[Log] Living Under a Storm Cloud, Pt. 2

[brazenbronzer]

Who: C'ryn, Dannah, Emerlienne, K'tag, Sh'drian, Sobiesla, Tirya
When: Unknown
Where: Weyrhall, Southern Weyr
What: Just another night in the weyrhall when Sh'drian's storm clouds affect everyone around him. T'hvan is pushy, K'tag placid, and C'ryn is better off alone when talk of Tirya and the gold weyrling herself just make everything worse.
Notes: Find Pt. 1 here.

"Who says I want to know her other side?" Sh'drian replies, a touch defensively. "I could be perfectly hap--conte--" Pause while he sorts the words out in his mind "--willing? agreeable?" He's half musing to himself now. "To go my usual course. But..." He hesitates, then continues gamely, "Perhaps it's a bit too late for that." He shrugs, turning his head away. That's when he catches sight of Dannah's return, and he nods to the green weyrling, still avoiding looking at K'tag for the time being.

It seems K'tag's curiosity to press more details out of Sh'drian outweighs his desire to keep the conversation a secret from Dannah, and he leans forward from his strict posture, placing his elbows on the table, tangling his fingers together, and pressing his chin into his hands. "Why would you say it is too late for that?" he asks softly, tilting his head very lightly to one side as though genuinely curious. "I... don't understand. You don't want to know more about her, but feel less inclined to treat her as you would treat, say, Quenn?" He reaches down and snaps up a grape, popping it into his mouth, eyes not leaving the bronze weyrling as he does.

Emerlienne makes her way into the weyrhall, frowning at something or other. "Well, at least /you/ don't play with your food. Just ignore him." she mutters under her breath, to Leianth presumably. She pauses as she speaks, as though walking and speaking at the same time is too much, though she does make it to the klah soon enough.

Dannah tilts her head slightly, listening mildly to the conversation between the two others. She doesn't really have any input, and so she just leans back in her chair, sipping her klah.

"Quenn? Is nothing," Sh'drian states flatly. "She means nothing. It doesn't matter how I treat her, or how she treats me: we're only in it for one thing." He shrugs, and notes hesitatingly, "Tirya is... different. I don't understand completely. She... Well. The other night I made her cry. I don't mind making people cry; I've done it often enough that it doesn't bother me at all. When she does it, though..." He trails off meaningfully, cutting his eyes back toward K'tag as he does so. He shrugs helplessly, an unusual thing for this megalomaniac of a bronzerider. Leaning back in his seat, he glances about the weyrhall again, noting Dannah still listening in and the newly arrived Emerlienne with the same blank stare.

Sobiesla steps into the weyrhall and pauses on the threshold, wrapping her arms around her waist. She's a wee bit slimmer than she used to be; hard work actually pays off. She pads towards the serving table for a late-night snack, pausing when she spies K'tag, Sh'drian, and Dannah. "Good evening," she murmurs with restraint, passing by quickly, but turning to look over her shoulder after she passes. She procures a few small pieces of fruit for herself before turning back, slowly striding towards the tables.

Emerlienne pours herself a mug of that well known beverage, klah, sips it, then frowns. "Too hot." she says to herself, though she continues to hold the mug. Turning now to find a seat, she notices a group of weyrlings at a table, as well as Sh'drian's blank stare in her direction. She decides, on a whim, to wander over that way. With a small smile, she nods to the group, asking "May I join you?" perfectly politely.

K'tag bites down softly on his lower lip at Sh'drian's words, nodding only after the man has finished speaking. "... When you put it like that, I think I understand where you're coming from. Not-" He adds quickly, tilting his head forward slightly so that he looks up to glare over at Sh'drian. "-That I could feel the same way myself, but I can at least... sympathize. ... That is not the best word for it, but perhaps you understand what I mean." As Sh'drian glances over to Emerlienne, K'tag does as well, though he at least greets the greenrider with a gentle, "Good evening." What is beyond Emerlienne, however, seems to draw a little more interest out of K'tag; he blinks as Sobiesla walks by, unable to do much more. "... Sh'drian," he says quietly, quite accidentally ignoring the woman's request to sit as he does. "... Look." A gesture over to Sobiesla as she makes her way to the table, and he raises his hand, greeting the girl with a gentle, "Good evening, Sobiesla."

