[Log] The Way We Are
Who: L'sen, M'wen, R'hin
When: Day 1, Month 4, Turn 8
Where: Eastern Bowl, High Reaches Weyr; Lakeshore, High Reaches Weyr
What: R'hin's mood is a downer, even for L'sen's baby-induced glow.
Eastern Bowl, High Reaches Weyr
Standing on the eastern side of the bowl, you realize why this is one of the most striking Weyrs on Pern. Arrayed around the north rim of the bowl are the Seven Spindles: high crownlike points formed of old volcano flows which were eroded to sharp spikes. The bowl itself is a rough ovoid shape, with a large lake taking up a good portion of the southeastern part. The bowl seems to slant down to the lake shore, and the soil becomes a little looser in that direction. From the east, the slight aroma of herdbeast and wherry hide rises from the feeding grounds. The northeast section of the bowl is full of activity: training of dragons both young and old goes on in a large clearing near the entrance to the weyrling barracks and dragon infirmary. Several small boulders dot the area to the north, forming a winding path to the ledges leading into the weyrleaders' quarters.
The early evening crystal clear as the sun sets over the western rim of the bowl. It is completely still, no winds blow and the spring air feels a bit nippy.
Contents:
M'wen
R'hin
Leiventh
Maxeoth
Nepenth
Obvious exits:
Weyrleader Ledges Western Bowl Floor Dragon Infirmary Weyrling Barracks Weyrling Training Room Feeding Grounds Lake Shore
"Wouldn't you like to know." M'wen counters. "It seems you manage to make enemies wherever you go bronze-rider," changing the subject, "I still find it amusing that the first thing said to you after the flight was a threat. Things didn't go as planned for you did they?"
"I would actually, hence why I asked. You don't look hung over, so I'm happy to just assume," R'hin goes on, one foot scuffing at the ground, casual to the extreme. A twitch of lips follows M'wen's observation, "So it seems. And... no, things didn't go quite as planned," a faint hint of laughter audible in his voice, "...but I survived largely unscathed, as you can see. And, contrary to your beliefs, I really didn't plan the whole thing. Though, frankly, it couldn't have turned out better if I had. Maybe I'll just claim the credit anyway." Eyes lift skywards, musingly.
"Assume all you will, doesn't make any difference to me." M'wen let's a small smile creep to the corners of his mouth, "Maybe it's just your natural contriving makes me suspect the worst of any situation. Not that your plan wasn't good anyways." sighing slightly from fatigue, a slight mumble escapes his lips sounding oddly like, "..too bad about the unscathed bit..".
Neiveth, landing in the bowl, takes marked interest in his rider's dismount today, as L'sen, never graceful, pretty much just slides clumsily off the blue's side to the ground. "Don't laugh," L'sen says, a little grumpily, as he turns around and glances around. It's unusual to see the cheerful bluerider in a bad mood, but he's definitely not on top of things this evening. Still, though, when he sees the two weyrlings talking nearby, he perks right up and heads quickly over to join them. "M'wen, R'hin!" His wave is quite possibly more enthusiastic than ever.
R'hin leans forward to catch the mumble, gasping and looking mock-insulted, a hand jumping to his chest. "Are you saying you wish ill of me? That's not very leader-like, -sir-," faint, mocking emphasis on that title. He does, however, let out a breath and a low, pleased chuckle. "Natural conniving," he echoes, precisely, "I like that. I'll have to borrow it." L'sen's arrival prompts a salute from the bronze weyrling, who takes a sideward step to allow the sunlight to fall on his fellow weyrling once more.
"Fits you well, doesn't it. I thought you'd appriciete it." M'wen chuckles. Seeing L'sen coming over, he sits up straighter, throwing a slight salute, "How are you doing today L'sen?" He nods in the bluerider's direction. Grinning a bit, any smugness gone from his face, he re-addresses R'hin, "Now don't be rude just because I wished physical harm on you, I -swear- it was nothing personal."
"Guess what, guess what!" L'sen gushes at once, ignoring--or ignorant of--anything amiss between the two. "I had a baby! No, wait. Harley had a baby! For me! We had a baby! Last night, or this morning, or... something like that. Like, really late, and I haven't been to sleep yet because I had drills but we have a baby! Isn't it great?" And he beams at them, glancing back and forth between R'hin and M'wen. Nevermind their own problems, he's here to spread the cheer. At least he has the courtesy to ask, "And--oh. What about you two?"
