Log: Midnight Chat With Nenny
Who: Nenita, P'draig
When: Late, 8/24/19
Where: Garden and Pool, Ista Weyr
What: Insomniacs chat by the pool at night.
Thiefed from Nenny
Garden and Pool, Ista Weyr(#456RJ)
From bowl to waterfall, the gardens of Ista stretch out across the plateau. Nearest the bowl are the practical plants--the herbs and crops and an orchard of fruit trees--but the closer to the stream one ventures, the more fanciful the foliage becomes. Lush dark leaves, flowers as big as a hand, jungle creepers hanging from old-growth trees--like most of Ista, the plant life grows rampant here, everything outsized and richly green. The streambanks in particular are impressively overgrown, until every rock is moss-covered and pockets of still water in pools on the banks teem with algae.
Only the waterfall itself seems to have escaped the onslaught of flora, cutting a channel through the rock and falling toward the pool below. The craggy cliffs leading downward post a number of places to sit and swing your feet, or to wade in the shallow puddles that collect in dips in rocks and around the edges of the water. For all the cliffs and their outcroppings, however, the best way down is still the steep, slick stairs switchbacking down the rock face.
It's laaaate. So why P'draig is sitting here with his legs dangling in the water is anyone's guess. Shouldn't he be home? Or with a kid? Something? But he's here, just sitting and looking up at the moons, hands resting behind him. His shirt and sandals are piled up beside him along with the telltale pallor of a towel.
Nenita comes picking her way down those stairs etched into the cliff. She's dressed in her bathing suit, towel wrapped carefully around her. A glow is in her hand, lighting the way in the dark while her sandals are in the other. When she reaches the bottom, she discovers that for yet another night, she's not alone here. The figure of P'draig is familiar and becomes more so the closer she gets to him. "Hey there!" She calls softly once she's actually nearby.
Jekzith appears not to be in the vicinity to warn Paddy so it's her own hail that turns his head as she approaches with that glow. "Heya," he greets, smile visible in the glowlight, warm and friendly as ever. "Can't sleep?" is asked next and P'draig pats the ground beside him. "I came out for a swim. Head's too full of things tonight."
Nenita smiles, settling down onto the ground next to him. "I sleep late some nights. This has kind of become my midnight stomping grounds." She pulls the towel a little closer around her, putting her sandals down and placing the glow on top of them. "Bad things or just busy things?"
"Busy things," P'draig says with a bob of his head. "Nothing bad this seven," the brownrider replies and looks out over the water. "I swim. Skip stones. It's a habit I guess. Skipping stones. Helps settle my head."
"I sink stones." Nenita tells him, looking down at the water below her feet. "I like to just swim in the water. Usually the action of trying to float and not drown gets my mind off of everything else." She flicks her toes, making little splashes and ripples. "What's been busy, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Yeah, just throwing them can be ... a good release too. Just grab and throw," P'draig describes with a grin and a mimicking m ovement of his arm. "Mm. Water feels like ... a full on body hug. A really gentle one. You know? It's soothing." Breath puffed out and his shoulders roll a little. "Just ... getting used to being a wingrider again. In some ways it's not even that it's that /busy/, it's just the shape of things has changed a lot since I moved here two turns ago."
"I don't know that I've ever thought of it as a hug. More like a cool, refreshing thing." Nenita leans over, dipping her finger into the water. "Do you have to work harder? Or are you more stressed over the adjustment?" She asks, finger dipping some more before straightening up. "You don't look like you became a rider yesterday, I'm sure that you're going to do fine once you get going." She offers, smiling a touch.
"I always feel like it's wrapping me up, the water," P'draig describes with a folding motion of his hands and another smile. "No, less work really. I think Mic's right. I have a serious problem with /not/ working and /not/ being busy," Paddy says with a laugh. "I've been a rider for over sixteen turns, actually. And out of those, Fort's Weyrlingmaster for eleven."
