[Log] Obnoxiously Happy
Who: Galli, Zhadaere
When: Day 21, Month 10, Turn 2669
Where: Nomi's Bar, Igen Weyr
What: Zhadaere has a talent for flustering Galli.
Nomi's *Igen Weyr*
Dim lighting, the scent of fried food made when it's ordered, the dull roar of conversations and poker games. No doubt about it.. this is a bar. The front door is positioned on a small porch-like platform; three steps to make it in or out. Probably not drunk friendly but it gives the whole place a sort of 'lair' feel.
Plank flooring is stained a dark cherry, the same as the wood trim and ceiling beams. The walls are a pale off white where they can be seen. But for the most part they are covered by various odd art peices made of metal or drift wood, or the random antique tool. Round tables for four-somes to six-somes are spread about haphazardly, but the larger 10 to 12 seat tables are against the wall opposite the bar. Here, only plain, easily replaceable wooden chairs rest.
Ahh, the bar; an exquisite piece of skybroom polished and stained to a flawless blood red finish, accented with silver rings pounded into the surface. The outer side is lined with matching red and silver stools while the back is set with a colored glass full wall shelf unit with a mirror back to display all the various liquors and ales. The more common meads are on tap under the bar and away from hands that shouldn't touch.
The whole place is lit with a series of soft orange bulbs set into silver chandeliers. Nothing terribly fancy, they all seem to be stylized to be rather pointy and weapon-esque. On the occation of a live performer, there is a stage inset into the center of the back wall with polished black flooring and red curtains.
Contents:
Galli
Songkeg
Obvious exits:
Living Caverns
Galli
Galli's short, curly blonde hair tops off a slightly round face, her hairline high across her tall forehead. Her thin eyebrows, matching her hair, perch over a pair of alert, brown eyes, split by a narrow and pointy nose which sits above thin, red lips and a firm chin that slightly juts forward. Igen's sun has darkened her skin to an olive tone, leaving only hints of freckles that might once have dotted her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.
She stands about 5'6", her shoulders square and her back most often straight, her posture sometimes appearing rigid. Her frame is almost boyish, a modest chest rarely putting curves into the loose tunics she chooses, sides curving in slightly at her thin waist before spreading to small hips. From there, it's almost a straight shot down to her heels, legs providing little more shape to fill out the loose, straight-cut pants she constantly wears.
"Hey there-" That's Galli scooting up to the table where Zhae is sitting alone, a large plate full of fresh-baked cookies coming straight out of the kitchen, still letting off a little bit of steam and quite a lot of aroma, the kind that a person with a sweet tooth would end up begging for, "I made use of my.. /connections/," she says with a mock-secretive tone, "to get a plate of these for you-" There's a sheepish grin, "Well, for us, 'cause I like 'em too.." she goes on, setting the plate down, "You mind?" she asks as she settles in, uninvited.
Zhadaere doesn't look particularly comfortable to be here, a mostly untouched drink in front of her. Most of the casual patrons seem to have avoided her for whatever reason, and while she doesn't look /un/happy about that, her expression when Galli greets her is certainly not the usual glare meant to drive someone away. "Oh, no. Go ahead," she says, gesturing to a seat. "Connections? I can't get the cooks to make cookies when I /order/ them to." Which probably explains why they're loathe to work for her. "What sort are they?" She's leaning forward already to eye the plate.
"There's all kinds. There's even bubbly cookies.. my favorite." They're actually more like small tarts, but the tart sitting across from Zhae doesn't really care to see a difference there. "And those, they're kind of spicy, I like them too." She goes on, describing the few other kinds that remain on the plate before peeking up at Zhae with an all too gleeful look on her face, "I have my ways." she jokes, winking, before nudging the plate in Zhae's direction, "Come on, try 'em."
