[Log] Who Is Derek?
Who: E'sere, Tavaly
When: Day 20, Month 10, Turn 3, 7th Pass
Where: Living Cavern, Five Mines Hold
What: E'sere catches up with an old wingmate.
It is evening in the Hold. Late enough to leave the suppertime stragglers to their hushed conversations, yet early enough for the insomniacs to just be getting to their night-long alone time. The supper tables are still laid out, a little sloppy with the passing of the official dinner-time rush, but still serviceable. Rolls still warm, soup still good enough to take the chill out of the rain-soaked ground and air outside. The few people that remain in the hall are spread far apart and leaned over their own dinners and devices. Among them, at a small table and bench toward the solitary back of the hall, is the visiting greenrider. Bent over a journal, she absently chews on a spoon stuck out the side of her mouth. A half-finished bowl sits to her side as she steadily writes.
E'sere, over dinner, has a court almost fit to rival those he often had at the Reaches: though he's short wingriders to hang on his words, he's gained dragonstruck holders and a couple of island riders to dine and converse with him. However, as the meal winds down the group disbands, and by this time only a couple of people remain with the bronzerider, and he takes his leave of them before the group dwindles any further. He's seen one particular rider off to herself, and it's toward her that he heads by a roundabout, nonchalant route, before finally offering Tavaly a light, "Good evening," as he pauses by her table.
Of the greetings Tav is likely to offer, the polite and casual, "Evening." Is quite possibly one of the more personable. The greenrider takes her time in raising her head to look at the man, and the expression that greets him is one of practiced neutrality. "Lost your gathering, hmm?" She flicks her writing utensil toward the table that had, a short bit ago, housed E'sere and his dining companions.
"They've families and beds to return to," E'sere says, with a glance around at where he and his companions were earlier. Then, he looks back to Tavaly. "But I don't have to do so myself for now. How are you, Tavaly? I'm not interrupting you, am I?" he asks, glancing over her writing and her food, and then to the empty space near her.
"Not much to interrupt, to be honest." She says truthfully, setting the spoon in the bowl with a soundless motion, and setting the coal stick down in the crook of the journal. To anyone peeking, all the writing looks like is small shapes with no revealing qualities. "I am well." She says, leaning back until her shoulders touch the stone of the wall behind the bench. "And you?"
"Well. You wouldn't mind if I joined you for a bit, then?" E'sere tilts his head slightly, but he's already moving to seat himself, settling gracefully onto the bench alongside Tavaly. "I'm well, considering. Have you been enjoying your stay here at Five Mines, then, Tavaly? Any word on how much longer you'll be with us?" he questions the greenrider with mild, careful curiousity.
"Who am I to say no? This is your home, after all. To refuse you a seat would be terribly bad form." However fun it may be. And as he sits, she grabs her soup and sits sideways, right leg folded over the bench as she turns to face him. Yes, she's willing to talk. "Not sure, to be honest. Once we can get audience with Odern, we should be on our way. Seems like your Lord Holder's either a very busy man, or I got terribly ugly and he don' wanna look at me, or somethin'." And the other question. "Y'all have done well for yourselves. Considering." Then a pointed stare. "How do /you/ like it? After everything." Her voice has dropped down to a mercifully lower tone. Their conversation isn't really meant for anyone else, at this point.
"Not so much my home," admits E'sere, with a shake of his head. "I don't think, however I might live here, I can quite call Five Mines my home yet." His shoulders lift faintly, and he tilts Tavaly a crooked smile. "Lord Odern is--a Lord," he notes dryly, "and that is the best explanation of his behavior I can offer you. I am sorry he's so inconsiderate of messengers. It is--" he hesitates as Tavaly lowers her voice to question him, and his own quietens slightly in turn. "It is an improvement over the islands," he answers diplomatically, "in supplies, food, weather."
"You've got not need to apologize for him." Tav scoffs, shoveling a spoonful of soup into her maw and slurping it down thoughtfully, chewing the fish bits. "Gonna take you a while t'get used to the cold again, though, I 'magine. Brought jackets, by the way. Sure there's one that'll fit you." Another spoonful disappears and then the bowl is set down, Tav's left hand drumming on the table. Seems the long, leather sleeve she wears doesn't slow her more.. irritating habits. "Whataya think of J'lor?" She asks, then. Head tilting toward the man.