Emerlienne lifts her head suddenly, like a startled animal. "Yes Lei, tell him I'll be right there." in explanation she simply says, "I need to go to Lielle." the name of her daughter, before dashing out of the room. The baby is most likely fine, just teething or somesuch.

"Evening," Sh'drian replies, as he notes the once-familiar figure of Sobiesla passing them by. He then turns to Emerlienne, offering the younger woman a shrug, though he does use one boot to nudge a chair next to him slightly outward. He frowns as she summarily runs off, then turns right back around to his conversation with K'tag as though nothing had happened, noting, "See? I don't understand what the big deal is about Quenn -- or my own tendencies, for that matter. T'hvan may be right in that she is trash, but I'm not so very picky with things of this nature. Obviously, neither is she." He shrugs. "It means nothing. It's just sex, right?" He seems almost to be seeking some sort of approval from the other man, but he puts this on hold long enough to glance again at Sobiesla as K'tag insists on pointing her out. He casts an almost admiring gaze over her slimmed-down body, smirking. "It's Sobiesla. What's your point?"

Dannah turns her attention away from the conversation between the boys, to smile politely at Emerlienne as she comes up to the table. "Greetings. And of course." She says with a nod, a hand waving in the direction of one of the nearby chairs. But the woman is gone, before long, and she gives a mild shrug. However, a moment after she has resettled herself in her chair, she notices Sobe, and with another smile, this one a little warmer, she nods. She seems like she's going to say something, but K'tag's slightly odd reaction catches her attention, and she turns to glance at Sh'drian and K'tag for a moment, before smiling up at the girl. "Evening, Sobiesla." She says.

Sobiesla holds her plate in one hand while using the other to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Evening," Sobe repeats, her gaze shifting to the side and away from the three. After a moment, she shifts her focus and asks, "Mind if I join you?" She's cautious; she has reverted back to her old shyness. "Unless I'm interrupting something, of course..." Her voice trails off into silence, and she waits for a response with an awkward half-grin on her face, focusing on Dannah instead of K'tag or Sh'drian.

K'tag frowns slightly at Sh'drian as he speaks, even moreso when he points out Sobiesla. A glance is shot back to the man, and he half-growls under his breath, hopefully soft enough for the approaching girl to not hear, "If you'll recall, I must be as obvious now as I was during Candidacy, about..." He frowns a little, suspecting Sh'drian should catch onto that without him having to say anymore. He straightens his back, clears his throat, and starts to speak to Sobiesla, voice friendlier than normal. He scoots the chair next to him back slightly, as though offering the girl the chance to sit next to him. "Please, do join us. Perhaps you can help me out. It is honestly simple, Sh'drian." He turns back to the man now, speaking casually and easily. "Sex means a fun night with no responsibilities to you. It means a lot more to some of us, Tirya included. What means little to you means everything to her. Sleeping with Quenn when your sights are on Tirya... well. That would make her cry." Back down to the fruit K'tag's attention goes.

Dannah grins warmly back, nodding. "Not at all." She says, starting to tug a chair out from a table behind her, but stops when K'tag offers the girl one beside him. She shrugs a little, but is smiling, and waves her hand in that direction. To be honest, she's glad of a little diversion - while the boys' conversation is well enough to listen to, it's nice to have someone to talk to yourself. "So, how have you been?" She starts.

Sh'drian shakes his head quickly, smirking at Sobiesla. He leans back in his seat before noting, "Interrupting? No. We're merely discussing our respective... troubles. K'tag has too many women; I have too few." He smirks, shooting a glance at the other man, his expression initially bemused but rapidly regressing into something less innocuous. His eyes narrow slightly, his mouth setting itself into a thin line. "But why?" he demands, lifting his hands in exasperation. "I know it /is/, but why is it so important to her?" He shakes his head, scowling briefly at the table. "/Anything/ makes her cry, anyway," he mutters at the tabletop, his tone frustrated. "Anything I do, even the simple, halfway nice things."