"That I can understand. Why did you decide to come here? Fort wasn't doing it for you or was it something else?" Nenita asks, eyes casting over towards him. Those fingers earlier dipped are examined and she gives the water in front of her a curious look. "Did you go swimming already?" She queries before getting up and dropping her towel next to the sandals. The cook stays on shore only long enough to catchi his answer before slipping into the water.
"Heh, actually I loved Fort. I was born at the Reaches, but Fort was home for a really long time. No, I moved here to be with T'mic," P'draig says with a little grin. "Same timezone and everything. He ... can't take the cold. I handle the heat better than he does winter at Fort with all the snow." His smile is turned upward as she stands. "Went around once, but more floating would be nice." So saying he scoots forward to just drop into the water.
"That's how it goes, isn't it?" Nenita asks, watching him from where she floats in the water. "Those born in the heat can't stand the cold? Those born in the cold adjust to the heat?" She looks at him as he slips into the water, an apprciative smile on her lips. "How long do you stay out for before you go home? Is there a curfew?" She asks, smile turned mischief.
"Seems so," P'draig says laughingly and splashes water up his arms, then eases into a float himself, arms held out a little. "Nope. No curfew. Mic's ... out," he says with a chuckle. "Probably that new blond guy," the brownrider notes placidly.
Nenita's short legs kick to keep her floating and she swims closer to P'draig's vicinity. "Out? Oh..." She trails off once that realization of that sinks in. "So you're off all by your lonesome? Hardly seems fair." Lips quirk as she kicks off to the side, elbows finding some leverage while she watches him.
"Out," P'draig echoes placidly. "I am for now, he'll probably be home later," the brownrider continues, but slants a look sidelong at the cook. "It doesn't bother me. I have company myself often enough if Mic's busy."
"Does it ever get... mixed up? You show up with your own friend but he's already there with somebody else?" Nenita questions curiously. "Or do you have a system?" Quickly, she pushes off and slips beneath the water to come up with wet hair.
"Dragons," P'draig says with a laugh. "Aath'll tell Jekzith that Mic's bringing someone home. Sometimes it just uh ... turns into a uh ... party," the brownrider describes. "But our weyr has more than one room. So it's not a big deal for me to sack out on the couch if I don't feel like joining." Welcome to functional polyamory.
"A party?" Nenita's eyebrows lift, "Well, that sounds like it can get interesting." She brushes a piece of her hair out of her face, "Definitely interesting. How long have the two of you been together?"
"Yeah ... first time was ... an eye opener," P'draig says slowly then laughs a little, looks over her way. "Not scaring you am I?" And then another laugh. "That ... depends on when you count from. We've been official weyrmates, sharing a weyr for two turns. But we were together for a couple of turns before that."
The slow sentence generates a giggle from her, "Scaring me? I grew up in a weyr, the idea of... multiple partners isn't exactly new. But it's just sort of interesting hearing it from the horses mouth, so to speak." There's a shrug of Nenita's slim shoulder. "So no, I'm not frightened. Just curious." She floats onto her back, kicking a bit of water at him. "How did he win your heart over?"
"Okay, just had to make sure," Paddy says with a grin. "I don't usually sit around telling people about my sex life as an introduction," the brownrider notes. "I was ... weyrmated twice before. Really young with the first and we were together for a long time. When Thread came back she left. Went south and wound up with the guy who flew her gold. My second weyrmate was Palia's mother. But she didn't want Palia. Just me. That ... kind of made for a problem. Because I wouldn't choose her over our daughter." There's a hint of old pain in his voice there. "And in between weyrmates I was kind of lost. Jumped from woman to woman and then swore off relationships after Illya left me with Palia." He takes a deep breath before going on. "Mic won my heart by just being himself. And being there. It started out being about sex and getting me over my hangups about guys. But the more I talked to him, the more time we spent together, the freer I felt. He just /loves/ you see. I mean sure a lot of it is about sex. But he's probably also the most caring guy I know. I never doubt it. How much he loves me and it just ... it made all those rotten turns all better."
Nenita listens, nodding at the appropriate points and making supportive noises at others. "Is your daughter with you here then?" She asks, seemingly interested in that particular point. "He sounds like he's a terrific person to help you all of that. It takes a lot of understanding to get someone through a time like that. You know, without breaking yourself."
