Chatterboxes in Stores
Who: G'dri, Xhonya
When: It is an autumn afternoon, 14:41 of day 10, month 9, turn 20 of Interval 10.
Where: Stores, Fort Weyr
What: Xhonya needs winter clothing that fits and G'dri's looking for replacement buckles for his daughter's flight jacket.
Stores, Fort Weyr
Just off of the living cavern is a short tunnel that leads to the cavern complex of the stores, which consists of several caves of various sizes. Stairs lead further down to the darker, cooler caves which house root vegetables, dried herbs, cooking supplies, and row upon row of meat hung up on hooks. The upper level is devoted to everything else, with one cavern devoted entirely to clothing -- much of which might need mending to be useful -- and bedding, while another contains dragonriding supplies like straps, riding leathers, and oil. Other things that can be found here would be furniture, toys, basic supplies for crafters and anything else that folks in the Weyr might need to do.
Everything is neatly organized to the point of anal-retentiveness, ensuring that anyone can find what they're looking for as quickly as possible. Stores workers are usually on hand for those who don't know where to find what they're looking for.
The storerooms have been seeing quite a bit more activity lately than they're used to, as more and more Crafters and craftsmen (and -women!) within the Weyr are becoming forced to go scrounging. At least those who work in stores, keeping track of the tallies and requisitions that come through, are now left with something other to do than collect dust their own selves. Though with the general air of grumbliness, whether that's actually a good thing or not is debatable. This particular early afternoon also sees a dragonrider come rummaging, clinks and clatters emerging from the room wherein all such paraphernalia for those with large winged companions is kept. Anyone who might wander by, or be curious enough about the noise to come looking, would find G'dri up on a ladder digging through boxes at the very tippytop of one set of shelving.
With a curious mind and a sharp ear, it's one tiny soap maker who appears at the foot of the ladder to peer up at G'dri. Whatever she's here for is a mystery since her arms are as yet empty of any prizes. Rather than disturb the rider while he's on such a high perch, Xhonya waits until he seems steady and not engrossed in boxes to call up, "What are you doing up there?"
At 5'3", it's certainly not Xhonya's height that would impress a person. What does stand out about her is her wide, generous smile, and everything that frames it. Her skin is a healthy, peachy color, the sort of skin women covet and will do anything to possess. Her face is a long oval, her chin not too pointy. It's framed by long brown hair with caramel tones, with bangs that sweep sideways to her browbone. Her eyebrows are a neat arch over eyes that are almond shaped and chocolate brown. Her nose is broad but not overwhelmingly so - suitable to the shape of her face. It balances out her even-toothed smile. The rest of her body is built on small bones, but not in a way that makes her seem fragile or too skinny. Dainty and feminine would be the most accurate way to describe her.
She wears a short sleeved red blouse with a scalloped collar and white shorts. Her small feet are encased in black flats.
G'dri is a hard one to startle off a perch, even when he is distracted. After pushing a box back into place, but before reaching for the next one, he tilts one arm up and peers down at the girl through the frame it creates. "Buckles," he says, eyes creasing at the corners as he smiles. "I'm trying to find the little ones to replace a couple of the fastenings on my daughter's jacket. I think I may have to check the clothing cavern, however." That decided, he steps down a couple rungs but then pauses. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"
Lips tugging open over her teeth, Xhonya grins up at G'dri. "Oh. Probably not going to find the little ones up there. Aren't those for dragons?" She folds her hands behind her back, rocking onto her heels. "As it happens, I was trying to find clothing myself. I think I must have taken a wrong turn. I heard all the noise and came this way, just in case some giant tunnelsnake had gotten in and was putting some poor caverns worker in mortal peril." A dimple forms in each corner of her mouth impishly. "I am most pleased that I found no giant tunnelsnake. I confess I'm an awful coward!"
"The organization of this place is remarkable," G'dri notes easily. "Very efficient and compartmentalized. There was some little chance that such items as would be required to fix a flight jacket would be found with the rest of those items as serve dragonriders." He finishes descending the ladder, picks it up and turns to step to the end of the aisle and prop it safely out of the way where it won't trip anyone. "You are hardly much bigger than a tunnelsnake yourself," he laughs as he turns back to face her once more. "And I should think that you are not, in fact, a coward, for a coward would have fled at the noise, not come to investigate it. I am G'dri, blue Khameth's," he introduces himself then, with a little bow rather than an offered hand. "And if you wish, I can show you which cavern holds the clothing, just as soon as I fetch some oil."
