boyfriends if you wanted them." Not about to get all those curls wet herself, she watches the other two do the hair-washing thing, dark eyes resting merrily on the greenrider now. "Is there something you wanna share with the group, Nissa?" she offers, not so much buying the act. But-- "Don't be so literal, silly. It's not /just/ toes. It's fun, when you can get that response out of someone. They enjoy it, you enjoy it..." Shrug.
Vanissa mock-pouts at the spreading pool of suds that mark Isandre's disappearance. She could try Jaeyi's trick and yell, but no, she'll just wait until the healer emerges. Fingers pause in the sudsing, eyes blinking rapidly to keep them soap-free, she just squints at Jaeyi. "What? It was a hypothetical question. Meant for- /Isandre/." This as the healer comes up for air. She has to some time or other. "I mean, it helps to think about it. Be prepared, right?" Unlike someone else. And if there wasn't so much shampoo sliding into her eyes she'd roll them at Jaeyi, "I /know/ that! Just... Y'know all I've really ever done is ale and a tumble and goodbye. But now..." She escapes under to rinse, popping up with a bright, "What greenrider'd ya go to lunch with Isandre?" Suuuuubject chaaaaange!
Unfortunately, Vanissa has the right of it - and even worse, Isandre has all that extra floatiness that comes from being well-endowed. Surely Jaeyi would sympathize. Surfacing, pushing her hair from her face, the healer eyes first baker, then greenrider, then sighs. Yes, she caught the former's words, even as she dove for cover. "I'm not shy," she says dryly. "I'm... cautiously pessimistic." Drawing her hair over her shoulder, she begins to finger-comb tangles from it. "A string of - nae." Shoulders twitch, just slightly. "Just one would be n- ah, too much, yes." Uh huh. "Greenrider?" Vanissa is the recipient of a very blank look, and it's several moments before she understands. "Oh - B'kaiv," she replies with a shrug. "'E rescued me out near - where did he say? Peyton? Got meself stranded there by some reckless bluerider, an' stumbled 'pon him at th' waystation. 'E bought me lunch and took me on his sweeps, then brought me home. Nice lad, when I'm not stitchin' 'im up."
Ignoring the fact that it's a clear-cut case of the pot calling the kettle black, Jaeyi tells Vanissa frankly, "You're, like, the most obvious person ever. If you don't wanna tell, then I won't tease it out of you, though it's no fun gossiping if no one has anything to gossip about." She pouts this time, failing to show any interest at all in gossiping about B'kaiv. Considering he's got the kinds of muscles that would normally make for good, girlish fodder, that's probably telling in and of itself. "You two can just stay here and be all prim, then. I am going to go and paint my toes." With a big splash while she gets out of the water, all pretend-huffy.
Vanissa shudders, "I agree with ya Isandre, a string. Yeahno. Too complicated. Y'could manage it Jaeyi. I'd be duckin' crockery thrown at me right an' left." She's rinsed, so there's really no reason to stay in the bath and turn all prune-fingered wrinkly. And then there's Jaeyi flouncing off. With a 'see what I have to deal with' eye-roll the healer's way, the greenrider calls after Jaeyi's retreating form, "Ya wanna gossip? Fine. I'm... seein' someone." The last ends in a rebellious mutter. Unspoken: you can start laughing now. She steps out, dries off so she can don that red robe. "B'kaiv's nice," she notes to Isandre with an equally sparse response for her wingmate as she wraps her hair in a fluffy towel.
Prim is as prim does, and Isandre might just stay in the bath to spite Jaeyi - except, as Nissa points out - prunes and wrinkly. Sighing, the plump little healer climbs out of the bath, finding a towel to carefully dry off with, ensuring as much of the water is drawn from her skin as possible before she wraps her hair in it, leaving it atop her head like some oversized turban, and slides into the pale purple robe. Belting it about her waist, she trails after the two, one eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Who be ye seein', Nissa?" she asks. "Ye said nothin' of this afore." Not that the healer appears hurt by this - she's hardly bosom buddies with the greenrider. As disinterested in continuing a coversation about B'kaiv as the other two, she merely agrees with, "'E certainly is."
Jaeyi tucks herself into a towel, leaving a trail of wet footprints carelessly across T'rev's floor, and hooks up her own robe with one index finger, saying over her shoulder, "Oh, that's hardly gossip, that was obvious. Gossip would be, mmn, if you said you were seeing that harelipped bluerider in Flint and told us how creative harelipped men can be." There's a pause in her steps, head cocked, and the Baker commits some serious thought to that before busily shaking her head and continuing on her way. That's not to say she's not listening for a response to the 'who be ye' question, but she did mean what she said about her toes. "This one for you, Isandre," she adds decisively, taking up a bottle of flamboyant red.
"You wanted to gossip, I didn't-" Blink. "Harel-? Ew, Jaeyiiiii! Gross." She follows Jaeyi out into the other room, turning her head over her shoulder to answer Isandre, at least in part, "Because I wasn't before." She hops up onto the foot of that bed, arranges her robe for comfort, all set to watch the nail-painting from a safe distance. Jaeyi's yawning response is enough to give her the impetus to answer, both shoulders roll in a shrug like it's no big deal. Forget the fact that she's been trying to avoid it for the past while. Studying her toes (thanks Jaeyi), "M'try."
"Red?" Isandre studies the bottle dubiously for a moment, then her own bare toes, then shrugs. "Ye'd know best, and I'll be guided by you in this." Offering the baker a sunny smile, she adjusts the belt on the robe until it falls 'just so', satisfying that tiny naggling in the back of her head. "Harelipped bluerider?" Tilting her head, the woman's eyes narrow thoughtfully, before she gives a gesture of negation. One more off her list of stranding suspects. Then Vanissa answers the question, and her eyes go blank for a moment - surprise, likely, before her lips curve in a bright smile greenrider-wards. "Welladay, that's a surprise. But a nice one. Why are ye not happier, Nissa? He seems a fine young man t' me." Clamping her lips shut on incipient babble, she turns back to Jaeyi, holding out a hand for the bottle of polish.
"Why's it gross? For all you know, he might be quite a talented man." The harelip, that is. Plucking a bottle of pink for herself, Jaeyi beckons the Healer toward the sofa, since it's a bit of a better place for painting toes than the middle of the floor, adding, "Yes, red. It dries glossy and pretty. Grab one of those plates, will you? The canolis're better before the cream makes the shells soggy, so we really better get started on-- really?" M'try, that is. Her brows knit for a second, but she resumes her business pretty promptly. "We ought to do yours too, then, Nissa," she concludes brightly.