Zhadaere eyes the cookies dubiously and finally lifts her shoulders slightly, reaching for one of those 'bubbly cookies.' "I don't think I've tried these," she notes. "They better be good." It's an idle sort of threat, though, for her brows arch in surprise when she takes the first bite, and she quirks a small smirk. "Your ways? And what are those? Perhaps I should try them sometime," she drawls.
Galli wrinkles her nose, quickly picking a cookie from the plate as soon as Zhae's taken her first bite, "My ways?" she asks with a mouthful of cookie, having to cover her mouth to prevent bits from flying away, "Oh-" she ducks her head a bit, blushing, "Sometimes you gotta flirt with those kitchen folks.." she admits, looking up at Zhae guiltily, "Doubt you'd approve of that.." she lets out, glancing away in whatever direction.
"Mm," murmurs Zhadaere around another bite of cookie. After swallowing: "No, probably not," she agrees, nodding once. She breaks off another section of cookie, popping it into her mouth and chewing thoughtfully. She's more refined than her companion--no spraying cookie here, nosirree. "These are... they're good," she admits after a moment. "I, ah... I like them. Thank you."
Galli's face lights up, bright, turning back to look at straight at Zhae, "Great! You're welcome!" she beams, finishing her cookie, "Oh, hey, how's your bed now?" she wonders, "Didn't really get to try it out when we fixed it. I hope it's better now. You should have your own office you know.. You'll have that when you're Headwoman." She's terribly chatty and bubbly right now, isn't she?
"It's fine," Zhadaere says reassuringly, nodding. "Much better. I've threatened those brats not to run around any more, bothering my stuff. I--" She breaks off at the woman's latter words, brows arching. "Is the current one planning on retiring sometime soon, then?" Zhadaere asks, with interest. "I think I'd like that very much. My own room, an office--the dormitories are miserable."
Galli's shoulders lift a bit as she frowns, thinking, "Not that I know of, honestly, she /might/ be but.. I haven't heard anything about it, but eventually she will, no?" She spies on the cookies, picking a new one out, inspecting it, not taking a bite yet, "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that she was going to, I really don't know. But it'd be neat. Then I could be your handyman and you'd have a perfect bed." she gloats, lifting the cookie up a little as if to say 'cheers'.
Zhadaere smirks, nodding. "Ah, well. Better she holds on to it for a little while, hmm? Until I'm better established. I don't think most people would be eager to see a Reachian as Igen's headwoman," she remarks--as though that were the only reason they had to dislike her. She shrugs it off quickly, though, agreeing, "Indeed. I think I could almost live without a good bed if I just had some privacy. Those cubicles do nothing for me."
"Privacy, eh?" The weyrbred woman doesn't look like she really cares for that, "I don't think I even know what that'd be. I'd probably call it lonelyness." Galli muses between bites (being more careful not to spray more crumbs), "If you wanna be alone or with someone, you know, there's plenty of old rooms places and there's a few holes here and there where you're /almost/ all alone.." The latter's said in a bit of a whisper as she leans forward, "I'm surprised no one's offered to show you /those/ yet."
"I had my own room, back home," Zhadaere notes bluntly. "And I didn't need to go skulking about for a place to get away from people." She shrugs and, finished with her first cookie, takes another. "Those sorts of places. How... Mm." She doesn't have a word to explain her feelings on that subject, though a grimace goes a long way to filling that lack. "It doesn't seem very... suitable," she decides, wrinkling her nose slightly--it's not quite the description she's looking for, still.
"Oh.." There's plenty of disappointment on Galli's face to go 'round, "'kay. Well.. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you." she still offers with another one of those broad smiles, eyes dipping down into the cookies, picking one out, pointing a finger to it, "Did you try that kind yet?" It's one of the more spicy, fragrant ones. "My favorite."
Zhadaere eyes Galli a moment, then glances at the suggested cookies. Though there's still one in her hand, she takes another, nibbling at its edges. Then, with half-eaten cookie in each hand, she glances back to Galli. "Thanks, I suppose. I'll keep asking the Headwoman about it--she'll give in eventually," she notes smugly.