Xhonya is a charming little minx, bouncing in place on the balls of her feet and grinning at him. "Oh, a flight jacket!" Giggling, she hoists one shoulder. "I don't know anything about riders, and even less about the stores in here, sorry." True, a tiny thing she is, but her eyes glimmer when she admits almost breathlessly, "I have a penchant for danger, see. A coward /and/ a fool!" She bobs a polite courtsey to him if he's going to bow. "Xhonya, the soap maker, and I'd be honored, sir."
G'dri returns that grin with his own open but still somehow slightly more reserved smile, a bit of a twinkle entering his blue eyes for her enthusiasm. "There is no need to apologise for a lack of knowledge, child." The bluerider says in a calm voice somewhat at odds with the humour evident in his expression. Right up until he's laughing again, a warm chuckle. "A fool, but a remarkably self aware fool, then. Ah," and the recognition might be surprising until he follows that with, "You are the girl that sometimes goes flying with Kai. Though he did not mention that you are a soap maker. Come then, the oil is two aisles down, and then we can move along to the clothes." A gesture of his hand indicates she should precede him, since he won't go pushing past her to the main aisle. "What specifically are you looking for? The autumn Gathers will be starting soon; a new dress, perhaps?"
"You know Kai?" Xhonya asks brightly, falling into step to tag along with the older bluerider. And then, flattered all the more, "He mentioned me?" A curl of rose decorates her cheeks for a moment. "Yeah, he's taken me flying a couple times. Chielyth is really fun. It's scary, but I like it!" Out in the main aisle she starts tittering about his question. "I'd have to have someone to wear a pretty dress for. Nobody's even mentioned the Gathers to me. I guess riders probably get to go to all of them they want, huh? I only ever got to go to the ones at home when they held them. No, no, no dresses. Some warmer clothes. I'm from the South, so I only have a few hand-me-down pieces, and it's getting colder."
"I do, yes. We became acquainted while he was still a weyrling," G'dri replies with a nod. Looking towards the girl for her second question, and the elder man's smile deepens when he spots the tinge of extra colour in her cheeks. "Yes, he did. Another point against your claim to being a coward, I should think, though I understand Chielyth doesn't fly as... enthusiastically with you as she does when by herself or with only Kai. She is quite remarkable in the air." The oil at least he knows exactly where it's kept and which shelf he wants to draw down a jug from. so once that's been retrieved and tucked into the crook of one arm, another gesture from his free hand. Back the way they came, doorward! "Does a pretty girl require someone to wear a pretty dress for, these days? My daughter will be crushed to hear it. We do, when we have time free from our duties. And often enough there are those willing to accept some item in trade for a ride, or are simply happy to take on a passenger if they're already planning on attending, so if you wished to go even without an escort, it should not be difficult for you to do so. Depending upon the quality of your soap, you perhaps shall have no trouble with barter should you wish. South, as in Southern, or perhaps Boll or Ista, Nerat?" That covers just about all the guesses, right? "Will this be your first winter, then?"
Xhonya bobs her head to his explaination. "I suppose it'd be a little hard for her to fly with two people on her back like she would with just one, huh? She's not very big." Which is to say, she's plenty big enough, just not in terms of dragons. She waits out in the aisle for him while he gets the oil and then turns the way he indicates. "Well, of course not, but it seems silly to get a pretty dress and nowhere to go. And I don't really know any dragonriders except B'kaiv and T'rev that I'd ask to take me. I'm sure they're both busy anyway." But perhaps, judging by her grin, she doesn't actually think either of them would tell her no. "Oh, I make good soap, sir. I've been doing it all of my life, and my grandmother did it all of her life, and she learned it from her mother, so I'm working to an advantage of a perfected recipe." Charmed by his attempt to guess where she's from, she simply directs another sunny smile up at him. "I won't bore you with where I come from. It doesn't matter too much in the long run. This will be my first winter here at Fort, yes. I've only been here for a few sevens. Just before the last clutch of eggs hatched is when I arrived, actually."