Isandre and Jaeyi may be matter-of-fact about harelips, but Nissa's trying not to throw up, thankyouverymuch. She doesn't even go there with Jaeyi. Okay, faint surprise, she can deal with this. She flicks the healer a look of faint disbelief. "Ain't unhappy." If that helps. "Just..." She's squirming just a wee bit, "never thought of 'im like that. He's a friend. And... tol ya I never done the romance-like..." she waves a hand vaguely finishes sheepishly, "relationshippy... thing." Nevermind that she's more comfortable with dirt under her nails, lets paint Nissa's nails, yes! She hops off the bed and pads over to ask briskly, "So what color for me Jaeyi?"
Picking up one of the indicated plates, Isandre bustles in her normal brisk manner over to the sofa, setting the canolis carefully in place before plopping down on the couch, adjusting the fall of the robe so that everything that should be covered, is. "I'm glad t' hear ye ain't unhappy," the healer replies, still with that bright smile firmly in place. "T'would mean th' world of me for two of my friends t' be happy." Watching both of the other women with interest, she offers, helpfully, "I've always heard 'tis best just t' let it happen as it goes? Not that I'd know," she adds, with a half-shrug, "but that's what I've heard, yes? At least ye've experience with men, that should help ye." Yes. Advice from the little healer-prude, that's the ticket.
Jaeyi looks around at the words 'relationshippy thing,' taking in the lay of the weyr before she tells Vanissa cheerfully, "It's not so bad, once you get used to it. Though comparing your brother and that brownrider is a bit like comparing apples and-- well, some weird fruit like kiwis or something. And you can take the pink if you'll bring that plummy colored one on the end for me." She catches a pillow off the sofa to tuck under her knees, shaking the red bottle and beckoning for Isandre's toes to park on her thighs-- this after she puts on her own robe instead of just the towel, since that's just asking for a wardrobe malfunction. "I know a lovely Smith," she goes on chattily, attention on the polish, "who's quite enamored of full-figured women, if you ever are looking for something not so detailed? He's got a wife, but she doesn't mind so long as it's only while he's up at the Weyr."
Vanissa shoots Isandre a look askance for that last comment, which distracts her from that plastic smile she's never before seen the other girl wear. "See now, that's what everyone's gonna assume. It's a whole different thing to hey-smooch-see ya at a gather and never see the fella again. M'not all smooth where it comes to this, y'know?" The healer of all people ought to understand her on this. Jaeyi is awarded a blank look, nose crinkling up in confusion. "Huh-whut? Who said anything about T'rev?" You've lost her Jaeyi. Maybe she has to spell it out. "I've never d-a-t-e-d, before?" Okay she's putting a label on 'can I see you again', but really, Jaeyi's talking fruit and her brother. As for the Smith, "I'll pass." T'rev would think her ill. Or something. "M'try's not weird," she tacks on as she's on her way over to grab that plum polish, returning to plop down on the floor beside the other two. Idly shaking the bottle, she watches the painting. M'try totally should be here for this people painting.
Assuming the smith comment was made to her - being as Isandre fits the definition of full-figured to a tee, the healer wrinkles her nose, that bright smile slipping a notch or two. "Thankee, Jaeyi," she offers, authentically enough, "but I'm no poacher, an' I'd not feel comfortable in such a situation. Th' thought is, however, appreciated." If not necessarily directed at her. Dantily, Isandre places a foot on Jaeyi's thigh, long toes curling slightly to present the best angle she can for the baker's work. "He has his share of weirdness," notes the healer softly, "but we all do, ye know. Some people think I'm weird for likin' things tidy." Among the many, many quirks of her personality. "Stop worryin' over it, Vanissa. Ye'll only give yerself a bleedin' stomach, and let me tell ye, the medicines t' treat that are seven kinds of foul. Why not just - go with the flow. Is that the right phrase?"
"Right," Jaeyi points out to the d-word, crinkling her nose as a big glob of paint comes off the brush unprettily. She shakes the jar some more. "Neither had I, not really. I had a... something? At Boll, but it didn't really count, I don't think. And T'rev and I were--" She glances at Vanissa, /his sister/, for a second before adding, "Playing together a long time before I'd've called it a relationship. But it's not so bad, now that I'm in the thick of the thing. It might grow on you, if you let it. And he is weird." Set to painting Isandre's toes, she clarifies, "It's not poaching at all. The Smith's quite pleasant, extremely generous, you might like him if you'd just let me introduce you. But. Suit yourself." Hum-de-dum, toes-turning-red.
Smith for Isandre - check. Nissa's flustered enough to assume her reputation is once again being thrown in her face. "I called it 'seein' someone' first, if y'll recall." She tells Jaeyi with a touch of annoyance. "An described it as relationship-/y/. As in see-him-more-than-once." Why she needs to continue clarifying this is beyond her. The healer is flicked a cool glance for her gentle rebuke, "Thanks, I'll keep it in mind." Ducking her head she takes that towel off, spreads it across her lap, shaking her hair out to dry tangled for now. She unscrews the pink polish and carefully wipes most of the paint off the brush before her attempt as coating her nails. Toes she'll leave for later. From under her hair she mutters, "He didn't say... oh nevermind." Her lips close firmly. Back-jungle Nerat waystation lack of sophistication here, not making assumptions, just unsure of proper definitions. And see this? Is why she didn't want to talk about it.
Pity is taken on Vanissa, at least by the healer, for Isandre says nothing more regarding M'try, relationships with him - or anything of the sort. Humming under her breath - rather off-key, at that - she leans forward a touch, watching as her toe nails go from pale to red with some fascination. "I'm a prude," she points out helpfully to Jaeyi. "Grade-A, number one choice spinster material, too. I'm th' kind of girl the mothers back home in Nerat warn their daughters they'll turn into if they don't keep themselves presentable and learn t' be good little wives. I never was, ye know. A good little wife. Or I wouldna been, had I not made it moot by runnin' off to th' hall. Too plump, too smart, too curious - an' like as not a woods colt as well." She grins, suddenly - an expression a sight more realistic than her earlier smile. "Screw 'em. I'm happy healin'. And lookin'," she adds, thoughtfully. "Lots o' prime lookin' material in this Weyr."
"If you don't mind my asking," and even if she does, Jaeyi'll ask anyway, "Why? I mean, why a prude? If you like looking, why not turn looking into touching into..." She trails off, letting the dots connect themselves on that one. "Though, if it's just looking, you should see the picture her whatever--" With her head tipped toward Vanissa. "--did of my whatever." Her eyes widen impressively while she leans back somewhat from the Healer's toes, contemplating her work. "Do you want me to do yours, Nissa?" she offers, perhaps an olive branch for teasing the greenrider about her Weirdo Whatever.
And Nissa appreciates this more than she can say right now, Isandre! Head down as she makes that awkward attempt to do her own nails - mind she's never done it before and they're pink but not really all that pretty with the stuff bleeding over her nail beds like that - she listens with a sort of fascination to the healer talk. Oddly, she doesn't chime in on the prude question, but she does poke her head up to ask, "What's a woods colt?" Isandre has the most interesting lexicon! There's moment when she just sort of gapes at the baker's clever head-tipping and whatevers, before, "He's not my-" Go with the flow, the Healer said. Cheerfully, "Um sure, Jaeyi if you don't mind." It's said easily enough. As for artwork, she says not a word, nope. Learned her lesson the other day.