Galli's smile is slow to find her lips, eventually getting there, "Good. Just lemme know when you need help and I'll be right there." She visibly tries to get rid of that incessant smile, doing her best not to appear too eager, choosing instead to stuff her mouth full with another cookie, taking more than enough time to chew.
"You are obnoxiously happy," Zhadaere decides, eyeing the grin. Still, a small smirk lessens the heat of her words. "I don't imagine I'd need much help with that, though--unless you've some connections to make use of?" She quirks a brow curiously.
"Sorry." Galli murmurs, smile definitely gone from her face, "I.. don't really. She's not very.. sensitive to that, and she's accused me of being a tramp before, so.." That's one avenue she's got no pull in, apparently. "She didn't even say it to myself, either, I heard 'cause one of the cooks told another cook he heard her say that and the other cook sharding /agreed/." she grunts, shrugging, looking at her nails, flustered by her own account of the event.
Zhadaere's brows knit slightly, and she regards Galli dubiously. "People should have the courage to say things to your face," she notes. "It's a cowardly thing, running around gossiping about everyone else." Which is, apparently, meant to be comforting, though her tone is disgusted.
Again, Galli shrugs, "Since when to people in Weyrs care about that anyway?" she answers, "And 'sides, I don't see how they can call someone a tramp when they're the one that slept with said 'tramp'." she goes on bitterly, lifting her arms, elbows resting on the table, chin propped on the heels of her palms, looking across at the assistant.
Zhadaere does not know what to do with confessions of this sort--any sort, really--and it shows in her wary expression. "Ah. I wouldn't know," she answers rather delicately, shrugging. She occupies a few moments with another bite of the spiced cookie, but eventually her mouth is empty again and she has to comment again. She decides, "I wouldn't know that, either. People have double standards. It's stupid. Particularly men. A girl who does that is a tramp; a man that does is a ladies' man." She shrugs.
"Guys suck anyway." Galli lets out after a moment. Another therapeutic cookie is munched on by the handyman. She seems a bit more fidgetty, ill at ease, finally standing up. Cupping her hand, she collects the crumbs from her side of the table . "I should probably go.." she tells Zhae, hardly above a whisper.
Zhadaere eyes Galli a moment, her brows knitting again. "Ah. Mm. Generally," she agrees after a moment, shrugging. "Early morning?" she then asks, curiously.
"Me? Mm.. No. You?" Galli asks, "I'm just.. I don't wanna talk about that stuff anymore and if I don't then I'll just-" she rambles, "sit there and stare at you with that goofy smile on my face and annoy you or maybe I'll even say something I shouldn't and then you wouldn't even want to have cookies with me." All that's quickly said, in a single breath, leaving her face brightly flushed.
Zhadaere frowns, looking rather surprised by Galli's words. "Ah. I... see," she answers slowly, in a voice that says she really doesn't. A pause. "What would you rather talk about?" she finally asks. "Work? Family? Hobbies?"
One of those smiles starts to creep back on Galli's face, but she quickly catches herself, straightening her lips. The crumbs? They get dumped on the floor, accidentally or not, and the handyman plops down in the chair next to Zhae, rather than where she was previously sitting, across from her. "I donno. Work.. I do that all day. Family? I don't really have any except the nannies here. Hobbies, I don't really have any crafts, my hobbies are more like.. talking to people and doing more work.."
"Well, there go my suggestions," Zhadaere responds dryly. "I am... about the same, though," she admits after a moment, shrugging. She fiddles with the remaining portion of her two cookies now, more than eating them. "Work, hobbies... My family is all still back home in the Reaches--mother, father, brother. He'll be seven in a month; I promised him a good present. I haven't even looked yet," she notes, surprisingly conversationally.