"Yes, she's got a room up in the weyr, but also stays down with the other kids sometimes. Flexible arrangement. I have a son here too, from after a flight," P'draig explains further. "He's fostered in the caverns." He nods though a lot. "Yeah Mic is just ... well you'd have to meet him, I think, to really understand," he laughs a little, sweeps a hand upward, over his hair. "He helped me be /me/ again, I guess is the best way to put it. Set me free from more than one hangup, made my heart all better." He taps his chest lightly. "It's not for everyone, but not living with a lot of guilt or jealousy all the time ... it's a really amazing way to be."
"I can see where there would be a lot of pros to do that. But..." Nenita shrugs her shoulders. "I can also see where there are plenty of people who couldn't adopt to that type of lifestyle." Her expression is neutral, as if the subject isn't a particularly touchy one for her. "So if you're not bringing up your sex life as a first introductory conversation, what do you bring up?"
"Yeah. It's not for everyone," P'draig agrees readily. "And well, I'm a family guy too. My kids are really important to me. So I spend a lot of my time when I'm not on duty with them, or visiting their brother at Telgar or bringing him down here." He laughs at that question and grins over her. "Food. My kids. Jekzith. How damn hot it's been."
"Exactly how many kids do you have?" Nenita asks, eyebrow going up. He's being watched with amusement as he answers the last question. She backs into the shelf behind her, pulling herself up onto the shore. "I'm going to head on back, the bugs are getting to be a little too much for me. Even in the water."
"Three," P'draig answers with a laugh and swims over as Nenita pulls upt out of the pool, leans his arms on its edge nearby and looks up at her, head tilted back a bit. "Mic has six." Her amusement is answered in his smile and he reaches over to nudge at her hand lightly. "Thanks for the company, tonight. Sometimes talking to someone helps too."
"Oh, I thought you were going to tell me si- six." Nenita laughs when P'draigh announces the number of T'mic's children. She shakes her head, reaching over for her towel. The hair is fluffed up to get some moisture out, that's when he touches her hand. She pauses, gaze dropping down. Her smile quirks again, "Anytime, I like being company for good people."
"Yeah. He started early. One of his daughters is a greenrider here, actually," P'draig explains. "Tosolla." The brownrider's eyes settle on the direction of her gaze and slowly his fingers slide along hers squeezes a little. "You're good people," he tells her sincerely before pushing up out of the pool himself to towel off and catch up his stuff for the walk back. "Walk you home?" he jokes a little.
"He must be proud, they're following in his footsteps." Nenita answers slowly, attention so clearly more on his fingers than what he's actually saying. When he pushes himself out of the water, she shakes her head. "Thanks." She answers back simply, standing and wrapping the towel around herself. Sandals are slipped on, "Would you? I hear it's dangerous to walk alone these days." The mischievous glint to her eye says that's probably not so.
"Yeah, some. He's not ... all that close to most o f his kids," P'draig says with a laugh. "I'm the family man. Not Mic." He waits until she's ready then falls into step with her, grinning down at her for the mischief in her eyes. A moment later his arm sneaks around her waist and he bends his head a little towards her. "Don't worry miss, I'll make sure you get home safe. That or ... you know, it's the likes of me you should be worrying about."
"At six you're probably stretched thin to pay attention to them all and have a life." Nenita notes, "As long as they're happy." The arm is around her waist and she at once tenses and then relaxes. Then there's something like a giggle, but a touch nervous. "Oh? I guess I'm just going to have to take my chances. If I go alone... Well, I'm just doomed for something bad then." She looks up, laughs a little and leans into him while they walk off.
"Yeah. Three is probably about it for me" P'draig says with a little nod. "They're good kids. Well okay, Dylan's still a baby, but ... yeah." He smiles with warm fondness for his family and his arm starts to retreat in the face of that tension. "I'll do my best to stave off doom," he teases and walks on back to the Bowl, turning the conversation to lighter things and leaves her at the entrance to her dorm room with a little salute and a wink.