Silence is the only response from Isandre for a long moment. Then: "Ye know my dam is a midwife, yes? Early training is hard t' forget." She doesn't expand on that. Eyes flicker, ever so briefly to Vanissa, then it's back to staring at her toes. "Any road. Seen plenty o' eye-candy here t' gawk at, but ain't met a o- one that turned me on that way." Hateful stutter. Another brief silence, then, "Bastard, Vanissa." Beat. "Do men really like red toes? I mean, I got cute feet, maybe with red toes, they won't see th' rest o' me." Self-esteem, thy name is most certainly not Isandre - by any stretch of imagination. Nor does she, like Nissa, touch on the artwork - mostly because it's been made clear that it's not for the likes of her to see whatever it is he draws.
Jaeyi waves her hand to dismiss the beginnings of Vanissa's protest, saying, "I know, I know, but we need to call him something, hmn?" She blows briefly on Isandre's toes to agree, "You /do/ have cute feet. And now they're cute feet with kinda sexy toes, so you can just have to work on casual excuses to take off your shoes and voila. People will swoon." She brings her wrist up to her forehead, feigning the swoon herself, leaning into it to the side so she lands on one elbow, making it easier for her to pat the rug in front of her as a place for Vanissa's feet. "You're afraid of having babies, then?"
Vanissa fails to grasp if Isandre is reluctant to talk about it or she feels a stigma to the label. She merely ohs silently, shrugs and says like it's really no big deal, "Dunno who my da is either." Shoulders lift and fall, no big, really. She leaves the topic to eye Isandre's toes critically, head to one side, agreeing with Jaeyi, "You do have nice toes." She could go on to reassure the healer about her looks, but instead she says sincerely, "You're an interesting person, Isandre. Ya ain't all fluff. Someone'll appreciate ya." Jaeyi's pantomime draws a grin, "Little swooning tossed in couldn't hurt either." And then she's scooting over and offering her toes for the baker's attention. "Might need to redo this hand too." Since she's only done the one and yep. Badly.
Withdrawing her toes from Jaeyi's thigh, wiggling them slightly - carefully enough not to smear the paint, mind, Isandre backs away, allowing Vanissa to take her place. "Some," she acknowledges to the baker. "More, I'm afraid of either being worn out from turn after turn of pushing 'em out, or bein' stuck with some fatherless child an' gettin' the same harsh looks as me dam." Vanissa's admission brings not a flicker from her, other than to say, "There's backwoods, and then there's backwoods." She falls silent, planting her feet flat on the floor and bending her knees, wrapping her arms around them. "I wear sandals," she offers to Jaeyi. "I don't like having me feet enclosed - feels awkward. That good 'nough?" To Nissa: "Perhaps." Flat - though she immediately brings up that previous sunny smile. "I'm sure you're right," she adds quickly, brightly.
Jaeyi will go on to paint Vanissa's toes, fix her fingers and do the other hand, spend a while trying to convince Isandre to let her ribbon her hair up into twirls to make ringlets-- pretty pretty please. There's the perfume she's hoping the Healer can duplicate brought out, a sweet vanilla smell, and the offer to let Vanissa borrow as much as she wants. Eventually, T'rev's gonna come home (can't kick the man out indefinitely), probably make some jokes about the girls in his weyr, and the Baker will capitulate to send them off with some snacks for the road. Perhaps not quite as much girlishness and gossip as she might've hoped for, personally, but it sure beats trying to paint her firelizard's fingernails? Or T'rev's?
Dunno. Good money could be made from painting T'rev's nails.
"Ya wouldn't get harsh looks here!" Nissa assures Isandre stoutly. She takes the healer's words for backwoods accepting their lack of common ground with a little sigh. Flashes her a look for that flat-toned-turned bright smile and blinks. Okay then. She's done something for something about the healer has changed, but she's not about to pursue it now. Maybe not ever. She allows Jaeyi to fix her nail-job, do her toes, hair make up, submitting to the advice given, except opting to try that sandalwood, amber and jasmine scent of Isandre's, keeping up light chatter as best she can until they wind up. And when they're done she thanks both of them, gives T'rev a hug if he comes before they leave. She'll give Isandre a ride to the bowl floor, politely take her leave and with nowhere to go, and in no mood to really go anywhere, heads home to dress up in something fetching and just sit around feel pretty. And weird.
IC Date: 3/10/23
Arch-Ceilinged Den of Iniquity, Fort Weyr
The arch-ceilinged inner weyr itself would have been circular if it weren't for the reddish brick wall to the left, which both gives separation from the bathing area and provides the single flat wall in the whole place. Against that wall, shelves of books frame a large but plain bed made up with a simple red and white quilt, with a low dresser sitting at the bed's foot. The room's focus, however, is the hearth set opposite: large enough to host a decent-sized fire, though the mantel is very plain, its tiles having faded from the matching brick color they had been overpainted long ago. Before it is a warm-toned rug upon which sit a comfortable upholstered chair and side-table, angled to take advantage of the fire in cool weather, a handful of floor cushions at their feet.
Not too far from the hearth but closer to the front of the weyr are a round table and two wicker chairs, by which are a narrow, tall cupboard and, protected from the hearth's heat, a wine rack well-stocked with bottles.
It's taken some arranging to make sure all the details are all set-- T'rev is off doing Wingleader stuff for a while, Jaeyi's taken the time to make sure there are desserts, drinks (alcoholic and otherwise), and copious amounts of girly stuff on hand. The bathtub is lined by soap and oil and lotion; every bit of cosmetics she owns are on the main table; silk bathrobes (yes, she has a solid half-dozen of them) are laid out over the back of the sofa, and she's busy piling all her hair up and tying it with ribbons off her neck, waiting for Vanissa and Isandre with giddy girlish anticipation.
It's taken some persuasion to get Nissa to go along with the idea, not that a luxurious soak and girly chat doesn't appeal, but the rest of it? She's just not quuuuuuite sure about, little dubious as to the need, but she'll go along. Liath, having bourn her and passenger to Mecaith's ledge and couched for easy dismount, flitters off to visit where she can find a receptive companion elsewhere. The murmur of voices precedes the girls as the greenrider, steps aside to allow Isandre to enter her brother's weyr first. Then Nissa arrives in her usual nonchalant manner, hair a-tumble and no real attention taken to her casual loose blouse and voluminous skirt. They're clean, they match, but you know, they sorta scream: waystation. "Hey, Jaeyi." Then it's a wowed scan of all the preparations, "Ya went all-out."
