LOG: Dad
Date: Day 1, Month 12, Turn 23
Location: Nighthearth, High Reaches Weyr
Synopsis: Avey, Kasey and K'del: happy family.
Nighthearth, High Reaches Weyr
With its entrance located between the kitchen and the living cavern, this tiny bubble cavern is cozy, always kept warm and is filled with comfortable chairs and a small round table. At the far end, there's a hearth, outlined in ruddy, aging bricks, where a pot of stew simmers in the evening hours. Generally quiet, the nighthearth is the haunt of insomniacs and those seeking quiet from the bustle of daily Weyr life.
It's all snowy and yucky and nasty outside, and the riding jacket slung over the back of the chair Avey's sitting in looks a bit damp, but a hungry baby is a hungry baby. Avey's curled up in a comfortable chair with Kasey nursing away. She looks just on the edge of dozing, herself.
Enter K'del, looking damp and windswept, and still wrapped up in all of his outer gear. He's halfway to the hearth when Avey and Kasey catch his attention, which abruptly alters his path; instead, he sinks into a chair opposite them, leaning forward to reach out one hand towards them. "Hey," he mostly-whispers.
Avey starts, despite the soft approach, and jars Kasey loose as her head pops up. He fusses and she just uses her hand to aim his head right back at her boob again: it's a problem easily solved, and after a moment, he's quiet again. She smirks. "Works every time, on old and young," she says playfully to K'del.
The apology on K'del's expression fades into a mirthful smirk. "We're men," he tells her, presumably including his son in that assessment. "It's what we do. Got to start young... shells, it's probably half of /why/ we're so enthusiastic." Of boobs, later in life. Probably. "Didn't mean to interrupt you, though." Now, he begins to unwind his scarf, pull off his gloves.
"Oh, it's fine. It's not like he's much of a conversationalist, yet," Avey points out. "So, you doing alright? I heard Milani took off on you." She's brusquely sympathetic about it.
K'del's forward dipped head agrees: it's true, conversation is /not/ one of Kasey's skills, yet. Mention of Milani draws a more rueful expression, his nod, this time, more reluctant. "She's-- yeah. It's been hard on her. Reckon she'll do better down south, though, and hopefully she'll be back before too long. But Nik is doing well, at least."
"Oh! She's coming back, then?" Avey is surprised: apparently she'd heard some alternate version of the story. "Well, that's good. And good about the baby. We should have them -- play, or something." She laughs at the thought. "I dunno, they could roll over together? Kasey's getting pretty good at it. You have to flip him back over, though, or he gets mad; he can only go one way."
"She is," confirms K'del, so firmly that it is probably difficult not to assume that he's doing his very best to make himself, and everyone else around him, believe it. If being firm makes something true... "Hah! Not sure Nik is quite up to rolling over, yet-- though maybe his big brother could teach him." He looks utterly proud: his boys. "He really is getting big." His nod towards Kasey seems to indicate which son he's talking about.
Avey grins. "Yeah, he is. He'll be beating Nik up before you know it," she teases. Kasey seems to have finished eating for now; he turns his head away and squirms, and Avey shifts him to her other arm so she can button her shirt back up. "Go see your dad," she tells him.
K'del bemoans, with a shake of the head, "Guess I'll be breaking up fights for the rest of my life. Best friends, enemies-- bet they'll be both." Despite his words, he seems pleased with this idea, somehow. Avey's last words have him extending both arms to accept the baby. "C'mere, big guy."
Avey hands him over, and shifts in the chair to get more comfortable. "Probably," she agrees. "I mean, they're almost like twins, kind of. Did you have any siblings close to your age?" she asks, smiling brightly as she watches K'del with the baby.
K'del handles Kasey with relatively practiced ease, no doubt picked up both thanks to his two kids, and any number of nieces and nephews. "Pretty much," he agrees. "Bet Kasey'll lord his seniority a bit, but ultimately... it's pretty close." After a beat, looking briefly wistful, he says, "My sister, Nakasha, is eighteen months younger than me. We were pretty close."
"Oh, right." Avey wrinkles her nose, again looking sympathetic, and there's an awkward pause. Kasey reaches out and latches on to K'del's shirt with one hand, and drools. "Well, it's good they'll have each other."
