[Log] Three Makes a Pattern
Who: Adria, Cayri, I'neph, Soriane
When: Day 21, Montth 3, Turn 443
Where: Library, Fort Weyr
What: I'neph suffers the usual torment at the hands of women.
Library
Doubling as records room and study, this inner cavern houses copies of all the records at Fort Weyr, cataloged and archived painstakingly over the turns. The catalog is kept in the series of bound volumes in a cupboard often locked, and none of the records here are allowed to leave the room unless checked out with the archivist on duty. Regardless of the time of day, there is *always* an archivist on duty here. From floor to ceiling, the walls are lined with shelves and the shelves are lined with bound volumes of hide, arranged in an archaic and confusing system that keeps archivists employed and most everyone else mystified. The fireplace here has a metal stove around it that allows for better regulation of temperature, keeping the room cool but not cold for the benefit of the hides.
There are five tables in the room with four chairs for each, amply lit by glowbaskets. At intervals between the tables are three single-person desks. The archivists share a large desk near the front of the room, facing in, where they can see everyone coming and going.
Players:
Soriane........Blue-gray eyes, black hair, Late teens. Fit.
I'neph.........6', athletic; olive skin, dark brown eyes & hair; early 20s.
Adria..........19, 5'8", lanky, dark hair, hazel eyes.
Exits:
Inner Caverns.................[O]
Adria arches a brow at that, head tilting as she regards Soriane. The greenrider is sitting at a table way int the back with a big ol' book in front of her; Soriane standing nearby. "Mm, yes," she says distractedly in response to the other girl's question. "But - I'm sorry, forgive me if I am prying - there's little else you can do here or in general? Archiving is a somewhat specialized job." And they like it that way, apparently.
"Well, in general, really." Soriane's face has the beginnings of a flustered blush coloring her cheeks, "I don't touch the records, not usually. Sometimes they'll have me copy something over, or put something away *right* where they tell me to, but other then that..." She lifts a hand to evidence her lack of use, "I'm learning, though. They're teaching me when they get the chance to."
Quickly, "I don't mean to say that's a bad thing - I was just wondering -" Adria cuts off, looking a touch embarrassed herself, then begins again. "If you are interested in such things, you might want to consider going to Harper. However, if you're just looking to practice writing and such, I do have some old writing charts and sand tablets. I mean, since the archivists are being so helpful." She flashes a quick smile. "I didn't mean to sound - well. I don't know."
"Where is... are you... Heeey." I'neph, peeking in the door, catches sight of the two women, and he quickly abandons whatever search he's apparently been on to duck inside that room. "Evening, you two," he offers a better greeting as he strolls over toward them. "What are you two doing in here?" He's quick to interrupt, glancing between Adria and Soriane and quirking his brows.
"I know how to write and do tallies, it's just, well-" Soriane releases a quick breath, "I like the archives, I just never got the chance to try my hand at it as a way of life. And please don't ask me why." The later addition is asked kindly, quite nearing upon imploring as she pulls away from the greenrider to resume her study of the shelves, "I'm working and I think she's reading, I'neph. What're you doing here?"
Adria offers I'neph an easy smile, nodding as Soriane speaks. "As she said, I am reading. And we were just becoming acquainted." Folding her arms over the book, she glances towards the other girl's back to add, "Let's leave it at this: If there's something that I might be helpful with, please let me know." A pause, then to the bronzerider, "You're well?" Soriane already asked the other question.
I'neph arches his brows at Soriane's former words, giving her a curious look. "That wasn't one of those myriad skills they taught you when you were a kid?" he asks, sounding surprised. "Tsk. At least you got the knitting down good. Anyway, I was looking for somebody, but then I found you, and I thought I'd stop in, say hi, that sort of thing. I'm good, good. You know how it goes. What are you reading?" The latter, directed to Adria, after he answers both their questions.
Too hasty in her turn, Soriane knocks her elbow against an upper shelf and, despite all intents not to, utters a quiet curse while clutching a hand over the injured area, "I'neph!" Chastising him for any number of things, Soriane lets her invocation settle with a glare while she moves around Adria's table, "You'll excuse me, please? I should... I should go now," But not without another look at I'neph that's anything but pleased.