Though the general idea needed little persuasive backing to sell to Isandre, the idea of invading T'rev's weyr to pull it off? That's where she hesitates - right at the entrance between outer weyr and inner, until Nissa's presence behind her causes the healer to bustle in, skirts flaring about her legs as she focuses on the baker, careful not to allow her gaze to stray too much. "G'day, Jaeyi," she greets softly, approaching the other young woman, eyes flickering over the preparations with one eyebrow arching upwards. "Indeed ye did - never have I seen so many girl things t'gether in one place - even when I was 'pprenticed. Where d' ye get all that?"
Brightly, Jaeyi answers, "Not so much all out? I mean, most of it I already had anyway, just had to get it up here from the Hold. I guess I just sorta collected stuff?" She waves a hand toward the table, the line of nailpolish-- all reds and pinks-- answering Isandre in the same comment. "Come in, come in, come in," she adds busily, putting the last ribbon in her hair and standing up to snag a pair of robes, dark red and pale purple, held out toward the two of them in a 'take your pick' gesture. "T'rev's out for a while, so we can kinda have the run of the place? Like, take a bath, paint your toes, put curls in your hair."
Vanissa's hands, half-raised to give Isandre a gentle nudge in the small of her back, drop without making contact when the healer moves into th weyr without needing her encouragement after all. Her low-voiced assurance, "Tole ya T'rev won't mind Jaeyi havin' us up," comes just as the other girl steps forward. Not all-out to Jaeyi makes it all the more impressive to Nissa, tawny brows hike up as she eyes the array, lingering on the nail polishes like they might just bite her. Hazel eyes slide a sidelong look at Isandre, maybe trying to discern which robe the healer might prefer as her hand reaches for the dark red, tucks it over one arm and heads to one of the chairs to work her boots off.
Sea-green eyes flicker over the offerings, Isandre's eyebrows arching up as she reaches out to accept the pale purple robe, running her fingers over it thoughtfully. "I've never done anathin' like this," she admits softly. "I like t' be female and all, but never really done much t' be so, ye ken?" Still, she settles down in a chair near Nissa, reaching down to slide off her sandals, absently tugging the straps straight as she sets them neatly off to the side, out of the way. "Oh." Pausing, she reaches into one of the hidden pockets of her skirts, coming up with a pair of small blown-glass bottles filled with pale amber liquid. "I brought these - wasn't sure if ye'd want them. Scents," she adds, "from m' collection. Me dam and I made them turns ago, but they're still good."
Jaeyi, in a black robe to match the other two, follows the pair of them over to the chairs and quite literally claps her hands together in delight at the bottles that Isandre's brought along. "Mmmmn, thank you," she volunteers promptly, taking the bottles to sniff happily at the contents. "Do you still make them? 'Cause I have a specific perfume that I'd loooove to have someone making instead of trying to buy it out at Gathers all the time." She grins back at the greenrider while she barefoots her way over to the table, noting, "Of /course/ he won't mind. I mean, a coupla girls using his space to get pretty? I mean, I guess you're his sister so that's maybe not so hot for him, but whatever. You want ribbons to keep your hair up in the bath?"
Vanissa lifts her head slightly, tucks unruly waves behind her ears, then it's back down to tug at those boots off with a grunt. Bah! Should have worn shoes. From down there as the second boot comes off she flashes Isandre an impish grin, but the words are directed to the both of them, "I ain't either." Or is it neither? Oh well, says the lift and fall of shoulders as she rises with a smooth motion and backward kicks her boots under the chair. Perfume now, her eyes light up when Isandre brings that out and it's with genuine interest that she listens to the others talk about that. "Nah, but thanks Jaeyi. My hair needs washin'. And... sorry guys, I came empty-handed, but ya got me." Whee! She can be the entertainment maybe?
Tugging on a strand of fine, blonde hair, Isandre studies it for a long moment, then shrugs. "Wet or dry, there's no difference t' it," she grins, as she hands the bottles over to Jaeyi - one is a pale, floral scent with hints of lavendar and lilac. The other is a bit more robust, sandalwood and amber, with a hint of jasmine. "I've been thinkin' on it. Talked t' T'rev some about some o' his trader contacts, an' Hattie, bless her, says she'll arrange for me t' have a place t' plant some common scent flowers. Jus' waitin' until spring Gathers start so I can start gatherin' the necessities." At Nissa's words, she laughs, wrinkling her nose at the greenrider. "Yer good enough."
Jaeyi, about the same time Vanissa says it, smiles brightly at the greenrider and offers, "You brought yourself?" Then beams even brighter when they're thinking along the same lines, arranging the new bottles along the edge of the table with delight at the look of them there, yay. "That'll be exciting," she chatters truthfully. "Someone here locally who can make perfume, I mean. And bath oil and such. We had that girl for a while-- she was a candidate with you, Nissa. Do you remember her? She made soap. But she wandered off." Speaking of, she beckons them to follow on back toward the bath, leading the way to where towels are stacked and bath oils and salts and soaps are all poised at the ready.
Vanissa's saucy wink suffices as her reply to Isandre. "Indeed, courtesy of Liath, Jaeyi," she says lightly as she sheds her clothes and dons the robe without a self-conscious thought. Fingering the material of the belt, she ties it around her waist, then wriggles the thing to settle, clearly appreciating the silken luxury. Draping blouse and skirt on her chair, she nods, "Xhonya, yep I do." She frowns slightly, "She left kinda sudden-like. Dunno why." Those bottles are eyed longingly as she passes the table to follow Jaeyi; she'll sniff them later. "I can help ya with your garden if ya need it," she tells Isandre as she enters the bathing room. "We did lotsa gardening back home."
A bit slower to shed her clothing in company - even if said company is all females, Isandre does eventually slip into the robe, belting it tightly before turning to neatly fold blouse and skirt, placing them carefuly atop her chair. Skimming a hand through her hair, she smiles slightly. "Aye. I've been goin' through some o' me dam's books and journals an' copyin' out the stuff I need. I hope t' make a nice hobby of it, somethin' that ain't so healer-y, ye ken?" For some reason, that causes her cheeks to pink, just slightly, before she shakes her head - smiling towards Nissa. "I'd welcome th' help, an' the company, truth be told." Following in the greenrider's footsteps, she joins the other women in the bathing room.
Jaeyi and bashfulness have never met. Around the bath-side, she drops that robe shamelessly and deposits herself in the bathtub like she's been waiting /all day/ for the luxury. Never mind her morning had probably been occupied with no more than making canolis, fried raviolis, and little sandwiches for this party. "Xhonya, that was her. I don't remember ever buying anything from her, come to think of it." Oh well, and she's sniffing bath salts with water up to her shoulders. "Something not so healer-y. I guess you aren't looking to get too wide of the mark, hmn?" she asks, a tease making her eyes dance while she arches a questioning brow at Isandre.