K'del, at least, doesn't look /too/ upset, after that initial moment of wistfulness. And there's Kasey: that has to help. Though he watches the baby, he doesn't seem too concerned about drool. "It is," he agrees, firmly. "Reckon it's a nice thing: having siblings like that. Even half siblings."
"I think so! I didn't have any. That I knew of," Avey amends, and shrugs. "But I had lots of friends anyway, so it's not like it was bad or anything." Noticing the drool, she pulls a handkerchief out of her pocket and offers it to K'del.
K'del accepts the handkerchief, and uses it to wipe Kasey's mouth with, baby-talking merrily as he does so; something about being a drippy baby aren't you. When he's done with that, he glances up again to add, "Figure kids growing up in weyrs can't ever be /really/ lonely, siblings or not. But-- it's nice, anyway."
"Yeah, there's always eighty bajillion kids around," Avey agrees. "If I weren't feeding him they were going to have to hire someone to come in from the hold. They ran out of wetnurse boobs, or something." She smirks. "At least he ought to be able to eat real food by the time winter's over." Kasey makes faces as his mouth is wiped and then stares up at K'del with that wide-eyed look of fascination that babies get.
K'del's brows raise at that news, and after a moment, he shakes his head. "Crazy," he says, grinning. "Guess we're having a mini baby boom, or something. Everyone's having 'em." He jiggles Kasey in his arms contentedly, then sticks his tongue out at the baby, making a face. "Guess in fifteen turns or so we'll have plenty of candidates for any eggs we might have."
"Yeah. Well, we do anyway, right?" Avey points out. "The clutches are so small. They say during the Pass there'd be forty eggs, sometimes. Can you imagine? You wouldn't even know everyone's name that you were a weyrling with!" Kasey smiles at the faces K'del makes - or maybe it's just gas.
K'del's head shakes: he can't imagine. "And half the people you /did/ know'd probably die in threadfall," he says, after a moment, all doom and gloom. "But-- this time? Almost none of the weyrbred kids want to Stand. Seriously, there's like four or five of them, so far, that's it. Guess people don't want to take the risk." Gas or no, K'del takes Kasey's smile as encouragement, and continues the faces.
Avey giggles at the faces. "You look ridiculous," she teases K'del. "...seriously, /none/ of them? That's completely bizarre. I mean, it's not like clutches get laid all that often, you know? By next time, they could all be too old!"
K'del seems unconcerned by his ridiculosness, and tells Avey as much: "As long as /Kasey/ enjoys it." Of the candidates, he nods, wrinkling his nose. "Far as I can see, the only ones who /are/ willing, are the ones who'll definitely be too old to get another chance, and maybe one or two who just want their first chance. It's-- frustrating. I know people're worried, but..."
"They look like perfectly normal eggs to me," Avey says with a shrug. "And you know, they always said firestone makes queens infertile. Not that it makes them lay messed up dragons. So I think it's kind of stupid, but -- whatever." Again she shrugs, and she pushes to her feet. "I better bring him back to the nursery. Otherwise he's going to fall asleep on you. And they tell me it's stupid hard getting him back to sleep if he wakes up when you're putting him down."
K'del is probably not one hundred percent certain of the eggs, but he nods nonetheless. "Right. They /look/ fine, and Iskiveth thinks they're fine. It's just-- people worry, I guess." But it's not important: certainly not as important as giving his son a goodnight kiss and a cuddle, then handing him back. "Suppose that makes sense," he allows. "Wouldn't wish that trouble on anyone."
"Me either, or else they'll make me keep him in my weyr at night," Avey says with a smirk as she takes Kasey back, tickling him under his chin to make him smile again. "Well, um, I'll... see you, I guess?" She tilts her head slightly.
/That/ makes K'del grin, amused. "Can't have that!" His arms drop back to his sides once Kasey is securely in Avey's grasp, and he nods. "Look after yourself, Avey. Maybe-- we could hang out or something, soon. My evenings are pretty much free at the moment."
"Hang out," Avey repeats, amused. "Yeah, we could do that. I'm free in, oh, about ten minutes." With a mischievous grin, she hefts Kasey in her arms and carries him out, down the corridor toward the nursery.
K'del can't help himself: he grins, utterly amused, as he watches Avey and Kasey head for the door. Hurray!