Once more, R'hin's studying M'wen as if he's done something interesting all of a sudden. "My rudeness is -nothing personal- either, so perhaps you'd best ignore it in the way you wish me to ignore -your- misstep." The words are said with a light enough tone, but perhaps it's a little -too- light, and the intent look perhaps bespeaks a different meaning. L'sen's all-too-cheerful demeanor is taken in stride with considerable grace by the bronzerider, given his words of mere moments ago, a slight shake of head, and a breezy, simplistic: "Congratulations."
M'wen is quite used to going from glowering at R'hin to being amazingly cheerful with someone else within a second. "Oh, that's Great L'sen! No wonder you look so tired...How's Harley doing?" His coments are cheerful, but they are easily masked by the outburst of cheerfulness, that is characteristic of L'sen. He says quietly across to R'hin, "We'll leave it at that, better not ruin the moment for L'sen here."
"Thanks," L'sen tells R'hin cheerfully, his grin not wavering even if he does peer curiously between the two of them. Blithely, as though that will lighten their moods, he continues, "We named him Leysen. And when he grows up, then he can impress, and I'll be Big L'sen and he'll be Little L'sen, you know? Isn't it great? Harley's good, real good. I think she's probably happy to have it over with, though. Are you two okay?" He's, perhaps, not totally ignorant of what's going on around him, even if the details do slide right over him. "You don't /sound/ okay. You sound all... not okay." He waves a hand vaguely between them.
A long, speculative look from R'hin, before he says with mock-cheefulness, "Sure. Yet another thing that'll never be addressed again." His hands splay as if releasing some trapped animal, before he tucks them back into his pocket. "Why, everything's fine L'sen," he says with deliberate - and obvious - false cheer. "Leysen?" that, at least, gets his interest, with a twitch of brows. "Interesting. In any case, I think I'll go for a bit of a walk around the lake. I'll see you two later." Without waiting for any sort of response, the bronze weyrling turns and heads off.
R'hin goes towards the lake shore.
R'hin has left.
M'wen shakes his head a bit and shrugs, "Sorry about that, leave it up to R'hin to ruin a moment like that..." Then with an honest grin, "Again, congratulations, I hope a long and happy life to both you and Leysen, but now, I have to go clean up my weyr...still haven't fully settled in yet." Waving a friendly goodbye he jumps up on Maxeoth and flys towards the eastern edge of the bowl.
M'wen hops up onto Maxeoth's back, using his foreleg as a step.
M'wen has left.
Maxeoth has left.
"I don't get him," L'sen tells M'wen, shrugging. And then, to the other departing weyrling, he waves. "See you later." Then, still in his over-good mood, he sets off lakeward, the same general direction as R'hin.
You stroll towards the lake shore.
Lake Shore, High Reaches Weyr
This shoreline marks the edge of the freshwater lake that fills the southeastern portion of the bowl. The gritty dirt of the bowl gives way to smooth sand.
Across the lake, the bowl wall rises high into the sky, its face dotted with weyr entrances. A few dragonlengths above the water, glimpses of a level cliff can be seen amidst boulders lining the edge. Just south of here, a smaller pond of water is divided from the main lake by a natural bridge of land. A path leads across the bridge and up to the diving cliffs, winding through a dotting of small boulders on its way.
The evening is clear, not a cloud to be seen, giving you a perfect view of the stars. The smaller Belior is shining brightly as a full moon while Timor shines brightly as a full moon. The air is calm, with no hint of breeze. The water's glasslike surface mirrors the cliff walls and sky above.
Contents:
R'hin
Obvious exits:
LAke Pond Diving Cliff Bowl
R'hin, true to his word, is currently sauntering around the lake, hands shoved deep into pockets, pace slow and easy. He's humming under his breath, kind of absentmindedly.
The slow pace is what allows L'sen to catch up with R'hin as he heads that way shortly after the bronzerider. "Hey, R'hin. Wait up," he calls, jogging the last few strides after the other man before slowing down to fall in step with him. "M'wen had to run off, too. Something about his weyr or something. I dunno. Anyway."