"And Dioscuth?" Adria asks tactfully. She's good at that. Another thing she's good at is pretending that she doesn't notice anything's amiss - though her amber gaze is keenly trained on Soriane for a moment. "If you've work to do," she says, nodding to the girl. "But I enjoyed talking with you." To I'neph, without elaboration, "Hatching records."
"Oh, hey," I'neph tells Soriane quickly, brows knitting. "Don't run off on my account. Say, about the knitting--have you finished up that thing for me? 'Cause, uh, I'm really looking forward to getting to try it out, you know?" He offers her a hopeful smile, and for the moment doesn't worry about Adria.
Cayri comes in from the inner caverns.
Cayri has arrived.
Soriane is already bustling on outta there. She makes an indistinguishable reply that sounds suspiciously like a snort before she's gone from sight.
Soriane goes home.
Soriane has left.
Don't think Adria misses the extra bit of attention either - not that she's taking offense or anything. She's just curious. Her brows knit as she watches Soriane head on out, turning to note to I'neph dryly, "You have such a way with women." She's sitting at a table way in the back, with a big ol' book before her, arms folded over the cover.
I'neph frowns after Soriane, finally shaking his head and glancing back at Adria. "Huh? Oh, Dioscuth, right. He's fine. Doing good now that he picked himself back up after the other night," he remarks with an easy shrug as he tugs loose a chair to join the reading greenrider. "It's not my fault--she never gives me a chance," he tells her flatly.
Cayri comes in to return hides to their rightful places, a rather large stack of hides and some that are all long and rolled up like maps. Burdened thusly, she can't wave, but she does nod to the archivist cheerfully while she picks out a table to temporarily hold all this stuff. She's too occupied to notice Adria and I'neph immediately, surely she will in just a few minutes though.
Adria points out gently, "That -may- be a hint. But at the same time, she does seem a bit on edge. She'd already asked me not to ask. So to speak." Waving off all that to mull over later, she nods over at the bronzerider. "He really gave it a go," she says, with some little admiration. "Chiyath was concerned about him - I'm sure he'll do quite well soon."
I'neph snorts, tilting his chair back on two legs and glancing ceilingward at Adria's words. This reaction seems answer enough, for aloud he only says, "Oh, really? Yeah, it took him a couple of days to get back to normal, but. If there's one good thing about it, he was too tired to really even sulk around." A shrug as he lowers his chair back to the floor, though he still doesn't look at her. Instead, he glances around the room, noting Cayri but making no effort to hail her. Instead: "If there's one thing about Dioscuth, he doesn't do things half-heartedly. Though, maybe he'll figure out a little patience before next time, at least."
Cayri happily has something to shelve very near Adria's chair, and that gives her the perfect occasion to ask, "Talking about Soriane? On edge? I believe that. She's all worked up about not being domestic enough for J'tei, and she has some fool's idea that Impressing will bring them closer together." A shrug indicates how far beyond Cayri's comprehension that logic is. She carries on belatedly, "Hi, you two. Don't let me interrupt."
Adria shrugs, leaving it alone as I'neph tilts his chair back, eyeing the back legs briefly with some concern. "A couple of days - well. I'm sure that'll pass." She sounds like she hopes so, anyway. Following the bronzerider's gaze, she finds Cayri very near suddenly, and blinks. "Oh," she says, not sounding very enlightened. "She's awfully - young to worry about that so much. And you're not really interrupting."
"I heard that rumor," I'neph is quick to tell Cayri, giving her a glance when she speaks up. "Actually, J'tei told me himself. Stupid, isn't it? I mean, doesn't she see how it works? You two should straighten her out. I mean, really. You two know how hard it is--you don't even have..." He trails off, perhaps choosing to be tactful for once in his life. Instead, he offers the two female greenriders his most charming smile.
Cayri chatters, "I tried to tell her she wouldn't make things /better/ by getting herself Impressed, but she didn't want to take my word for that. After all, there's something wrong with me." Wrong enough that she grins while she tries to locate the resting place of one of the maps. "Young, sure sure. Try telling that to her though. What don't we have, I'neph?" She looks square at I'neph despite his charm.
