[Log] Some Kind of Freak
Who: Tiriana, Virgil
When: Day 5, Month 6, Turn 16
Where: Stables, Telgar Weyr
What: Virgil, in her own unique way, gets on Tiriana's case about that Berit thing.
Beasthold, Telgar Weyr
The beast hold is warm and dry, filled with the wholesome smell of runners, hay and leather. Stalls constructed of wood and stone march down the sides of this wide cavern, and thick rushes cover the floor. The glow baskets are filled, and keep this place very bright indeed. Several nickers greet you as you look about.
The only exit from here leads you out to the pasture.
Contents:
Virgil
Klinger
Obvious exits:
Pasture
Early evening marks a point just before dinner; the air outside is crisp. Likely if she had some sort of chore that would keep her there, Virgil too would be in the living cavern instead of in here, in the stables. As it happens, she had duties with her old friends and the children which meant a busy day escorting groups to and from harper lessons and meals, performing puppet shows and things like that. Now, in the close warmth of the animal house, she stands in front of a particular stall and goes back and forth between patting the runner's nose and feeding it bits of hay. The soft sound of chewing and snorting is muffled and oddly pleasant.
It's not Tiriana's chore today--she's spent the day washing dishes in the kitchen--but she's still hanging around the stables herself, "drying out her hands" as she puts it. What it really means is she's been up in the hayloft helping get down a few last bales for the day, with only perfunctory grumbling about being pressed into the work. Eventually, she clumps back down the ladder, plucking at the hay stuck to her as she walks along, heading toward where Virgil is petting her runner without seeming to recognize the other girl.
That's okay, Virgil's been waiting. Since when does she ever spend time in the stables, anyway? She must have a reason. Either she asked around and found the older, taller candidate through word of mouth or she's here by chance with Tiriana. Whatever the case, she notes the other girl's advance out of the corner of her eye and, when she's close enough, she says, "Hi, Tiriana."
With a wince as she tugs at a piece of straw and pulls her hair more than the stalk, Tiriana falters at the sound of her name. She pauses and blinks, turning about and running her hand back through her hair to shake it out as she looks to Virgil. Blankly, "Hi." And a second later, recovering, Tiriana straightens and furrows her brows, giving the candidate a once-over. "Do you need something?" Her tone isn't quite as helpful as the words might imply.
"Yes and no," Virgil answers simply. After a few more pats she turns away from the runner and brushes her hands off on her skirt before putting them away in its pockets. There she stands, calm as ever, while she looks Tiriana over. "You have some hay," she says, after that pause, and gestures at herself, "right here." Apparently she was oblivious to those attempts at de-haying from moments before. And, "I heard about what happened."
"Yes and no," mimics Tiriana, snorting. She steps over, though, to lean on the stall door where Virgil just was; one of her hands sneaks back up to ruffle through her hair. "Lautry threw hay on me. Thinks he was being cute," she notes then, with a roll of her eyes as she leans her forearms on the top of the door. Then: "What happened?"
She has no thoughts on Lautry. What she does have thoughts on are whatever 'happening' happened, and she shares them when questioned, adjusting herself so she's still facing the other candidate no matter what. "With Berit," Virgil explains, her voice even. "That."
"Oh." And Tiriana smirks at that, mouth curving upward when she half-turns to look back at Virgil, leaning one side still against the stall. "That. That was great--you should have seen her," boasts the girl. "She couldn't get another word out, couldn't get away fast enough after I told her if she didn't shut her mouth I'd do it for her." Because of course what Virgil is after is a gloating, dramatic retelling of the incident.
Obviously. Or, judging by the way the blonde stares, unchanged, maybe not. Eventually she lifts her eyebrows and drops her chin to glance down at her own boots, big clunky things she's been wearing lately, probably just in case of, say, stables chores. Her sigh is audible. "You can't do stuff like that," she says in a sad, low tone.
Way to dampen a mood. Tiriana looks just a little taken aback, frowning at Virgil, her brows furrowing together. "Yes I can," she answers, turning back and folding her arms over her chest. "I did." As though that settles everything, but she adds anyway, "Why shouldn't I, anyway?"
She /did/. Which is sort of the problem. Virgil looks at her again, that calm still present but something else edging in there. "Because the world is bigger than you are. Because letting someone get to you like that just makes problems. Because you should pick your battles. There's, um, more." Her forehead creases; she looks away. "I made a list."
Uncomprehendingly, Tiriana repeats, "You made a list." And she snickers, though that trails off when she realizes just how serious Virgil is. Then she just scowls. "Yeah? You give that little brat Berit the same talk? About how she shouldn't start fights with me, pick /her/ battles. She's the one that can't wrap her head around the way we do things here."
"She isn't /from/ here," Virgil reminds Tiriana. Gently, but that edge. The other girl gets the benefit of her long, solemn gaze again. "I wasn't there or anything, I don't know who said what. I just know you scared her and for what? Why? What's in it for you aside from yet another somebody who's gonna avoid you, given the chance?"
"So?" counters Tiriana, stubborn as ever. She sets her jaw but her shrug is more haphazard. "I don't care if she avoids me. I don't want her near me, anyway. And trust me, she started it. You should have heard her going off about plying our wares in the bath and all that. Ridiculous." She sniffs, shakes her head. "You know T'rev already said the same thing to me, right? And it didn't take that time, either."
"This isn't about her, or about T'rev. This is about you and me and this room. I know you can hear me, I know you care more than you put off. And even if you don't, even if you do something like that again, I want you to know that it isn't okay." And Virgil stands there, small and solitary opposition indeed, like a mouse set to stop a stampede.
A huffy noise escapes Tiriana's throat, her posture setting more defiantly. "It doesn't have anything to do with you. I don't know why you care, anyway. /Actually/, I don't know why I'm not giving you the same treatment," she declares, eyes narrowing. "What are you going to do about it if I /do/ do it again--give me that pathetic little look?"
"You got me there. But it /does/ have /everything/ to do with me, with anyone who's ever met you. I care because-- I care. About you." Which could possibly be difficult for someone to admit, but Virgil doesn't seem to possess any such reservations. "But I'm not gonna stand down about this. If you wanna be mean and prickly, that's your decision, I can't change that." She doesn't say she /wouldn't/. "But you can't bully people like you do. I won't let you."
It really seems to creep Tiriana out a bit, that confession, and she shoots a dubious look Virgil's way. Her arms tighten around her chest, almost protectively against the relentless other girl. "Like I said. Just what do you think you can do about it?" she challenges again. "Nothing."
"I'll know," Virgil replies. "If and when you do something like this again, I'll know. And I'll come find you, and I'll talk to you, like I'm talking to you now. I'll tell you what I think about you. I'll talk to you about my feelings. And I won't stop until I absolutely have to." Still even, still calm, she adds, "I'll be your shadow."
"Faranth, you're some kind of freak," says Tiriana, with a huffy breath as she steps back, unfolding her arms and rolling her eyes. "I'm not changing anything, and I don't care what you do. So there." With that bluster, she's turning, moving to try to brush past the other girl toward the door.
Virgil stands there, silent, not at all any different from the very beginning of this interaction, and she doesn't move at all when Tiriana pushes past her. That might mean they bump shoulders, since she certainly doesn't do anything to make the exit smoother, but she doesn't budge. When the other girl is behind her and gone, she turns her cheek against her shoulder and smiles a little smile.