It's a concept that hasn't occurred to Nissa, that Isandre would consider such, "Ya wanna do stuff that's not healer-y?" The word healer-y falls naturally from Nissa's lips without thought as she follows Jaeyi into the water after shrugging out of the red robe and laying it aside where it won't get splashed. Likely the silkiness was the only thing that prompted her to don it in the first place, rather than simply walking to the bath clothed in naught but her birthday suit. "Hmm, yeah, I wanted to watch her make that soap, too," Nissa says with lingering disappointment as she sinks to her chin and sighs blissfully. Her mind returns to Isandre's comment and she's got to know, "Would ya like to try rock climbing with me and T'rev sometime?"
Despite her previous lag, it's amazing how fast Isandre can move when she goes from berobed to bebathed in a few seconds flat, tucking her short, plump body beneath the water and staring at the two women with a slightly startled expression. "Well - there's only so much a body kin do, an' this at least I already know," she replies softly, as she leans back and shakes her head, pale hair spreading out around her. "An' scents are nice an' relaxing, and they make good gifts when y' need one." Lips twitching slightly, she wrinkles her nose playfully at Jaeyi, then laughs at Nissa. "Kin ye see me climbin' anythin' more stressful than th' stairs, gel? Thankee, but I think anythin' that physical'd make me tired just thinkin' of it."
Incredulity painted plainly in the dropped chin, Jaeyi blinks to Vanissa; "You do that?" Rock-climb. She shakes her head busily at the mere notion of it, passing a bottle of pinkish salts toward the greenrider-- rose-smelling, with a 'pass muster?' look. "I'll teach you to cook, if you ever wanna know," she volunteers as a nice, safe alternative to rock-climbing. "I'm not sure it's true about a man's heart, but it's definitely a quick short-cut to his pants, knowing your way around a kitchen. And then you can teach Nissa and me to make perfume." She beams, like she's just solved the riddle of the sphinx, smart cookie.
Vanissa pouts, albeit playfully at Isandre. "It's not... hard. Ella does it too." Disappointed yes, but she doesn't press. Jaeyi gets blinkblinked right back. "Yes? T'rev takes me. Ya never go?" So disillusioned! "I guess that also means ya won't come cliff-diving with us either," she says with a sidelong look at the healer that borders on mischief. "Although ain't nothin' stressful to that. Just step off and let yourself drop." She's mid-sniff to that bottle of salts, coughs suddenly on the phrase 'to a man's heart' and squeaks, "This's nice!" Passes it to Isandre, coughs, offering no reason as to why, "I could stand to brush up on my cooking skills."
"I've no need t' a man's heart, much less his pants, but I'd love t' learn to cook," Isandre says dryly as she sniffs at the salts, nods approvingly. "One o' me favorite scents," she murmurs, passing them back to the baker - her salts, ultimately her decision. "I kin teach ye how t' make scents, though. It's not hard - can be time consumin', especially when ye work with th' fresh stuff, but it's soothing." And, she'll admit to them what she wouldn't before, "An' t' be honest, there's some healers as hold a scent can help with makin' ye feel better. Peppermint t' soothe a cough or cold, lavendar t' soothe a racing heart, and so forth. I canna remember what they call it, but." But.
"Good gracious no, I'm not built for climbing rocks." She takes the bottle back and upends a more-than-healthy quantity of salts into the water, shaking a few grains around, then adding a splash more before Jaeyi screws the cap on and puts it all back with the others. "No?" to Isandre, head cocked on the doubtful question. "Girls don't seem to go for it the same way," she adds as if apologetically. "Could you now," is her baiting answer to Vanissa, lashes all fluttering to prompt the question the greenrider's skirting.
"The smell of lavender give me a headache," Nissa, not disagreeing with Isandre, mind. "But the smell of Gramp's peach cake bakin' certainly helps a body's mood real quick. Too bad ya can't bottle that." It's sort of a question, tawny brows lifted slightly. But here she's less subtle than Jaeyi, her (as per usual) tongue leaping before her brain, "Aw, ya just said ya wanted to do less healer-y things. An' since the rocks and cliffs are out, I thought ya might come to t'tavern with me?" Unspoken: meet some fellas. Jaeyi's lash-fluttering raises a faint flush to the greenrider's cheeks. Quickly, "Waystation food's kinda plain." Which explains nothing of her motives. If, indeed, she has any.
"Can make a lotion as smells of peaches," Isandre muses as she idly brushes a hand through the water, spreading the salts and scent about. "A perfume wouldna be so good, but lotions, and soaps, aye." Jaeyi's comment earns her an eye and another wrinkled nose, before she laughs softly. "Not interested in girls neither - leastwise, ain't met one t' twitch my skirts at. Just not interested in that kind o' thing." Untruth, her expression screams, but if it makes her happy to believe so... "Tavern might be nice. Knock back a drink or two - an' waystation food ain't so bad, if ye got good company," she muses, eyes blurring slightly before they refocus on the other two women.
Jaeyi reaches across the expanse of the bath with her leg, nudging Vanissa's knee with her toes, saying, "You're a liar. Gramps's cooking is never plain. I'll teach you to cook, but you gotta not tell fibs." The fluttering lashes turn on Isandre, ridiculously pretty, while she points out, "Are you suuuure? I'd let you practice the skirt-twitching if you wanna." Like it's just as much a hobby as teaching them to cook would be. "/Especially/ if you can make peach lotion. I'd be your bestest friend forever if you could do that."
To Isandre, "Lotion. That'd be real nice. Needs vanilla too," Nissa notes, quirking Jaeyi an 'am I forgetting anything?' sort of look. "An' somethin' that smells lke butter, if ya can do that." But ooh, that nudge to the knee sets her cheeks aflame. Busted! "True, but he don't make the fancy cupcakes and itty bitty finger foods you do, Jaeyi," she blurts. Then, oh look hair washing time! She slides under the surface, takes her time under there, thus missing the healer's expression. She emerges under a curtain that clings to her cheeks, while feeling blindly for a bottle of shampoo. "Can take ya, Isandre." Oh so casually.
Silent for a long time, Isandre industrously begins to dampen her hair, scowling at the pale strands as they stick to her cheeks, brushing them away. Finally, to Jaeyi, "'Tis a kindly offer, but I've my work an' I've me friends, and now I've a hobby everyone seems t' be interested in - no time for men, or women, in alla that. Anyway." She pauses, tilting her head in thought. "I just think I ain't got it in me, not th' way the Weyr seems t' do it. Flings an' th' such. So best t' stay away from it altogether, ye ken?" Latching on to the change of subject, she beams a smile at Nissa. "A bit o' peach, a bit o vanilla, some sugar an' spice - I bet I kin make ye a great peach pie lotion, with some help from th' lovely baker here." The offer to go to a waystation has her laughing. "T'would be good company, I wager. Ye greenriders know how t' treat a gel t' a good lunch."