Sobiesla doesn't overhear K'tag's words, as she's concentrating her plate instead. When K'tag offers a chair, she gives him a winsome smile and slips into the chair, setting her plate down lightly upon the table. "Thank you." Her voice has gained some bit of confidence now that she is seated, but she still seems unsettled. Her eyes widen slightly at the conversation, and she remarks, "I'm not sure of the situation, but really, if you want Tirya sleeping with other women isn't the way to impress her." She blinks at Sh'drian's comment, shooting a sidelong glance towards K'tag. "He does? Oh." Is that disappointment? She turns a bit pink and shifts her attention to Dannah instead. "I've been quite well," she says simply. "And you?"

K'tag just sort of sinks a little into his chair, putting his elbow on the table and bringing his arm up to support his head, the left side of his forehead sinking into his palm. "It is not nearly so simple as Sh'drian puts it, Sobiesla," he assures the girl, his voice much too serious and dull to be particularly comforting. "There is more to the story." Whatever more to the story there is, K'tag doesn't seem too inclined to elaborate on. Hopefully, putting his head in his hand should be able to block Sobiesla from seeing the icy cold stare the brownrider shoots over to Sh'drian, not pleased at all with the other man. A hand goes down, snatches up a grape, and chomps down on it. Unfortunately, K'tag's sense of control wins over in the end, and his hand drops back to the table, the look he shoots to Sh'drian far less intense now. "Shards, Sh'drian," he mumbles, disbelief creeping into his voice. "... You honestly don't realize it. Why do you think you make her cry?" A simple enough question, if not a tad too rhetorical.

"Well, it /is/ K'tag. He has enough difficulties with one," Sh'drian drawls to Sobiesla, smirking at her. He shakes his head in reply to her words on Tirya, biting his lower lip a moment before answering. "I think even I'm smart enough to realize that," he retorts. He shakes his head at K'tag, growing ever more frustrated. "I don't understand. ... Because. I don't know. I'm good at that, I suppose. I do have much practice." He's being sarcastic now, and quite defensive as he rounds on the brownrider. "Why don't you explain it to me, if you know so much about the story and about how things are?" he challenges.

Dannah seems to have gotten into the habit of watching and listening, and surprisingly, she ends up picking up a lot of things that one might not, otherwise. "Well," She speaks up, putting in the only comment she's made so far about the current topic of conversation. "We don't like sharing you men with other women, put it that way." As if Sh'drian hasn't been told that in one form or another already. It's interesting she uses 'we', although it may just be her speaking for women in general, as a member of that group. A small, not quite decipherable smile is sent to Sobe, before she nods, and replies to her question. "Very well, also." She nods, before pausing, and then speaking up again. "It's been... a very interesting turn, for me." But as Sh'drian starts to get frustrated, her gaze snaps over to him, watching carefully. Although she's not doing anything, not yet.

Sobiesla curls her knees up to her chest and reaches for a piece of fruit off of her plate. "Of course it's not," she echoes, looking at the plate rather than at K'tag. "It's a story I'm not a part of, so I don't need to hear it." With a wan smile, she shifts her focus towards Sh'drian. She wears a look of distaste as she says, "She's probably in love with you, wherryhead." She's barely audible; he might not even hear it. To Dannah, she replies, "You're right. I'll have to hear about weyrlinghood sometime." Though perhaps with the current conversation it's not the best time. She takes another piece of fruit and eats quietly.

Emerlienne re-enters the Weyrhall, this time with a sleeping infant in her arms. She moves over to take a seat at a table near the weyrlings and Sobiesla, first making a quick detour by the serving table for a piece of fruit.