"Impressing won't really solve anything," Adria says, rather bluntly for her. "If green or gold, you are most likely guaranteed to sleep with someone who is not your preferred option, if you have one. If blue or brown, the same possibility exists - just smaller. And there's nothing wrong with you." She tells Cayri that in a brisk way, as if she'll keep doing it until the other greenrider stops saying it. At the question, she too turns to I'neph, but at least looks pleasantly curious. "Do tell."
"Guys," answers I'neph after a moment. "Like her and J'tei. Says something, don't you think? I mean, none of you do, after all," he includes the other female riders this time. "I'm just saying, you know? Don't mean anything by it," he's also quick to downplay his words.
Cayri shrugs to Adria. "I told her that. So far, every girl who's Impressed has just had more troubles than before she was a rider. Can't explain that to people, suppose. Just have to let them find it out the hard way." Her smile brightens at Adria's insistence that there's nothing wrong with her, but it takes on a pursed quality when I'neph answers. "Only because the picking's are so slim. The best ones are taken." She sighs dreamily and puts away a map.
Adria offers I'neph an odd look, telling him, "If I simply wanted a relationship, I would have one." Again, she doesn't elaborate. "And honestly, I'neph - you are basing a theory on a sample of less than ten riders, most of which are in weyrlinghood." At Cayri's words, she flashes a grin - at the dreamy sigh, she just arches a brow, muttering, "Or posted halfway across the continent."
I'neph rolls his eyes, predictably enough, at Cayri's and Adria's answers. "Your taste is questionable," he decides with a nod. "I know, I know, s'not a good sampling. Two's not a pattern, and all that, especially when it comes to people, but still. Oh, nevermind. You don't understand, anyway," continues the bronzerider, brushing the issue off with a wave of his hand. "So, tell me. She got her sights set on any particular color?" he asks Cayri. "Or does she forget that part in all the dreamy stuff?"
When Adria says 'have one,' Cayri says, "Or two! Since the Weyrleader has a thing about making relationships out of flights, and M'vari's in love with you." With new eagerness, she asks, "Or three? Who's posted halfway across the continent?" With a wave of her fingers, she answers I'neph. "Probably gold, given who she is and all, and J'tei riding bronze. She's not really that /informed/ about riding, seems like. Don't think she and J'tei talk about it. Or anything."
Adria loses her usual cool and just -stares- at I'neph like any disbelieving teenager. "Have you -seen- Tristan?" she asks, then rolling her eyes. Fortunately for Soriane, Cayri's stream-of-conciousness rambling doesn't exist for her much beyond the discussion of her relationships or lack thereof. Flushing, she stands to busy herself with the ties on the covers of the records. There's a long moment where she's quiet, then; "Where did you get the idea that the Weyrleader has a thing about flights?" As per usual, let's not talk about M'vari!
"I don't think /J'tei's/ very informed on riding," notes I'neph condescendingly, as though he were the expert on the subject. "Gold, though--how predictably fitting. It'd be like some harper's story, you know? She's all hung up on having a best friend forever and getting to stay here with her one true love and not have to go home to Daddy." He sounds quite disgusted by the notion. "Oh, Faranth. Not him again," is his opinion on the Weyr's former harper. "What /is/ it with that guy? Every girl here was just throwing herself at him. It was sickening, that's what it was."
Cayri bites her tongue at I'neph's condescending remark, for all that it costs her an effort that pinkens the tips of her ears and presses her lips thin. She turns to the more immediate and less combustable matter of answering Adria. "Because he slept with Zaorine after that first flight, and they made a relationship out of it. Then he slept with Raine so he could make sure Ianoth flew her gold. Maybe two points of data aren't enough to establish a trend, but they hint at a pattern. Who's Tristan?"
"-I- didn't throw myself at him," Adria states archly. "For the record. And it's likely that he's good-looking and charming and talented. I just liked playing music with him, really." A touch wistful, she shakes it off, still a bit pink as she looks up. "Ah," she says to Cayri, both thoughtful -and- a little impressed. "And Tristan was our Harper who was - well, he'd been kicked out. He was given his knot back, but that means he goes where the Masterharper wants him. There was some talk of sending him back, but it didn't work out. Not yet, anyway."