"I've my own riding jacket in my weyr," E'sere remarks, "but I'm sure some of the other would appreciate them; they've not had new jackets in a decade. Myself, I'm actually quite enjoying the change; I never did really feel at home in the heat and humidity of the islands. It was like living at Ista." At the latter question, he pauses, however, a small frown settling on his features as he leans back slightly and regards Tavaly. "He's a very interesting man, with many ideas. The practicality of some of those ideas can elude me on occasion, but I do enjoy speaking with him whenever I've the opportunity."
"I think there'd be more humidity on the island. Ista is nasty and dry. Like someone took a stone and scraped it to make the sands in the Bowl and then lit them all on fire to suck all the good air out of the place." Tav comments, nose wrinkling at the thought of the place. Ugh. Ista. E'ser's description of J'lor has the greenrider's mouth twitching at the very corner. A smirk. A very tiny one. "Very interesting." She agrees. "Aside from ideas, the man seems to have a very genuine concern with those that choose to follow him. Refreshing to see that kind of devotion." Her fingers stop drumming and instead choose to pluck the coal stick from the journal and twirl it. Fidgety. "Will you tell me about someone, if I ask?"
"That's more like I'd describe Igen," admits E'sere. "So dry it just--well. I am very much partial to the Reaches area, if not least because it has always been home to me." He lifts his shoulders again, then offers Tavaly a small smile of his own in return. "J'lor has quite a lot of concern, that's true," he agrees. "And--ask me, and I will do my best to answer."
Igen. Another wrinkle of the nose. "Hot places. Can't imagine anyone would willingly live there. Egh." The left hand elbows the table, forearm coming up to provide a suitable leaning point for the woman's head. "He's personable, too. Been nothing but kind to Vanya and I while we've been here. Whether or not that's him on his best behavior, it is certainly appreciated by both of us." The last is considered, and it's some moments containing lower-lip chewing and staring off at nothing before Tavaly asks, "Who is Derek?" His mustache is bothersome.
"J'lor is the same whoever he is with," remarks E'sere, with a broadening smile. "That is one thing that you can always count on. But Derek--" he pauses, brows furrowing. "You saw him, when you arrived. The dark-haired man with the moustache. He leads us now, in lieu of J'lor. He is... a guard, foremost. A stern leader, but not a bad one, nor an unfair one. He is also Aivey's father--I am sure you remember her, from the Weyr? But don't let that fact prejudice you against him; one cannot choose his children any more than one can his parents."
"Ah, yes. Can't forget her. We had a lovely chat over some steak. Only the steak wasn't cooked, and it was trying to trample me." Tav says in retrospect, lifting the bowl and draining the remaining liquid. With a flex of the leg, the greenrider pops her left ankle, as if recalling certain events awakened old aches. Alas. "I have learned not to judge folk 'til I meet them face to face. Get to know them. Aside from his mustache bein' one of the scariest things I've ever seen in my short life, I don't have any other opinion of him, yet." Another glance at nothing. "J'lor introduced him. He didn't speak, but the man's kind of got a face you can't really ignore." On the subject of choosing children, Tav smirks. "I reckon that's one of the great and constant truths." Fingernails dig into straight brown hair pulled from the side of her head. "You say he was a guard? Where was he stationed, if y'know?"
Tavaly's description of the incident with Aivey brings a smile to E'sere's mouth, one he hides behind a hand lest he be presumed to be laughing at her. After a moment, he notes, "Derek says little unless he has something important to say. I will admit, I don't always know what to make of him myself in our encounters. He is from High Reaches Hold, as I recall."
There is a smirk again. "You can laugh, if you want to. The whole ordeal /was/ funny. In retrospect." On that subject she says no more. Further description of the man known as Derek, and his where-froms have her tapping a fingertip to her lips. "Does he ever talk about the Hold? The 'Reaches Hold, that is." And even more curious, asked quietly. "What was she /doing/, anyway?"
"Only because you weathered it so well, over all," E'sere says with a shake of his head and a smile that grows wry. "And no, I can't say I recall hearing him speak of it, though I'm hardly within his inner circle. There are others closer to him than I am, I believe, but they are likely as taciturn as he is." Pause. He queries then, "She?"