The grape in K'tag's hands squishes between his fingers and thumb at Sh'drian's challenge, a second break in that normal statue-esque, unbreakable manner of his. K'tag gives Dannah time to comment on the situation, nodding slowly but distractedly as she does, pushing back in his chair to scoot a little away from the table. His calm intensity fades as Sobiesla speaks about the story, and though he doesn't look at Sobiesla while she speaks to him, her words visibly have some impact on him. After a moment, he shakes his head, hops up out of the chair, narrows his eyebrows, and speaks, though they lack the cutting edge they might have retained had the passion of Sh'drian's remarks not been dulled off by poor Sobiesla's words. "Don't you understand what she's doing? She loves you." The words do not sound pleased to admit this. "She loves you even though she knows Eadranth will stop her, her Taminyth will hate her, C'r... C... Daenth's rider will feel terrible, and you... you hardly acknowledge anybody outside of yourself, you will still sleep with whatever sharding woman will drop her pants for you. And yet she still cares enough about you that you can make her cry. Think about it." K'tag snatches his plate up from the table but doesn't move just yet, instead glaring with a low frown down at Sh'drian, all too interested in hearing the man's response.

Emerlienne glances up as she notices a commotion at the nearby table. "Ooh, Lielle, what have we walked into?" she coos to the baby, letting her curiousity get the better of her as she shifts in her chair to better overhear the other conversation.

What a moment for C'ryn of all people to walk into the weyrhall. He makes his way over to the serving table and helps himself to a mug of klah. He is well within earshot of the conversation, yet he seems to be tactfully ignoring the mention of his name. Oh dear.

Sh'drian frowns at Sobiesla as though what she says makes little sense. Maybe it doesn't make sense, to him at least. He shakes his head dismissively, then glances to K'tag expectantly, quirking a brow slightly and half-sneering at the other man. He doesn't seem to think K'tag will do anything. Boy, is he ever wrong. His expression changes swiftly as K'tag lays into him, heading rapidly toward stunned, at both the vehemency of the brownrider's response and the response itself. He doesn't even have a reply as K'tag finishes; he just... sits there, looking a bit stunned and now bewildering. "Eadranth and Taminyth are... a little better," he protests weakly. "And I won't sleep with just /anyone/. I have some standards, low though they might be." The words are lame, even to his own ears; mostly, he's just trying to buy some time to figure out some more appropriate response.

Dannah nods at Sobe. "I'll have to tell you about it. Although you have to tell me about what you've been up to, too." But, in agreement, the underlying note is saying not just now. Her attention is quickly drawn away by the argument, and while she notices Emerlienne, there isn't any room to greet her. She seems surprised at Sh'drian's response, before leaning back and considering something.

Sobiesla tucks her hair behind her ears again, ducking her head and looking away from the group. "Not much," she tells Dannah quietly. "Just going about my business." With a shrug she glances towards K'tag and Sh'drian, surprised. "K'tag is right, you know." With those words, she falls silent again, glancing towards C'ryn and Emerlienne as they enter. Both receive slight smiles and nods, before she reaches for another small piece of fruit.

C'ryn remains where he stands, away from the other weyrlings and facing in the opposite direction, yet he can hear each and every word. Every last heart-wrenching word. His expression is rather steely and grim, yet with a hint of sadness in his ocean-blue eyes. He gives a shallow sigh before taking a swig of the klah, probably wishing for it to be spiked with something lethal. He spares a glance sideways, noting Emerlienne and her infant, but he doesn't speak or offer any sort of greeting whatsoever. Can anyone blame him?

Emerlienne nods absently to Sobiesla, and to C'ryn, though most of her attention is on Sh'drian and K'tag at the moment. Lielle stirs slightly, and with a disappointed "Oh," the greenrider turns her attention to her child.