"Three makes a pattern," I'neph helpfully suggests, looking to Adria and quirking his brows with interest. Cayri's reaction to his words passes without comment or even, likely, notice. Further talk of Tristan, like everything he doesn't want to acknowledge, is ignored.
Cayri asks, "Good-looking and charming and talented and he moved away?" She sags into the chair next to where she'd been storing hides for the interim, sighing heavily. "Pity pity pity. And what're we left with." A sad-eyed look lights upon I'neph. "You liked him a lot then? Is that why you don't like X'drian or M'vari?"
Adria just gives I'neph a look - a common occurence, it seems. "Don't you dare go around talking like that. I can't imagine it going over well. I am not involved with the Weyrleader. End of story." And to prove it, she'll lug her book back over to the shelves. "I liked him a lot, yes. And it's all a lot more complex than that - as for the Weyrleader -" Always with the title. "I don't think we're in a 'liking each other' situation."
I'neph's lips purse, but he doesn't answer Cayri. Instead, he stands, nudging his chair back toward the table. "Sure, sure. Wasn't planning on it," he tells Adria. "Since when have I ever gone around spreading that kind of--malicious slander?" Before they can answer, he turns to go.
Thoughtfully, Cayri says, "You're skipping around the topic of M'vari, did you know that?" She watches I'neph start to leave and tells Adria, "He's trying to get Soriane to sleep with him. She left, and were not talking about /him/ right now, so this conversation probably got boring for him. Poor boy."
"You haven't as far as I know, but you are somewhat unpredictable," Adria tries to tell I'neph - she's too distracted with shoving the book back in place to notice him heading out. Looking over Cayri's way, she notes, "I did notice some interest. And perhaps, like I keep telling you, things with M'vari are complex and I don't really want to explain."
"I do not," I'neph protests, turning around at Cayri's words. "I dunno where you got that idea. All I've ever tried to do is be nice and friendly to the poor girl, same as I've done you. Faranth knows, you both need it," he replies, sounding beleaguered.
"No one wants to /talk/ about things here. Why?" Cayri sounds drawn on the matter, frustrated by the repeated brick-wall subjects. "You told me so, I'neph. Sorry if it was supposed to be a secret. Sure, you've been nice and friendly to Soriane, but you told me you had ulterior motives. Remember?"
Adria falls quiet at I'neph's outburst, turning her back to the shelf where the book has gone. Finding the floor interesting - but still listening - she chances a look in his direction. Pausing for a long moment, she then tells Cayri lowly, "Some things hurt to talk about. Or they hurt other people if you let them get around."
"Well, maybe I've changed my mind," I'neph says superiorly. "I have better things to do than mess with her and her little boyfriend these days. Give me some credit here. And nobody wants to talk to you because you run your mouth all the time. Faranth, even /I'm/ not that bad. Now, if you'll excuse me, my dragon wants me." The usual escape excuse.
Cayri says, "They hurt just the same whether or not you talk about them. At least if everyone's just being frank about things, you can just get the hurting done with and make with getting over it." She sticks her tongue out at I'neph maturel, afterward insisting, "I don't run my mouth all the time. Go and play with your dragon." Dragon being a euphemism.
Adria's done arguing; she just offers I'neph a little half-salute, adding on laconically, "Regards to Dioscuth." Glancing over at Cayri, her expression seems to indicate she begs to differ. "I don't know about that. But it would be rather nice." A pause. "Though Harpers would be out of a job."
"Night," I'neph tells the two women as he turns back and saunters back into the hallway.
[DTU] To Dioscuth, Chiyath offers meandering regards of her own - the scent and colour of fresh green tea, the feeling of contentment that all is well with the bronze. It's a sharp contrast to spiky rider-issues.
"You're not a harper any more. Least you wouldn't be out of a job." Cayri grins with her logic. "People just seem to make things worse when they won't confront things head on." She nods after I'neph like he's a perfect example of her point. "Oh well."
"Night," Adria returns, before offering Cayri a small grin of her own. "This is true, at least. And - sometimes, I think there's a point where you confront things, and after that, things change or they don't. There's no sense in confronting it all the time when there's no changing the way of the world. So to speak."