When: Late, 8/24/19
Where: Garden and Pool, Ista Weyr
What: Insomniacs chat by the pool at night.
Thiefed from Nenny
Garden and Pool, Ista Weyr(#456RJ)
From bowl to waterfall, the gardens of Ista stretch out across the plateau. Nearest the bowl are the practical plants--the herbs and crops and an orchard of fruit trees--but the closer to the stream one ventures, the more fanciful the foliage becomes. Lush dark leaves, flowers as big as a hand, jungle creepers hanging from old-growth trees--like most of Ista, the plant life grows rampant here, everything outsized and richly green. The streambanks in particular are impressively overgrown, until every rock is moss-covered and pockets of still water in pools on the banks teem with algae.
Only the waterfall itself seems to have escaped the onslaught of flora, cutting a channel through the rock and falling toward the pool below. The craggy cliffs leading downward post a number of places to sit and swing your feet, or to wade in the shallow puddles that collect in dips in rocks and around the edges of the water. For all the cliffs and their outcroppings, however, the best way down is still the steep, slick stairs switchbacking down the rock face.
It's laaaate. So why P'draig is sitting here with his legs dangling in the water is anyone's guess. Shouldn't he be home? Or with a kid? Something? But he's here, just sitting and looking up at the moons, hands resting behind him. His shirt and sandals are piled up beside him along with the telltale pallor of a towel.
Nenita comes picking her way down those stairs etched into the cliff. She's dressed in her bathing suit, towel wrapped carefully around her. A glow is in her hand, lighting the way in the dark while her sandals are in the other. When she reaches the bottom, she discovers that for yet another night, she's not alone here. The figure of P'draig is familiar and becomes more so the closer she gets to him. "Hey there!" She calls softly once she's actually nearby.
Jekzith appears not to be in the vicinity to warn Paddy so it's her own hail that turns his head as she approaches with that glow. "Heya," he greets, smile visible in the glowlight, warm and friendly as ever. "Can't sleep?" is asked next and P'draig pats the ground beside him. "I came out for a swim. Head's too full of things tonight."
Nenita smiles, settling down onto the ground next to him. "I sleep late some nights. This has kind of become my midnight stomping grounds." She pulls the towel a little closer around her, putting her sandals down and placing the glow on top of them. "Bad things or just busy things?"
"Busy things," P'draig says with a bob of his head. "Nothing bad this seven," the brownrider replies and looks out over the water. "I swim. Skip stones. It's a habit I guess. Skipping stones. Helps settle my head."
"I sink stones." Nenita tells him, looking down at the water below her feet. "I like to just swim in the water. Usually the action of trying to float and not drown gets my mind off of everything else." She flicks her toes, making little splashes and ripples. "What's been busy, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Yeah, just throwing them can be ... a good release too. Just grab and throw," P'draig describes with a grin and a mimicking m ovement of his arm. "Mm. Water feels like ... a full on body hug. A really gentle one. You know? It's soothing." Breath puffed out and his shoulders roll a little. "Just ... getting used to being a wingrider again. In some ways it's not even that it's that /busy/, it's just the shape of things has changed a lot since I moved here two turns ago."
"I don't know that I've ever thought of it as a hug. More like a cool, refreshing thing." Nenita leans over, dipping her finger into the water. "Do you have to work harder? Or are you more stressed over the adjustment?" She asks, finger dipping some more before straightening up. "You don't look like you became a rider yesterday, I'm sure that you're going to do fine once you get going." She offers, smiling a touch.
"I always feel like it's wrapping me up, the water," P'draig describes with a folding motion of his hands and another smile. "No, less work really. I think Mic's right. I have a serious problem with /not/ working and /not/ being busy," Paddy says with a laugh. "I've been a rider for over sixteen turns, actually. And out of those, Fort's Weyrlingmaster for eleven."
"That I can understand. Why did you decide to come here? Fort wasn't doing it for you or was it something else?" Nenita asks, eyes casting over towards him. Those fingers earlier dipped are examined and she gives the water in front of her a curious look. "Did you go swimming already?" She queries before getting up and dropping her towel next to the sandals. The cook stays on shore only long enough to catchi his answer before slipping into the water.