A slow exhale is executed, eyes lifting briefly skywards in a kind of 'why me' sort of expression, as R'hin hears L'sen's voice behind him. He doesn't slow his pace any, but he doesn't speed up either, which presumably could be tacit invitation. "Mmmhmm," he says, disbelievingly, of his fellow weyrling's excuse. A sidelong look is given the bluerider, "Shouldn't you be catching up on asleep? Or at least foisting your sleep-deprived mood off onto the mother? I'm sure she'd appreciate it far more."
L'sen pulls up short, blinking at R'hin. "Uh..." he fumbles, steps stopped; he has to take several quick ones to catch back up again. "Do you want me to? I mean, if you don't want me or something, I can...? I dunno. I mean, I was just--" Befuddled, he rubs the back of his neck, shaking his head once. "I think I'm past tired, you know? Like, there's tired, and then after a little while longer you're, like, not even tired any more, you know what I mean? And you get hyper and happy and everything gets funny and stuff," he says, grinning again. "Me and my brother used to do that all the time."
"No, I'm saying you -should-," R'hin says, with another sidelong, unreadable look. "If you're planning to be a full-time dad," he sounds particularly doubtful of this, "You're going to need to spend every spare minute with the kid, otherwise he'll have trouble remembering who you are. It probably won't get much better, either."
L'sen stops altogether this time, staring after R'hin. "I--I don't understand. He's not gonna remember me anyway, not yet, anyway. I mean, he's not even really a day old yet, right? I... I don't remember /my/ dad being there all the time, but I remember him. And I turned out all right, right?"
R'hin doesn't bother stopping, and keeps walking as if he expects L'sen to catch up, or get left behind. Instead, the words drift back, pointed, "If you'd the choice, wouldn't you have -wanted- him around all the time?"
"I--" L'sen begins, still standing in that same spot. "I--maybe. But I don't /need/ him all the time. I mean, he can't be. He has to work and do other stuff outside of us kids, right? Why are you always like this?" The question, unusually frustrated, is said tiredly, the bluerider apparently resigned to whatever answer he receives.
Instead of answering immediately, the ex-trader counters, "Why are you always like -you- are? You just -are-." R'hin's shoulders shift in a brief shrug, finally slowing in order to scoop up a suitable rock from the ground. After a moment's study of the lake, he sends it skipping across the surface, once, twice, thrice, before it sinks under the water.
When R'hin pauses, L'sen takes the opportunity to catch up again, wrinkling his nose. "I dunno. I just... like being happy, I guess. I mean, you don't really /like/ being all negative all the time, do you? Because nobody else seems to, and I don't like being all unhappy and miserable and stuff," he explains, with a few vague gestures of hand meant to emphasize his point.
Spreading his hands wide, R'hin intones with forced cheerfulness, "Thanks for the comforting words. You've really cheered me up. I've become a changed man!" His tone is obviously sarcastic enough that even the bluerider can pick up on it readily. A deep breath is taken, voice cool, "I've never asked you to be something you're not, L'sen, whether or not I agree with it. I'd ask that you do me the same courtesy."
L'sen frowns at R'hin, looking hurt: his kicked-puppy expression. "I--I just don't get it. I was just wondering--you don't have to get all huffy about it. Maybe I should--maybe Harley does need something, or... something," he finishes, lamely, lifting his shoulders in a distant sort of shrug.
"Of course you don't." R'hin can hear -that- tone in L'sen's voice, and deliberately doesn't look at the bluerider, instead scooping up another rock, hefting it briefly in his palm. "And I doubt you ever will. You and I come from different worlds, it's just something you have to live with." A sharp nod is his agreement, cool tone softening marginally, "She probably does. Pass on my congratulations to her, would you? I'm happy the birth went well."
L'sen's frown lingers, but he nods. "Oh, yeah. Sure, I'll tell her. You should come see her sometimes--I'll have to show him around and everything now, you know?" he says, offering a small smile. "I'll, uh. Well, I guess I'll see you later, R'hin."
"I will," R'hin promises, as he skims the stone across the water. "I owe her a dinner," he adds, with a brief smile. An easy nod is given by way of farewell, and he resumes slow walk around the lake.