"The extra weight will present some difficulty," is confirmed, almost absently. "And yes, even for a green Chielyth is very small. Though you are not -so- big. Someone more a match with Kai's physique would be far more noticable to her." Another sidelong look is directed towards Xhonya as they make their way to the door, more considering this time than amused. "Our young Weyrleader, of a certainty, is quite busy. And his appearances at Gathers these days are likely far more occasions of business than pleasure." So less of the grinning, might be the inference. "Kai however, will likely be more available. You should ask him if he would like to attend one with you." Far more encouraging about the greenrider, he is. "A family tradition; those often do bring the best recipes, from pies to soaps one would assume. So have you come to Fort to ply your trade, or enhance it, or both?" She has no wish to volunteer, so the bluerider doesn't pry, doesn't even give her an odd look. Just accepts it as it is and moves on to something else. Assuming that of course she'd have watched, "Had you seen a Hatching before? Two doors down, left side." Presumably, where the clothes are.
Xhonya just giggles about his comment on how not-Kai-like she is. "Oh, T'rev's nice enough. I'm selling him some soap. He's been really nice. He bought me and Maitrey lunch the other day. Nobody's ever bought me lunch before!" A sidelong glance is directed up at G'dri for his almost unsubtle encouragement of her persual of his company. "To be honest, I'm not sure how B'kaiv feels about me. I messed up pretty bad with him, I think, but he said he wasn't mad at me. We were at the Vinter Hall, so I guess someone there upset him." Thin shoulders hike towards her ears uncertainly. "You, uh, really think I should ask him? Is that... too forward?" She reaches the door he directs her to and opens it up. "Hope they have something in my size. Maitrey keeps teasing me about how big my sweater is."
"He is," G'dri agrees about the niceness of T'rev. Of course he wouldn't go about badmouthing his Weyrleader even if there was anything bad to say - which there isn't, at least not to his mind. His smile returns, never far below the surface even when he's being serious. "Messed up?" he questions gently. Then, a short nod, something further in her words striking a chord with him but he doesn't follow it verbally. "If you two are becoming friends, most certainly. And that, child, depends upon how you asked him. Some men would see it as bold, if you asked with the intent of the occasion being something more, hm, intimate. But a simple desire to enjoy a day out with a friend, there is nothing too forward in that." With deepening crinkles about his merry eyes, "Even if the invitation is not entirely so innocent as that." Reaching with his free hand to hold the door so that she can step through first, then following her, "You are somewhat smaller in stature than my daughter, but I believe I can direct you well enough to the section of apparel that should hold sizes more suitable to you. I have helped her pick out 'new' items often enough." Eyeballing the shelves for a moment, he hangs a left, dipping his chin slightly as he starts silently counting along the rows.
Now the blush flares up even hotter on her cheeks. "I thought I had gotten us kicked out at Vinter. But he said it wasn't me. I just didn't want to tell some jerky Journeyman my name. I was outside with Chielyth, so it wasn't even his business." Said with the righteous conviction of the very young. "Um. I don't think he's interested in anything...romantic. It'd just be as friends. If that's even what we are." The logic here being dragonriders have better people to be friends with, right? Inside this new cavern she looks around at everything for a long moment and then lets him have the lead. "I'm glad you know where things are. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but more often than not I can't find my way out of a canvas bag. I usually just grab the first thing I find that might sort of work when I come in here."
G'dri frowns a moment, shaking his head. "Even were the poor attitude of another your fault, a Journeyman has no real authority to kick someone out of a Hall. Such prerogative as that remains with the Craftmaster and their staff. Journeyman are limited to, as you say, being jerky, if they are so inclined." Whatever disapproval there was for bad manners fades quickly under a return of mild amusement. "Friendships take time to grow. There is a start here, in that there is something you can enjoy together. Anything further will come, in time. Instant connections are rare, off the Sands." He pauses, considering his next words carefully before delivering them, "Do not be disheartened by his manner." Implication: there's more to gruff and growly if one has the patience to wait it out. "I have lived here for twenty-three turns. I should hope by now I know where things are. Though I will tell you, the storerooms were not always to precisely organized. Even the stores assistants could lost in here, once upon a time. Ah, here we are." He stops by a set of shelves with neatly folded clothes all lined up not just by size and type but colour too, with the lower shelves at the back half removed for the hanging of dresses. "I'm not sure if the smaller sizes will be one shelf further up or one back, though I'd recommend some oversized items so that you can layer shirts and leggings beneath them."