Jaeyi shouts, meaning for the words to be heard over the water under which Vanissa's disappeared, "You're a bad liar!" Then, seriously, she repeats to Isandre, "She's a bad liar, and it sounds like you're making a pie. I could absolutely help with that." With such gravity, excepting the burst of giggles while she tosses a corked bottle of shampoo at the emerging greenrider. "I'm not sure that I do ken, really? But to each her own. It's nice to, I dunno, have someone look at you /like that/, hmn? Like, it makes all the effort--" She waves a damp hand indicatively, the bath, the fluffy towels, the smell-good soaps, the nail polish, et cetera. "--kinda fun and worth it. I mean, it's nice to do it for yourself, sure, but if you can curl someone's toes all delightedly, too?"
Nissa SO heard that Jaeyi! But she pretends not to have. She says nary a word about flings, busy as she is (yes, we'll go with that) catching that bottle and pouring a liberal amount into her palm before offering it to Isandre. From under the mass of lather she's working her mass of tawny hair into, she hmms. Her eyes are shut; she can't see them, so they can't see her, right? At least that's how it worked when she was three. Thoughtfully and really (!) this is mere conjecture, she wonders, "What if ya stay away from all that, but it finds ya anyway?" Ignore that miniscule hint of panic in her tone as she asks that. From under the bubbles that slide down her forehead, Nissa peers at Jaeyi under a half-opened eye. "Seems like a lotta work for toes."
Humming softly in her throat, Isandre accepts the bottle from Nissa, pouring a small amount into her palm before meticulously capping the bottle and setting it to the side. Only once she's ascertained it's in a good spot does she begin to massage it into her hair, working up a good, strong lather in the fine pale strands. "I wouldna know," she admits softly. "Men don't look at me like that, nor women neither. Might be nice, for th' right one, I s'ppose, but if he exists, I ain't met him yet." Slender, strong fingers work through her hair, carefully ensuring each strand is coated before the healer disappears under the water - leaving Nissa to face Jaeyi all by herself. See, she's helping. Really.
"Well, not if you're gonna be all shy. You just gotta work with what you have?" Jaeyi's eyes go pointedly Isandre's chest, or at least the water covering it, and she fashions a beam for the Healer. "Anyway, who says it has to be just /one/? You could have yourself a whole string of boyfriends if you wanted them." Not about to get all those curls wet herself, she watches the other two do the hair-washing thing, dark eyes resting merrily on the greenrider now. "Is there something you wanna share with the group, Nissa?" she offers, not so much buying the act. But-- "Don't be so literal, silly. It's not /just/ toes. It's fun, when you can get that response out of someone. They enjoy it, you enjoy it..." Shrug.
Vanissa mock-pouts at the spreading pool of suds that mark Isandre's disappearance. She could try Jaeyi's trick and yell, but no, she'll just wait until the healer emerges. Fingers pause in the sudsing, eyes blinking rapidly to keep them soap-free, she just squints at Jaeyi. "What? It was a hypothetical question. Meant for- /Isandre/." This as the healer comes up for air. She has to some time or other. "I mean, it helps to think about it. Be prepared, right?" Unlike someone else. And if there wasn't so much shampoo sliding into her eyes she'd roll them at Jaeyi, "I /know/ that! Just... Y'know all I've really ever done is ale and a tumble and goodbye. But now..." She escapes under to rinse, popping up with a bright, "What greenrider'd ya go to lunch with Isandre?" Suuuuubject chaaaaange!
Unfortunately, Vanissa has the right of it - and even worse, Isandre has all that extra floatiness that comes from being well-endowed. Surely Jaeyi would sympathize. Surfacing, pushing her hair from her face, the healer eyes first baker, then greenrider, then sighs. Yes, she caught the former's words, even as she dove for cover. "I'm not shy," she says dryly. "I'm... cautiously pessimistic." Drawing her hair over her shoulder, she begins to finger-comb tangles from it. "A string of - nae." Shoulders twitch, just slightly. "Just one would be n- ah, too much, yes." Uh huh. "Greenrider?" Vanissa is the recipient of a very blank look, and it's several moments before she understands. "Oh - B'kaiv," she replies with a shrug. "'E rescued me out near - where did he say? Peyton? Got meself stranded there by some reckless bluerider, an' stumbled 'pon him at th' waystation. 'E bought me lunch and took me on his sweeps, then brought me home. Nice lad, when I'm not stitchin' 'im up."
Ignoring the fact that it's a clear-cut case of the pot calling the kettle black, Jaeyi tells Vanissa frankly, "You're, like, the most obvious person ever. If you don't wanna tell, then I won't tease it out of you, though it's no fun gossiping if no one has anything to gossip about." She pouts this time, failing to show any interest at all in gossiping about B'kaiv. Considering he's got the kinds of muscles that would normally make for good, girlish fodder, that's probably telling in and of itself. "You two can just stay here and be all prim, then. I am going to go and paint my toes." With a big splash while she gets out of the water, all pretend-huffy.
Vanissa shudders, "I agree with ya Isandre, a string. Yeahno. Too complicated. Y'could manage it Jaeyi. I'd be duckin' crockery thrown at me right an' left." She's rinsed, so there's really no reason to stay in the bath and turn all prune-fingered wrinkly. And then there's Jaeyi flouncing off. With a 'see what I have to deal with' eye-roll the healer's way, the greenrider calls after Jaeyi's retreating form, "Ya wanna gossip? Fine. I'm... seein' someone." The last ends in a rebellious mutter. Unspoken: you can start laughing now. She steps out, dries off so she can don that red robe. "B'kaiv's nice," she notes to Isandre with an equally sparse response for her wingmate as she wraps her hair in a fluffy towel.
Prim is as prim does, and Isandre might just stay in the bath to spite Jaeyi - except, as Nissa points out - prunes and wrinkly. Sighing, the plump little healer climbs out of the bath, finding a towel to carefully dry off with, ensuring as much of the water is drawn from her skin as possible before she wraps her hair in it, leaving it atop her head like some oversized turban, and slides into the pale purple robe. Belting it about her waist, she trails after the two, one eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Who be ye seein', Nissa?" she asks. "Ye said nothin' of this afore." Not that the healer appears hurt by this - she's hardly bosom buddies with the greenrider. As disinterested in continuing a coversation about B'kaiv as the other two, she merely agrees with, "'E certainly is."
Jaeyi tucks herself into a towel, leaving a trail of wet footprints carelessly across T'rev's floor, and hooks up her own robe with one index finger, saying over her shoulder, "Oh, that's hardly gossip, that was obvious. Gossip would be, mmn, if you said you were seeing that harelipped bluerider in Flint and told us how creative harelipped men can be." There's a pause in her steps, head cocked, and the Baker commits some serious thought to that before busily shaking her head and continuing on her way. That's not to say she's not listening for a response to the 'who be ye' question, but she did mean what she said about her toes. "This one for you, Isandre," she adds decisively, taking up a bottle of flamboyant red.