"Aivey." 'She'. Tav's chin is in her hand, the finger still tapping against her lower lip. "What would drive someone.." There is a distant mask upon her face. Perhaps she isn't truly asking this of E'sere, after all. "Do you know her?" This, however, is direct, and glacial blues skate up to his face again, one dark brow raised in question.
E'sere's smile shrinks as Tavaly questions him, and finally it becomes a frown. "I'm familiar with her; I'm familiar with everyone--those from the islands, at the very least. As I understand it, she wanted to avenge her father Derek, or finish what he began, or--I don't know. That is a question you would have to ask her, I expect. I don't think Derek was very impressed with her or what she did, for what that's worth," he admits.
What Derek began? Through E'sere's explanation, Tav's features remain passive. Remain curious, at least. Her eyes do leave his face for a moment, considering the way the grain is moving upon the bench they share. "She could've at least cooked the damn herdbeast." Comes a gentle, grumbled joke from the greenrider as she straightens her posture, fingers pinching the leather about her left arm. "What would Derek have started that he would send his daughter to finish?" She squints at her hand, lips screwing to the side.
"You should tell her that, for next time," E'sere teases lightly, shaking his head. "As for sending her--he didn't, as I understand it. I don't think they had even met prior to her arrival on the islands. Aivey took that task on her own initiative, based on whatever perceptions she had of her father."
"Well, hopefully next time I'll have a plate to catch with." Tav states, brows doing a wobbly dance on her forehead. As she listens, a new sort of squint captures her eyes, and a small, forlorn frown appears. "You know, even after all that was done.." Not 'what she did'. "I almost feel a little sorry for her. Wanting to impress ones parents is a time honored tradition. That she failed almost seems.. Like it was all pointless. Can't imagine." Shaking her head, the greenrider takes a deep breath and begins anew. "Well. Things certainly do change now and again."
"One can sympathize," E'sere notes with a sad smile, studying Tavaly a moment longer, then glancing idly around the room. "I spoke with Vanya briefly, a few days ago, but we didn't have much opportunity to discuss recent happenings. How is the Weyr now, Tavaly?"
"Stable, praise Faranth's merry golden arse." Tav says, hands even finding space above her head. Raised. "We finally managed to scare J'cor back to Igen by getting a new pair of leaders, and things are growing better by the day. Still cold as fuck, but that's what gives the 'Reaches their charm, eh?" She smiles, now. Full. Cheek-puffing, even. "Things are just.. good. More smiles. Folks're doin' arright. It's.. good." She's nodding slowly, lips even pursing. "Hopefully they only get better, from here. On both sides. Here and there." She chews the inside of her cheek. Thinking. "Small steps."
E'sere nods slowly as Tavaly explains, his expression thoughtful. "I didn't expect to see the Weyrleader Igen stay once someone else was able to step forward, what with the Weyrwoman Yevide and of course Karth's unfortunate injuries," he remarks. "But--small steps, yes. That is all any of us can do, I suppose. J'lor speaks of them often." A small smile curves his mouth again, bemused at thought of the bluerider. "I will hope that the Weyr continues to prosper, then. The Weyrwoman Roa and the Weyrleader R'vain--they lead you well?"
There is a slow nod of the head and Tav's smile becomes smaller. More focused. Genuine. "You know, they really do. Shards, they even smile while they're leadin'." Tav says with a grin, then lifts her chin to look toward the exit. "Ah, the demands of the stomach. If you'll excuse me, I've got to take Immath out of the hold and find her some dinner, too. She's been exceptionally lenient with me, tonight, though even dragons have limits." She stands, the journal folded with the writing implement to keep her page, and slipped into a satchel she currently swings over her shoulder. "It's been good speaking to you." She says to the man with a smile, even offering a hand for the shaking.
"Imagine that," notes E'sere, wistfully. "But--oh. Yes. It's good to see you again, too, Tavaly. Give Immath my regards, of course," he tells her, as he offers his own hand after he rises. "I should likely be getting home to Morelenth myself; he's not often out and about since we left the islands--he is very notable, you understand--and so he gets rather restless if he's alone too long."