Xhonya laughs softly. "You know, I don't think that guy told me a single line of truth. Told me I'd have to sign a visitor's log before they'd let me in the Hall and all kinds of things. And the apprentices told me all greenriders are gay!" A dainty snort is given for that idea. Obviously, they're all backwater there, right? She turns a genuine, shy smile up at him. "I...get the impression that Kai might not be as nice to everyone else as he is to me? I... like him though. He's been kinder than I feel I deserve sometimes." Doesn't hurt that he's cute. The trip down the rows to the clothing is silent. Dubiously: "Could try some stuff on, make sure it's the right size. You've been very helpful. I hope you find those buckles."
"Well," and here G'dri will allow there might be a little bit of truth in what Xhonya was told, maybe, "Benden's Vintner Hall has always been a little more... guarded... than others usually are. They do after all, have the secrets of their fine wines to protect." For all the so-serious delivery, once the words are spoken the bluerider drops a wink to the girl. "Ha! Yes, a commonly held misconception, that one. Often male greenriders are, or at least are open to both genders as potential partners, but it is not always the case. Though greens and even blues do seem to choose such individuals more often than not. However I also am personally acquainted with many female greenriders who would object most heartily to being called gay, for they do love their men." For her guess, he simply smiles, "That is not, I think, an entirely accurate description. He is a very nice young man." What he is though, G'dri doesn't say. He has said quite enough. The rest is up to her. "I don't believe anyone will object to you trying any items on. When you find that which suits, remember to seek an assistant so they can log the removal to keep their numbers accurate for the next inventory. I have been happy to be of assistance, and it has been a pleasure making your acquaintance, young Xhonya, thank you." With another little bow and an encouraging smile, he'll reorient himself and head off in the opposite direction, in search of those buckles.
When: It is an autumn afternoon, 14:41 of day 10, month 9, turn 20 of Interval 10.
Where: Stores, Fort Weyr
What: Xhonya needs winter clothing that fits and G'dri's looking for replacement buckles for his daughter's flight jacket.
Stores, Fort Weyr
Just off of the living cavern is a short tunnel that leads to the cavern complex of the stores, which consists of several caves of various sizes. Stairs lead further down to the darker, cooler caves which house root vegetables, dried herbs, cooking supplies, and row upon row of meat hung up on hooks. The upper level is devoted to everything else, with one cavern devoted entirely to clothing -- much of which might need mending to be useful -- and bedding, while another contains dragonriding supplies like straps, riding leathers, and oil. Other things that can be found here would be furniture, toys, basic supplies for crafters and anything else that folks in the Weyr might need to do.
Everything is neatly organized to the point of anal-retentiveness, ensuring that anyone can find what they're looking for as quickly as possible. Stores workers are usually on hand for those who don't know where to find what they're looking for.
The storerooms have been seeing quite a bit more activity lately than they're used to, as more and more Crafters and craftsmen (and -women!) within the Weyr are becoming forced to go scrounging. At least those who work in stores, keeping track of the tallies and requisitions that come through, are now left with something other to do than collect dust their own selves. Though with the general air of grumbliness, whether that's actually a good thing or not is debatable. This particular early afternoon also sees a dragonrider come rummaging, clinks and clatters emerging from the room wherein all such paraphernalia for those with large winged companions is kept. Anyone who might wander by, or be curious enough about the noise to come looking, would find G'dri up on a ladder digging through boxes at the very tippytop of one set of shelving.
With a curious mind and a sharp ear, it's one tiny soap maker who appears at the foot of the ladder to peer up at G'dri. Whatever she's here for is a mystery since her arms are as yet empty of any prizes. Rather than disturb the rider while he's on such a high perch, Xhonya waits until he seems steady and not engrossed in boxes to call up, "What are you doing up there?"