"You wanted to gossip, I didn't-" Blink. "Harel-? Ew, Jaeyiiiii! Gross." She follows Jaeyi out into the other room, turning her head over her shoulder to answer Isandre, at least in part, "Because I wasn't before." She hops up onto the foot of that bed, arranges her robe for comfort, all set to watch the nail-painting from a safe distance. Jaeyi's yawning response is enough to give her the impetus to answer, both shoulders roll in a shrug like it's no big deal. Forget the fact that she's been trying to avoid it for the past while. Studying her toes (thanks Jaeyi), "M'try."
"Red?" Isandre studies the bottle dubiously for a moment, then her own bare toes, then shrugs. "Ye'd know best, and I'll be guided by you in this." Offering the baker a sunny smile, she adjusts the belt on the robe until it falls 'just so', satisfying that tiny naggling in the back of her head. "Harelipped bluerider?" Tilting her head, the woman's eyes narrow thoughtfully, before she gives a gesture of negation. One more off her list of stranding suspects. Then Vanissa answers the question, and her eyes go blank for a moment - surprise, likely, before her lips curve in a bright smile greenrider-wards. "Welladay, that's a surprise. But a nice one. Why are ye not happier, Nissa? He seems a fine young man t' me." Clamping her lips shut on incipient babble, she turns back to Jaeyi, holding out a hand for the bottle of polish.
"Why's it gross? For all you know, he might be quite a talented man." The harelip, that is. Plucking a bottle of pink for herself, Jaeyi beckons the Healer toward the sofa, since it's a bit of a better place for painting toes than the middle of the floor, adding, "Yes, red. It dries glossy and pretty. Grab one of those plates, will you? The canolis're better before the cream makes the shells soggy, so we really better get started on-- really?" M'try, that is. Her brows knit for a second, but she resumes her business pretty promptly. "We ought to do yours too, then, Nissa," she concludes brightly.
Isandre and Jaeyi may be matter-of-fact about harelips, but Nissa's trying not to throw up, thankyouverymuch. She doesn't even go there with Jaeyi. Okay, faint surprise, she can deal with this. She flicks the healer a look of faint disbelief. "Ain't unhappy." If that helps. "Just..." She's squirming just a wee bit, "never thought of 'im like that. He's a friend. And... tol ya I never done the romance-like..." she waves a hand vaguely finishes sheepishly, "relationshippy... thing." Nevermind that she's more comfortable with dirt under her nails, lets paint Nissa's nails, yes! She hops off the bed and pads over to ask briskly, "So what color for me Jaeyi?"
Picking up one of the indicated plates, Isandre bustles in her normal brisk manner over to the sofa, setting the canolis carefully in place before plopping down on the couch, adjusting the fall of the robe so that everything that should be covered, is. "I'm glad t' hear ye ain't unhappy," the healer replies, still with that bright smile firmly in place. "T'would mean th' world of me for two of my friends t' be happy." Watching both of the other women with interest, she offers, helpfully, "I've always heard 'tis best just t' let it happen as it goes? Not that I'd know," she adds, with a half-shrug, "but that's what I've heard, yes? At least ye've experience with men, that should help ye." Yes. Advice from the little healer-prude, that's the ticket.
Jaeyi looks around at the words 'relationshippy thing,' taking in the lay of the weyr before she tells Vanissa cheerfully, "It's not so bad, once you get used to it. Though comparing your brother and that brownrider is a bit like comparing apples and-- well, some weird fruit like kiwis or something. And you can take the pink if you'll bring that plummy colored one on the end for me." She catches a pillow off the sofa to tuck under her knees, shaking the red bottle and beckoning for Isandre's toes to park on her thighs-- this after she puts on her own robe instead of just the towel, since that's just asking for a wardrobe malfunction. "I know a lovely Smith," she goes on chattily, attention on the polish, "who's quite enamored of full-figured women, if you ever are looking for something not so detailed? He's got a wife, but she doesn't mind so long as it's only while he's up at the Weyr."
Vanissa shoots Isandre a look askance for that last comment, which distracts her from that plastic smile she's never before seen the other girl wear. "See now, that's what everyone's gonna assume. It's a whole different thing to hey-smooch-see ya at a gather and never see the fella again. M'not all smooth where it comes to this, y'know?" The healer of all people ought to understand her on this. Jaeyi is awarded a blank look, nose crinkling up in confusion. "Huh-whut? Who said anything about T'rev?" You've lost her Jaeyi. Maybe she has to spell it out. "I've never d-a-t-e-d, before?" Okay she's putting a label on 'can I see you again', but really, Jaeyi's talking fruit and her brother. As for the Smith, "I'll pass." T'rev would think her ill. Or something. "M'try's not weird," she tacks on as she's on her way over to grab that plum polish, returning to plop down on the floor beside the other two. Idly shaking the bottle, she watches the painting. M'try totally should be here for this people painting.
Assuming the smith comment was made to her - being as Isandre fits the definition of full-figured to a tee, the healer wrinkles her nose, that bright smile slipping a notch or two. "Thankee, Jaeyi," she offers, authentically enough, "but I'm no poacher, an' I'd not feel comfortable in such a situation. Th' thought is, however, appreciated." If not necessarily directed at her. Dantily, Isandre places a foot on Jaeyi's thigh, long toes curling slightly to present the best angle she can for the baker's work. "He has his share of weirdness," notes the healer softly, "but we all do, ye know. Some people think I'm weird for likin' things tidy." Among the many, many quirks of her personality. "Stop worryin' over it, Vanissa. Ye'll only give yerself a bleedin' stomach, and let me tell ye, the medicines t' treat that are seven kinds of foul. Why not just - go with the flow. Is that the right phrase?"
"Right," Jaeyi points out to the d-word, crinkling her nose as a big glob of paint comes off the brush unprettily. She shakes the jar some more. "Neither had I, not really. I had a... something? At Boll, but it didn't really count, I don't think. And T'rev and I were--" She glances at Vanissa, /his sister/, for a second before adding, "Playing together a long time before I'd've called it a relationship. But it's not so bad, now that I'm in the thick of the thing. It might grow on you, if you let it. And he is weird." Set to painting Isandre's toes, she clarifies, "It's not poaching at all. The Smith's quite pleasant, extremely generous, you might like him if you'd just let me introduce you. But. Suit yourself." Hum-de-dum, toes-turning-red.