K'tag sets the plate back down on the table, running his free hand through his hair as he does. Sh'drian's paralyzed response seems to give K'tag neither triumph nor shock, and the brownrider takes a small step back from the table, as though preparing any moment now for a similar outburst to be lobbied right back at himself. "Sh'drian," he says slowly, leaning forward slightly to place his hand on the table. "If I have the courage to say this, you should have the courage to accept it." The passion that fueled his previous words has all but vanished; these words are almost soft, comparatively comforting. "If you think about her as more than nothing, as more than Quenn, you would do well to treat her like that, too. She deserves it. And..." He swallows slowly for a bit here, catching C'ryn only out of the corner of his eye. He can't glance over at the other brownrider now; his gaze has to remain locked on Sh'drian as though his life depends on it. "... And I think you deserve her." The words come out almost as an admission, and he frowns deeply after they are out.

Sh'drian's grip tightens on the glass he finds still sitting in front of him, and he pulls it toward himself absently. He's not noticed C'ryn, or the reappearance of Emerlienne with Lielle, or Dannah and Sobiesla still sitting nearby. He's staring intently at K'tag. "I... kind of figured she deserved that. I mean, you know," he falters uncertainly, glancing away at last, and down to his hands. He toys with the glass, spinning it idly on the tabletop as he tries to reorder his thoughts. "But that's why... not me. You're wrong. I don't. Why... do you think think?" he continues, stumbling over the words, thoughts just as disjointed as his halting sentences.

That's it. That's done it. For the first time in turns, C'ryn's face contorts into a frown, and the brownrider sets the mug back down upon the table heavily and loudly. He wheels around to face the other two weyrlings, his eyes fixing themselves upon K'tag in particular. "I hope you're enjoying this, K'tag," he utters, his expression one of thunder, plainly putting emphasis on the other brownrider's name. With that, he strides toward the door, only stopping if addressed by name.

K'tag remains rigid as Sh'drian speaks, not allowing himself an ounce of astonishment or fear at Sh'drian's uncharacteristic reaction. Slowly he shakes his head after Sh'drian's jerky sentences have trailed off into a question. "That doesn't matter," he says, tilting his head upward so as to look down at the man. "I have my own reasons. I have always figured you two would deserve one another, which is why I was disappointed that you couldn't figure it out on your own. So what are you going to do now?" The question is purely and honestly curious, and K'tag's voice loses every last ounce of aggression it has. His eyes would remain locked upon Sh'drian had C'ryn not made himself known, and K'tag's eyes just up to face C'ryn, staring right at him to see the expression on his face and the words directed to him. The brown weyrling's eyes narrow, almost a challenge to the boy, though they soften quickly as he starts his way to the exit. He frowns deeply and turns back to Sh'drian, settling himself back down into the chair as he does.

Dannah isn't about to comment, and so she just continues to watch, without moving, other than the flicker of her brown eyes from the one weyrling to the other. Suddenly, she too catches a glimpse of C'ryn, twisting to see him clearer, before slowly moving back to where she was before, eyes wide but swiftly calculating. But before she can do anything, he's moved over and thumped his mug down, drawing all eyes to him. And then, heading towards the door. Oh no.

Sobiesla's hand pauses halfway to her mouth as C'ryn begins to storm off. She shoots a look at K'tag and Sh'drian, who she was attempting to ignore. "Maybe you should try not to offend everyone here," she says, voice a little sharp as she gestures towards C'ryn. Then she falls silent again, curled up in her little ball on the seat and slowly eating her fruit.

Distantly noting C'ryn's voice through the fog shrouding his thoughts, Sh'drian half-turns in his chair to glare at the other brownrider as K'tag fades from his mind. "You. You stay out of this. It doesn't concern you," he sneers angrily at the departing man's back before turning back around. His sneer fades back into the rather bewildered expression he wore when facing K'tag down earlier rapidly, with his typical moodiness. "I don't know. What am I supposed to do? You didn't answer my question," he points out, lifting his shoulders in a shrug. He slides the glass from hand to hand across the surface of the table, more for something to do than any real reason. Loudly, he tells Sobiesla, "I've done nothing to him."