"Heh, actually I loved Fort. I was born at the Reaches, but Fort was home for a really long time. No, I moved here to be with T'mic," P'draig says with a little grin. "Same timezone and everything. He ... can't take the cold. I handle the heat better than he does winter at Fort with all the snow." His smile is turned upward as she stands. "Went around once, but more floating would be nice." So saying he scoots forward to just drop into the water.
"That's how it goes, isn't it?" Nenita asks, watching him from where she floats in the water. "Those born in the heat can't stand the cold? Those born in the cold adjust to the heat?" She looks at him as he slips into the water, an apprciative smile on her lips. "How long do you stay out for before you go home? Is there a curfew?" She asks, smile turned mischief.
"Seems so," P'draig says laughingly and splashes water up his arms, then eases into a float himself, arms held out a little. "Nope. No curfew. Mic's ... out," he says with a chuckle. "Probably that new blond guy," the brownrider notes placidly.
Nenita's short legs kick to keep her floating and she swims closer to P'draig's vicinity. "Out? Oh..." She trails off once that realization of that sinks in. "So you're off all by your lonesome? Hardly seems fair." Lips quirk as she kicks off to the side, elbows finding some leverage while she watches him.
"Out," P'draig echoes placidly. "I am for now, he'll probably be home later," the brownrider continues, but slants a look sidelong at the cook. "It doesn't bother me. I have company myself often enough if Mic's busy."
"Does it ever get... mixed up? You show up with your own friend but he's already there with somebody else?" Nenita questions curiously. "Or do you have a system?" Quickly, she pushes off and slips beneath the water to come up with wet hair.
"Dragons," P'draig says with a laugh. "Aath'll tell Jekzith that Mic's bringing someone home. Sometimes it just uh ... turns into a uh ... party," the brownrider describes. "But our weyr has more than one room. So it's not a big deal for me to sack out on the couch if I don't feel like joining." Welcome to functional polyamory.
"A party?" Nenita's eyebrows lift, "Well, that sounds like it can get interesting." She brushes a piece of her hair out of her face, "Definitely interesting. How long have the two of you been together?"
"Yeah ... first time was ... an eye opener," P'draig says slowly then laughs a little, looks over her way. "Not scaring you am I?" And then another laugh. "That ... depends on when you count from. We've been official weyrmates, sharing a weyr for two turns. But we were together for a couple of turns before that."
The slow sentence generates a giggle from her, "Scaring me? I grew up in a weyr, the idea of... multiple partners isn't exactly new. But it's just sort of interesting hearing it from the horses mouth, so to speak." There's a shrug of Nenita's slim shoulder. "So no, I'm not frightened. Just curious." She floats onto her back, kicking a bit of water at him. "How did he win your heart over?"
"Okay, just had to make sure," Paddy says with a grin. "I don't usually sit around telling people about my sex life as an introduction," the brownrider notes. "I was ... weyrmated twice before. Really young with the first and we were together for a long time. When Thread came back she left. Went south and wound up with the guy who flew her gold. My second weyrmate was Palia's mother. But she didn't want Palia. Just me. That ... kind of made for a problem. Because I wouldn't choose her over our daughter." There's a hint of old pain in his voice there. "And in between weyrmates I was kind of lost. Jumped from woman to woman and then swore off relationships after Illya left me with Palia." He takes a deep breath before going on. "Mic won my heart by just being himself. And being there. It started out being about sex and getting me over my hangups about guys. But the more I talked to him, the more time we spent together, the freer I felt. He just /loves/ you see. I mean sure a lot of it is about sex. But he's probably also the most caring guy I know. I never doubt it. How much he loves me and it just ... it made all those rotten turns all better."
Nenita listens, nodding at the appropriate points and making supportive noises at others. "Is your daughter with you here then?" She asks, seemingly interested in that particular point. "He sounds like he's a terrific person to help you all of that. It takes a lot of understanding to get someone through a time like that. You know, without breaking yourself."