Location: Nighthearth, High Reaches Weyr
Synopsis: Avey, Kasey and K'del: happy family.
Nighthearth, High Reaches Weyr
With its entrance located between the kitchen and the living cavern, this tiny bubble cavern is cozy, always kept warm and is filled with comfortable chairs and a small round table. At the far end, there's a hearth, outlined in ruddy, aging bricks, where a pot of stew simmers in the evening hours. Generally quiet, the nighthearth is the haunt of insomniacs and those seeking quiet from the bustle of daily Weyr life.
It's all snowy and yucky and nasty outside, and the riding jacket slung over the back of the chair Avey's sitting in looks a bit damp, but a hungry baby is a hungry baby. Avey's curled up in a comfortable chair with Kasey nursing away. She looks just on the edge of dozing, herself.
Enter K'del, looking damp and windswept, and still wrapped up in all of his outer gear. He's halfway to the hearth when Avey and Kasey catch his attention, which abruptly alters his path; instead, he sinks into a chair opposite them, leaning forward to reach out one hand towards them. "Hey," he mostly-whispers.
Avey starts, despite the soft approach, and jars Kasey loose as her head pops up. He fusses and she just uses her hand to aim his head right back at her boob again: it's a problem easily solved, and after a moment, he's quiet again. She smirks. "Works every time, on old and young," she says playfully to K'del.
The apology on K'del's expression fades into a mirthful smirk. "We're men," he tells her, presumably including his son in that assessment. "It's what we do. Got to start young... shells, it's probably half of /why/ we're so enthusiastic." Of boobs, later in life. Probably. "Didn't mean to interrupt you, though." Now, he begins to unwind his scarf, pull off his gloves.
"Oh, it's fine. It's not like he's much of a conversationalist, yet," Avey points out. "So, you doing alright? I heard Milani took off on you." She's brusquely sympathetic about it.
K'del's forward dipped head agrees: it's true, conversation is /not/ one of Kasey's skills, yet. Mention of Milani draws a more rueful expression, his nod, this time, more reluctant. "She's-- yeah. It's been hard on her. Reckon she'll do better down south, though, and hopefully she'll be back before too long. But Nik is doing well, at least."
"Oh! She's coming back, then?" Avey is surprised: apparently she'd heard some alternate version of the story. "Well, that's good. And good about the baby. We should have them -- play, or something." She laughs at the thought. "I dunno, they could roll over together? Kasey's getting pretty good at it. You have to flip him back over, though, or he gets mad; he can only go one way."
"She is," confirms K'del, so firmly that it is probably difficult not to assume that he's doing his very best to make himself, and everyone else around him, believe it. If being firm makes something true... "Hah! Not sure Nik is quite up to rolling over, yet-- though maybe his big brother could teach him." He looks utterly proud: his boys. "He really is getting big." His nod towards Kasey seems to indicate which son he's talking about.
Avey grins. "Yeah, he is. He'll be beating Nik up before you know it," she teases. Kasey seems to have finished eating for now; he turns his head away and squirms, and Avey shifts him to her other arm so she can button her shirt back up. "Go see your dad," she tells him.
K'del bemoans, with a shake of the head, "Guess I'll be breaking up fights for the rest of my life. Best friends, enemies-- bet they'll be both." Despite his words, he seems pleased with this idea, somehow. Avey's last words have him extending both arms to accept the baby. "C'mere, big guy."
Avey hands him over, and shifts in the chair to get more comfortable. "Probably," she agrees. "I mean, they're almost like twins, kind of. Did you have any siblings close to your age?" she asks, smiling brightly as she watches K'del with the baby.
K'del handles Kasey with relatively practiced ease, no doubt picked up both thanks to his two kids, and any number of nieces and nephews. "Pretty much," he agrees. "Bet Kasey'll lord his seniority a bit, but ultimately... it's pretty close." After a beat, looking briefly wistful, he says, "My sister, Nakasha, is eighteen months younger than me. We were pretty close."
"Oh, right." Avey wrinkles her nose, again looking sympathetic, and there's an awkward pause. Kasey reaches out and latches on to K'del's shirt with one hand, and drools. "Well, it's good they'll have each other."