"Doesn't concern me?" C'ryn exclaims, halting and spinning around to face the bronzerider. "You're not the only person with feelings, you know! When my name is mentioned and my worthiness is questioned, I think it concerns me greatly, don't you?" The brownrider's voice is raised, although a slight wobble in his tone would suggest that he doesn't like these odds. With at least three people in favour of Sh'drian, it is quite likely that this young man is beginning to despair.

K'tag's mouth opens slightly at Sh'drian's response, as though for the first time allowing himself a look of shock. "... You didn't learn a single thing," he says slowly, utterly disbelieving to the last sound. His mouth closes. He sinks back into the chair, just sort of peering over at the bronze weyrling for two or three moments before slowly, jerkily, mechanically getting up to both legs. "Sobiesla is right," he mumbles, right in the middle of C'ryn's shouting, apparently not hearing a single word. With deliberate and controlled movements, he picks up his tanning tools, his straps, his plate (still half full), and his klah, not saying another word until they're all stacked up. "I was wrong to utter a single word. Good night." His sorrow obviously does not come from 'offending everyone here', as the comment about Sobiesla implies, but he does not elaborate any further. Dropping off the plate and mug on a nearby table for some drudge to pick up, K'tag makes his way to the entrance. The only person who would be able to verbally stop him would be C'ryn, and even then only by directing something at him, not Sh'drian; without physically getting in his way, nobody else will even cause him to look back.

Sobiesla bites her lower lip, staring at her hands where they now rest upon her knees. "He thinks otherwise," she says softly, her voice more that likely drowned out by the others. As K'tag speaks again, she lifts her head; she's surprised to hear her name. "You were trying," she manages, caught off-guard by his sudden departure. As he heads towards the exit, she yells, "K'tag!" He can't be leaving after causing so much trouble. With a muttered curse, Sobe leans her head against her knees and sighs.

C'ryn pauses for a moment, his eyes fixed upon Sh'drian. When he next speaks, his voice is lower, yet gritty. "I tried my best, but I made a mistake in ever thinking we could be friends. We may be allies against Thread, but we will never be friends." The brownrider pauses for a moment to look at the floor, before looking back up at Sh'drian. "You know what? I give up. She's yours. I have Daenth, why do I need Tirya? I was better off alone anyway." With that, C'ryn waves a hand dismissively before turning for the door once again. He doesn't say a word to K'tag, or even acknowledge his presence.

Emerlienne stands, uncertainly, looking for someone who could explain what is going on with these weyrlings. Seems she's caught her friend's love for gossip, somehow. Either that, or it's Leianth urging her onwards. Either way, she watches the weyrlings, taking a step first towards K'tag, then C'ryn, then finally Sh'drian, yet each time she only takes a step or two before stopping, not wanting to make anything worse.

Glancing back at C'ryn disdainfully, Sh'drian sneers in return, managing some level of composure now that he's certain C'ryn is the one who's angry, "That's right: it doesn't concern you. You're nothing. You have nothing to do with me, and especially with Tirya; so you can just stay out of /our/ business." He half stands, still gripping his empty glass in one hand until his knuckles are white. Despite his apparent preoccupation with C'ryn, Sh'drian can still spare enough attention to frown at K'tag, eyes narrowing and brows furrowing as the man abandons him. He kicks his chair back, away from himself and glowers at the former tanner a moment before redirecting his attention to C'ryn. Indeed, Sobiesla's words are well below his hearing at the moment. But as C'ryn concedes the point, Sh'drian doesn't look smug, or self-satisfied, or even triumphant. "You've said that before," he notes drily, shaking his head. He sets the glass down on the table beside him, then notes, "It wasn't supposed to be like this." The words are only partly for Daenth's rider; mostly, they're for Sh'drian himself.

With a yawn and a stretch, Tirya strolls into the hall and heads straight for the klah. Securing herself a mug of the steaming liquid, she sips at it and sighs with contentment. Pale eyes now scan the room, falling on a few familiar faces. Noting C'ryn's move to deapart, she approaches and offers him a quiet greeting as she herself heads for a table. "Hey there, C'ryn," she murmurs.