"Yes, she's got a room up in the weyr, but also stays down with the other kids sometimes. Flexible arrangement. I have a son here too, from after a flight," P'draig explains further. "He's fostered in the caverns." He nods though a lot. "Yeah Mic is just ... well you'd have to meet him, I think, to really understand," he laughs a little, sweeps a hand upward, over his hair. "He helped me be /me/ again, I guess is the best way to put it. Set me free from more than one hangup, made my heart all better." He taps his chest lightly. "It's not for everyone, but not living with a lot of guilt or jealousy all the time ... it's a really amazing way to be."
"I can see where there would be a lot of pros to do that. But..." Nenita shrugs her shoulders. "I can also see where there are plenty of people who couldn't adopt to that type of lifestyle." Her expression is neutral, as if the subject isn't a particularly touchy one for her. "So if you're not bringing up your sex life as a first introductory conversation, what do you bring up?"
"Yeah. It's not for everyone," P'draig agrees readily. "And well, I'm a family guy too. My kids are really important to me. So I spend a lot of my time when I'm not on duty with them, or visiting their brother at Telgar or bringing him down here." He laughs at that question and grins over her. "Food. My kids. Jekzith. How damn hot it's been."
"Exactly how many kids do you have?" Nenita asks, eyebrow going up. He's being watched with amusement as he answers the last question. She backs into the shelf behind her, pulling herself up onto the shore. "I'm going to head on back, the bugs are getting to be a little too much for me. Even in the water."
"Three," P'draig answers with a laugh and swims over as Nenita pulls upt out of the pool, leans his arms on its edge nearby and looks up at her, head tilted back a bit. "Mic has six." Her amusement is answered in his smile and he reaches over to nudge at her hand lightly. "Thanks for the company, tonight. Sometimes talking to someone helps too."
"Oh, I thought you were going to tell me si- six." Nenita laughs when P'draigh announces the number of T'mic's children. She shakes her head, reaching over for her towel. The hair is fluffed up to get some moisture out, that's when he touches her hand. She pauses, gaze dropping down. Her smile quirks again, "Anytime, I like being company for good people."
"Yeah. He started early. One of his daughters is a greenrider here, actually," P'draig explains. "Tosolla." The brownrider's eyes settle on the direction of her gaze and slowly his fingers slide along hers squeezes a little. "You're good people," he tells her sincerely before pushing up out of the pool himself to towel off and catch up his stuff for the walk back. "Walk you home?" he jokes a little.
"He must be proud, they're following in his footsteps." Nenita answers slowly, attention so clearly more on his fingers than what he's actually saying. When he pushes himself out of the water, she shakes her head. "Thanks." She answers back simply, standing and wrapping the towel around herself. Sandals are slipped on, "Would you? I hear it's dangerous to walk alone these days." The mischievous glint to her eye says that's probably not so.
"Yeah, some. He's not ... all that close to most o f his kids," P'draig says with a laugh. "I'm the family man. Not Mic." He waits until she's ready then falls into step with her, grinning down at her for the mischief in her eyes. A moment later his arm sneaks around her waist and he bends his head a little towards her. "Don't worry miss, I'll make sure you get home safe. That or ... you know, it's the likes of me you should be worrying about."
"At six you're probably stretched thin to pay attention to them all and have a life." Nenita notes, "As long as they're happy." The arm is around her waist and she at once tenses and then relaxes. Then there's something like a giggle, but a touch nervous. "Oh? I guess I'm just going to have to take my chances. If I go alone... Well, I'm just doomed for something bad then." She looks up, laughs a little and leans into him while they walk off.
"Yeah. Three is probably about it for me" P'draig says with a little nod. "They're good kids. Well okay, Dylan's still a baby, but ... yeah." He smiles with warm fondness for his family and his arm starts to retreat in the face of that tension. "I'll do my best to stave off doom," he teases and walks on back to the Bowl, turning the conversation to lighter things and leaves her at the entrance to her dorm room with a little salute and a wink.