"Hey, I know it's goofy but if you go out in the desert you can find some /really, really/-" Galli bobs her head for effect, "/really/ nice sands out there. One of my nannies here, she'd get the glasscraft to make pretty bottles for her, then she'd fill them with layers of different colors of sands. It'd look /really/ pretty." The enthusiasm's slowly creeping back in, grin jumping back onto her lips, "We can probably ask a Rider to take us, there's a few of 'em that owe me."
"Sand," repeats Zhadaere in a disbelieving tone. Then, warming to the idea: "Sand. How very... Igen. He'll love it, I'm sure, and I won't have to pay a thing. Unless this rider of you charges? Hmm. I'd ask what he owes you for, but I'm probably better off not knowing."
Galli gives Zhae an embarassed smile, "Probably." she jokes, gently giving the assistant a nudge, shoulder leaning against hers briefly. "Riders.. they won't usually charge so long as you get along with 'em and make compliments about their dragons. Once you do both, you're pretty much guaranteed a free ride anywhere." And judging by the colors still on Galli's cheeks, 'anywhere' in no way excludes bedrooms.
Zhadaere manages a tight smile, noting that blush and guessing what it probably means. She, however, glosses over that by noting, "I see. I'll have to try that. I had to pay both the rider who took me to High Reaches Weyr and the one who brought me here. Obviously, I didn't approach the right one, or... just didn't know the right way to go about it," she admits reluctantly.
"I'll hook ya up." Galli promises, "I got plenty of 'friends' around here," the word being used as if it were an oath, "but they'll behave well enough. Especially if I'm around, they probably won't bug you much. Matter of fact.." she jokes, "I might be the one bugging you much." And then it hits her, "Shards I'm doing that right now aren't I." She snaps her mouth shut.
"Thank you," Zhadaere replies after a moment, working on cleaning up the crumbs from her section of table. She pauses, however, at Galli's latter words, straightening stiffly and giving the woman a rather ill-at-ease look, a rarity for the composed woman. "Ah. You... are," she repeats slowly. "This--bugging... I take it that's not in the sense of plain old pestering, then?" Frown.
Were there headlights and deer on Pern, Galli would look very much like the latter in front of the former. "Oh, Faranth, no, I meant, I don't know, am I really? I'm sorry!" she blabbers, "Shards I'm a dimglow, I just, here we-" she pauses, takes a steadying breath, "No because see, in the Weyr there-, well, I meant not everyone but some people you know they don't really.." she trails off, crestfallen, the pause finally giving her time to calm down. "I.. I probably should.." she starts to get up, "I should just go.. right?" There's even a hint of fear in her tone.
"I'd rather you finished a thought and explained first," Zhadaere points out with a lingering frown for Galli's fumbling.
"Right.." Galli sits back down, face burning a bright red, even through her tan, "Here, in Weyrs, girls and girls, or guys and guys, that's not unusual." She actually even shuffles her feet, probably not consciously, "So anyway I was gonna say that I kinda like you and.. see it's just really not a big deal here." She's managed to say all that calmly enough but now that she's not talking anymore, that blush gets even worse as she looks away, fidgeting uncomfortably. "Really, I should just go." she claims, again, getting back on her feet.
Two little pink spots touch Zhadaere's cheeks, though she restrains the urge to fidget like Galli. "Ah. Yes. So I've gathered," she notes, after clearing her throat. "It is late. I'm sure morning will come too soon, for the both of us. Perhaps we should both retire for the night."
Galli's head bobs quickly as she reaches for the cookie plate she'd brought in a while before. "Yeah.. umm.. I'm gonna take those to the kitchens, you don't have to worry 'bout 'em. I'll.. see you 'round." she tacks on, hurried. For a moment, it seems she might actually wait and give Zhae a chance to talk, but no cigar. "Good night, m'am." she says politely, before rushing off.
"Good night," echoes Zhadaere, frowning again as she watches Galli exit. She remains seated several seconds longer before she finishes cleaning up her table meticulously and slips out as well.