Events are going too fast for Dannah to be able to react, or say anything, and so she's just staring. First at Sh'drian, then at K'tag, then Sobe, then C'ryn, and back to Sh'drian once more. But as much as she wants to run after both K'tag and C'ryn, just... just _do_ something, she feels like she's glued to her chair. Suddenly, Tirya arrives, and the girl pales, even though, really, the problems don't have anything to do with her.

Perhaps there is somebody outside of C'ryn that can stop K'tag in his beeline to the weyrhall exit. The doors open up and in should walk none other than the very focus of all this drama. Tirya. K'tag's entire body freezes in its tracks, making him almost lose his balance as he finds himself teetering on one leg. His arms go limp to the sides. The strap drops to the floor; by some stroke of luck, the sharp tanning knife remains in his hand, dangling low from his right hand. Even as Tirya walks by and grabs herself a bit of klah, giving K'tag the perfect opportunity to escape, the former Tanner finds himself unable to do much of anything except stand there, peering blankly out at the scene unfolding before him.

Unfortunately for Tirya, the words have already been said. C'ryn spares only a glance toward the girl before continuing out of the door into the courtyard. He pays no one any more attention. Outside, the bugle of a dragon indicates Daenth's presence, and it seems to be the only other being that C'ryn will even acknowledge anymore.

The entrance of another into the current drama is very little incentive for Sh'drian to take his eyes of C'ryn, and he's lagging several seconds behind the others as they note Tirya's presence. Eventually, however, he does notice the goldrider, and whatever color his naturally pale skin has fades startlingly quickly. He takes a seat in the chair he so recently vacated, scooting it slightly forward as he ducks his head and stretches his arms out across the table. Is this his idea of unobtrusive? It seems to be, for Sh'drian's not looking at Tirya, or C'ryn as he exits, or K'tag as he freezes, or any of the other onlookers.

Tirya quirks an eyebrow and lifts her head to follow C'ryn's icy depart with a look of muted surprise. It doesn't take animal instincts to realize that all isn't well in the hall as she notes the frozen Tanner and the quick flop of Sh'drian into his seat. Tirya turns slowly and gazes at the bronzerider intently, both eyebrows raising in an unasked question as she calmly sips her klah.

K'tag is faced with a feeling of great indecision now, uncertain of whether his presence in the weyrhall - in the conversation with Tirya and Sh'drian - is completely unwelcome or absolutely necessary, for he feels it could go either way. Though he's looking right at her, K'tag doesn't greet Tirya with a comment or a gesture as she glances his way, content instead to just peer blankly, no true expression able to be read in his face. Uncomfortable with turning to Tirya, Sh'drian, or Sobiesla, and knowing Dannah is too far away, K'tag can only glance at Emerlienne, biting his lower lip. If she notices his glance, he'll gesture slightly to the bronze and gold weyrlings and shrug slightly, as though asking her what she thinks he should do. Poor clueless sap.

Sobiesla lifts her head as Tirya enters, exhaling in yet another sigh. "This is too much," she mutters, slowly uncurling herself and getting to her feet. One can only stand so much stress in a night. She yawns and stretches, making the excuse that she's "quite tired and should be getting to bed." With that, she steps across the weyrhall towards the exit, pausing as she passes K'tag. She gives him a nod and a wry smile, before passing through the entry and out of the weyrhall.

Emerlienne frowns as she sees the weyrlings react to Tirya's presence. She shakes her head, muttering something about weyrlinghood in general, then finally decides to leave. Gossip this juicy always gets around, and she really should be putting Lielle to bed. Having not talked to anyone, apart from her infant daughter, she doesn't have any goodbyes to say, though she does glance around first. As luck should have it, she catches K'tag's glance at her, and smiles, trying to be reassuring, though not too successfully.