K'del, at least, doesn't look /too/ upset, after that initial moment of wistfulness. And there's Kasey: that has to help. Though he watches the baby, he doesn't seem too concerned about drool. "It is," he agrees, firmly. "Reckon it's a nice thing: having siblings like that. Even half siblings."
"I think so! I didn't have any. That I knew of," Avey amends, and shrugs. "But I had lots of friends anyway, so it's not like it was bad or anything." Noticing the drool, she pulls a handkerchief out of her pocket and offers it to K'del.
K'del accepts the handkerchief, and uses it to wipe Kasey's mouth with, baby-talking merrily as he does so; something about being a drippy baby aren't you. When he's done with that, he glances up again to add, "Figure kids growing up in weyrs can't ever be /really/ lonely, siblings or not. But-- it's nice, anyway."
"Yeah, there's always eighty bajillion kids around," Avey agrees. "If I weren't feeding him they were going to have to hire someone to come in from the hold. They ran out of wetnurse boobs, or something." She smirks. "At least he ought to be able to eat real food by the time winter's over." Kasey makes faces as his mouth is wiped and then stares up at K'del with that wide-eyed look of fascination that babies get.
K'del's brows raise at that news, and after a moment, he shakes his head. "Crazy," he says, grinning. "Guess we're having a mini baby boom, or something. Everyone's having 'em." He jiggles Kasey in his arms contentedly, then sticks his tongue out at the baby, making a face. "Guess in fifteen turns or so we'll have plenty of candidates for any eggs we might have."
"Yeah. Well, we do anyway, right?" Avey points out. "The clutches are so small. They say during the Pass there'd be forty eggs, sometimes. Can you imagine? You wouldn't even know everyone's name that you were a weyrling with!" Kasey smiles at the faces K'del makes - or maybe it's just gas.
K'del's head shakes: he can't imagine. "And half the people you /did/ know'd probably die in threadfall," he says, after a moment, all doom and gloom. "But-- this time? Almost none of the weyrbred kids want to Stand. Seriously, there's like four or five of them, so far, that's it. Guess people don't want to take the risk." Gas or no, K'del takes Kasey's smile as encouragement, and continues the faces.
Avey giggles at the faces. "You look ridiculous," she teases K'del. "...seriously, /none/ of them? That's completely bizarre. I mean, it's not like clutches get laid all that often, you know? By next time, they could all be too old!"
K'del seems unconcerned by his ridiculosness, and tells Avey as much: "As long as /Kasey/ enjoys it." Of the candidates, he nods, wrinkling his nose. "Far as I can see, the only ones who /are/ willing, are the ones who'll definitely be too old to get another chance, and maybe one or two who just want their first chance. It's-- frustrating. I know people're worried, but..."
"They look like perfectly normal eggs to me," Avey says with a shrug. "And you know, they always said firestone makes queens infertile. Not that it makes them lay messed up dragons. So I think it's kind of stupid, but -- whatever." Again she shrugs, and she pushes to her feet. "I better bring him back to the nursery. Otherwise he's going to fall asleep on you. And they tell me it's stupid hard getting him back to sleep if he wakes up when you're putting him down."
K'del is probably not one hundred percent certain of the eggs, but he nods nonetheless. "Right. They /look/ fine, and Iskiveth thinks they're fine. It's just-- people worry, I guess." But it's not important: certainly not as important as giving his son a goodnight kiss and a cuddle, then handing him back. "Suppose that makes sense," he allows. "Wouldn't wish that trouble on anyone."
"Me either, or else they'll make me keep him in my weyr at night," Avey says with a smirk as she takes Kasey back, tickling him under his chin to make him smile again. "Well, um, I'll... see you, I guess?" She tilts her head slightly.
/That/ makes K'del grin, amused. "Can't have that!" His arms drop back to his sides once Kasey is securely in Avey's grasp, and he nods. "Look after yourself, Avey. Maybe-- we could hang out or something, soon. My evenings are pretty much free at the moment."
"Hang out," Avey repeats, amused. "Yeah, we could do that. I'm free in, oh, about ten minutes." With a mischievous grin, she hefts Kasey in her arms and carries him out, down the corridor toward the nursery.
K'del can't help himself: he grins, utterly amused, as he watches Avey and Kasey head for the door. Hurray!