Smith for Isandre - check. Nissa's flustered enough to assume her reputation is once again being thrown in her face. "I called it 'seein' someone' first, if y'll recall." She tells Jaeyi with a touch of annoyance. "An described it as relationship-/y/. As in see-him-more-than-once." Why she needs to continue clarifying this is beyond her. The healer is flicked a cool glance for her gentle rebuke, "Thanks, I'll keep it in mind." Ducking her head she takes that towel off, spreads it across her lap, shaking her hair out to dry tangled for now. She unscrews the pink polish and carefully wipes most of the paint off the brush before her attempt as coating her nails. Toes she'll leave for later. From under her hair she mutters, "He didn't say... oh nevermind." Her lips close firmly. Back-jungle Nerat waystation lack of sophistication here, not making assumptions, just unsure of proper definitions. And see this? Is why she didn't want to talk about it.
Pity is taken on Vanissa, at least by the healer, for Isandre says nothing more regarding M'try, relationships with him - or anything of the sort. Humming under her breath - rather off-key, at that - she leans forward a touch, watching as her toe nails go from pale to red with some fascination. "I'm a prude," she points out helpfully to Jaeyi. "Grade-A, number one choice spinster material, too. I'm th' kind of girl the mothers back home in Nerat warn their daughters they'll turn into if they don't keep themselves presentable and learn t' be good little wives. I never was, ye know. A good little wife. Or I wouldna been, had I not made it moot by runnin' off to th' hall. Too plump, too smart, too curious - an' like as not a woods colt as well." She grins, suddenly - an expression a sight more realistic than her earlier smile. "Screw 'em. I'm happy healin'. And lookin'," she adds, thoughtfully. "Lots o' prime lookin' material in this Weyr."
"If you don't mind my asking," and even if she does, Jaeyi'll ask anyway, "Why? I mean, why a prude? If you like looking, why not turn looking into touching into..." She trails off, letting the dots connect themselves on that one. "Though, if it's just looking, you should see the picture her whatever--" With her head tipped toward Vanissa. "--did of my whatever." Her eyes widen impressively while she leans back somewhat from the Healer's toes, contemplating her work. "Do you want me to do yours, Nissa?" she offers, perhaps an olive branch for teasing the greenrider about her Weirdo Whatever.
And Nissa appreciates this more than she can say right now, Isandre! Head down as she makes that awkward attempt to do her own nails - mind she's never done it before and they're pink but not really all that pretty with the stuff bleeding over her nail beds like that - she listens with a sort of fascination to the healer talk. Oddly, she doesn't chime in on the prude question, but she does poke her head up to ask, "What's a woods colt?" Isandre has the most interesting lexicon! There's moment when she just sort of gapes at the baker's clever head-tipping and whatevers, before, "He's not my-" Go with the flow, the Healer said. Cheerfully, "Um sure, Jaeyi if you don't mind." It's said easily enough. As for artwork, she says not a word, nope. Learned her lesson the other day.
Silence is the only response from Isandre for a long moment. Then: "Ye know my dam is a midwife, yes? Early training is hard t' forget." She doesn't expand on that. Eyes flicker, ever so briefly to Vanissa, then it's back to staring at her toes. "Any road. Seen plenty o' eye-candy here t' gawk at, but ain't met a o- one that turned me on that way." Hateful stutter. Another brief silence, then, "Bastard, Vanissa." Beat. "Do men really like red toes? I mean, I got cute feet, maybe with red toes, they won't see th' rest o' me." Self-esteem, thy name is most certainly not Isandre - by any stretch of imagination. Nor does she, like Nissa, touch on the artwork - mostly because it's been made clear that it's not for the likes of her to see whatever it is he draws.
Jaeyi waves her hand to dismiss the beginnings of Vanissa's protest, saying, "I know, I know, but we need to call him something, hmn?" She blows briefly on Isandre's toes to agree, "You /do/ have cute feet. And now they're cute feet with kinda sexy toes, so you can just have to work on casual excuses to take off your shoes and voila. People will swoon." She brings her wrist up to her forehead, feigning the swoon herself, leaning into it to the side so she lands on one elbow, making it easier for her to pat the rug in front of her as a place for Vanissa's feet. "You're afraid of having babies, then?"
Vanissa fails to grasp if Isandre is reluctant to talk about it or she feels a stigma to the label. She merely ohs silently, shrugs and says like it's really no big deal, "Dunno who my da is either." Shoulders lift and fall, no big, really. She leaves the topic to eye Isandre's toes critically, head to one side, agreeing with Jaeyi, "You do have nice toes." She could go on to reassure the healer about her looks, but instead she says sincerely, "You're an interesting person, Isandre. Ya ain't all fluff. Someone'll appreciate ya." Jaeyi's pantomime draws a grin, "Little swooning tossed in couldn't hurt either." And then she's scooting over and offering her toes for the baker's attention. "Might need to redo this hand too." Since she's only done the one and yep. Badly.
Withdrawing her toes from Jaeyi's thigh, wiggling them slightly - carefully enough not to smear the paint, mind, Isandre backs away, allowing Vanissa to take her place. "Some," she acknowledges to the baker. "More, I'm afraid of either being worn out from turn after turn of pushing 'em out, or bein' stuck with some fatherless child an' gettin' the same harsh looks as me dam." Vanissa's admission brings not a flicker from her, other than to say, "There's backwoods, and then there's backwoods." She falls silent, planting her feet flat on the floor and bending her knees, wrapping her arms around them. "I wear sandals," she offers to Jaeyi. "I don't like having me feet enclosed - feels awkward. That good 'nough?" To Nissa: "Perhaps." Flat - though she immediately brings up that previous sunny smile. "I'm sure you're right," she adds quickly, brightly.
Jaeyi will go on to paint Vanissa's toes, fix her fingers and do the other hand, spend a while trying to convince Isandre to let her ribbon her hair up into twirls to make ringlets-- pretty pretty please. There's the perfume she's hoping the Healer can duplicate brought out, a sweet vanilla smell, and the offer to let Vanissa borrow as much as she wants. Eventually, T'rev's gonna come home (can't kick the man out indefinitely), probably make some jokes about the girls in his weyr, and the Baker will capitulate to send them off with some snacks for the road. Perhaps not quite as much girlishness and gossip as she might've hoped for, personally, but it sure beats trying to paint her firelizard's fingernails? Or T'rev's?
Dunno. Good money could be made from painting T'rev's nails.
"Ya wouldn't get harsh looks here!" Nissa assures Isandre stoutly. She takes the healer's words for backwoods accepting their lack of common ground with a little sigh. Flashes her a look for that flat-toned-turned bright smile and blinks. Okay then. She's done something for something about the healer has changed, but she's not about to pursue it now. Maybe not ever. She allows Jaeyi to fix her nail-job, do her toes, hair make up, submitting to the advice given, except opting to try that sandalwood, amber and jasmine scent of Isandre's, keeping up light chatter as best she can until they wind up. And when they're done she thanks both of them, gives T'rev a hug if he comes before they leave. She'll give Isandre a ride to the bowl floor, politely take her leave and with nowhere to go, and in no mood to really go anywhere, heads home to dress up in something fetching and just sit around feel pretty. And weird.