Sh'drian is distinctly and uncomfortably aware of Tirya's gaze upon him, caught out of the corner of his eye; in fact, he cuts his eyes once in her direction to gain a better look, though he adamantly refuses to turn toward her. He stays hunched over, tilting his head slightly as Sobiesla abandons him as well. He nudges the long-emptied glass with one hand and tips it over, then seems to decide that perhaps a refill is in order. He stands and heads back toward the serving table quickly, filling a mug with klah. On the way back, he's still avoiding looking to Tirya, but he does summon enough courage to shoot a halfway pleading look at K'tag, lifting his shoulders in a 'help! what do I do now?' fashion.

Tirya looks at the table as if rethinking her original desire to sit down. "What has happened?" she demands softly, eyebrows still lifted. "Did you have a fight with C'ryn again? Honestly, can't you two ever get along?" the goldling notes in a calm matter before settling herself into the chair and leaning back in it casually to sip her klah.

K'tag frowns visibly as Emerlienne starts to turn around, but he nods slowly at her smile, at least acknowledging her. Sobiesla, too, gets a nod, though this one is much more faint and less intense. His attention focuses back upon Tirya and Sh'drian just in time to see the other man look at him for comfort. K'tag looks on for a few moments, his breathing slow and controlled. He knows he must help Sh'drian; he hurt too many people tonight all for Sh'drian's benefit for no gain to come of it. And finally, K'tag does figure out precisely what to do. He closes his eyes for a moment, shakes his head to Sh'drian, picks his strap up off the ground, and makes his way out of the weyrhall, slamming the doors behind him.

Sh'drian shoots a sideways glance at Tirya, sipping idly at his klah while he thinks. "Among... other things," he hedges, shrugging noncommittally. "I was doing quite well, until he insisted on butting into /my/ business, shard it," he notes. A hint of irritation and frustration enter his voice, though it's not really directed at Tirya more than the situation in general. The door slamming shut behind him pulls his attention that way, and Sh'drian looks momentarily horrified to find K'tag has vanished. He takes a deep breath, calming himself, then turns back to his klah and Tirya.

Emerlienne frowns a little as K'tag leaves, hurrying a little to follow after. She doesn't remember having personally met these weyrlings, though her curiosity and general good nature impels her to discover every angle of this situation, and help if she can.

Tirya gives a sigh and then clucks her tongue in disapproval. "Doesn't the drama ever get old?" she asks in a rather bland fashion. Tirya holds the klah in both hands, eyes slowly closing as she lapses into quiet reflection, unaware of the battle lines that seem to have been drawn by the marked absences.

"Living under a storm cloud," Sh'drian replies airily, struggling to fill his voice with some small measure of bemusement. The attempt falls rather flat, and he shrugs, sipping again at his klah in the age-old, time-buying maneuver. "You get used to it after a while; I seem to create it wherever I go," he adds slowly.

Dannah still hasn't moved from her seat. It's like she's frozen, detached, watching this all play out before her. A hundred questions form in her mind, a hundred explanations or information she might be able to offer. Yet she can't bring herself to form even the simplest on her tongue. Instead, she watches. Watches K'tag, Sobe and Emerlienne leave. Watches Tirya sit down, and talk to Sh'drian. Watches Sh'drian reply. She feels compelled to _do_ something, but what? This is not really involving her, unless she makes it that way. A wrong word could make things ever so much worse, yet what are the right words? The girl places her long-empty mug down on the table, before folding her arms up as she leans back once again.

"So it would seem," the girl notes. Freeing a hand to run in through her growing fringe of obsidian hair, the willowy girl rises gracefully and stretches both arms, mindful of the klah. "I have awakened Taminyth, I am going to take my klah and join her," she informs the ex-hunter with some sense of finality. With that, the girl stalks off.

Nodding slowly, Sh'drian stares into the translucent surface of his klah a moment longer; then he, too, stands and departs at last.

Dannah, now on her own, leans forward, staring silently across the room. What a night. So much to think about. It's really quite late, and so eventually the girl, too, stands up and heads out of the hall.