At 5'3", it's certainly not Xhonya's height that would impress a person. What does stand out about her is her wide, generous smile, and everything that frames it. Her skin is a healthy, peachy color, the sort of skin women covet and will do anything to possess. Her face is a long oval, her chin not too pointy. It's framed by long brown hair with caramel tones, with bangs that sweep sideways to her browbone. Her eyebrows are a neat arch over eyes that are almond shaped and chocolate brown. Her nose is broad but not overwhelmingly so - suitable to the shape of her face. It balances out her even-toothed smile. The rest of her body is built on small bones, but not in a way that makes her seem fragile or too skinny. Dainty and feminine would be the most accurate way to describe her.
She wears a short sleeved red blouse with a scalloped collar and white shorts. Her small feet are encased in black flats.
G'dri is a hard one to startle off a perch, even when he is distracted. After pushing a box back into place, but before reaching for the next one, he tilts one arm up and peers down at the girl through the frame it creates. "Buckles," he says, eyes creasing at the corners as he smiles. "I'm trying to find the little ones to replace a couple of the fastenings on my daughter's jacket. I think I may have to check the clothing cavern, however." That decided, he steps down a couple rungs but then pauses. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"
Lips tugging open over her teeth, Xhonya grins up at G'dri. "Oh. Probably not going to find the little ones up there. Aren't those for dragons?" She folds her hands behind her back, rocking onto her heels. "As it happens, I was trying to find clothing myself. I think I must have taken a wrong turn. I heard all the noise and came this way, just in case some giant tunnelsnake had gotten in and was putting some poor caverns worker in mortal peril." A dimple forms in each corner of her mouth impishly. "I am most pleased that I found no giant tunnelsnake. I confess I'm an awful coward!"
"The organization of this place is remarkable," G'dri notes easily. "Very efficient and compartmentalized. There was some little chance that such items as would be required to fix a flight jacket would be found with the rest of those items as serve dragonriders." He finishes descending the ladder, picks it up and turns to step to the end of the aisle and prop it safely out of the way where it won't trip anyone. "You are hardly much bigger than a tunnelsnake yourself," he laughs as he turns back to face her once more. "And I should think that you are not, in fact, a coward, for a coward would have fled at the noise, not come to investigate it. I am G'dri, blue Khameth's," he introduces himself then, with a little bow rather than an offered hand. "And if you wish, I can show you which cavern holds the clothing, just as soon as I fetch some oil."
Xhonya is a charming little minx, bouncing in place on the balls of her feet and grinning at him. "Oh, a flight jacket!" Giggling, she hoists one shoulder. "I don't know anything about riders, and even less about the stores in here, sorry." True, a tiny thing she is, but her eyes glimmer when she admits almost breathlessly, "I have a penchant for danger, see. A coward /and/ a fool!" She bobs a polite courtsey to him if he's going to bow. "Xhonya, the soap maker, and I'd be honored, sir."
G'dri returns that grin with his own open but still somehow slightly more reserved smile, a bit of a twinkle entering his blue eyes for her enthusiasm. "There is no need to apologise for a lack of knowledge, child." The bluerider says in a calm voice somewhat at odds with the humour evident in his expression. Right up until he's laughing again, a warm chuckle. "A fool, but a remarkably self aware fool, then. Ah," and the recognition might be surprising until he follows that with, "You are the girl that sometimes goes flying with Kai. Though he did not mention that you are a soap maker. Come then, the oil is two aisles down, and then we can move along to the clothes." A gesture of his hand indicates she should precede him, since he won't go pushing past her to the main aisle. "What specifically are you looking for? The autumn Gathers will be starting soon; a new dress, perhaps?"
"You know Kai?" Xhonya asks brightly, falling into step to tag along with the older bluerider. And then, flattered all the more, "He mentioned me?" A curl of rose decorates her cheeks for a moment. "Yeah, he's taken me flying a couple times. Chielyth is really fun. It's scary, but I like it!" Out in the main aisle she starts tittering about his question. "I'd have to have someone to wear a pretty dress for. Nobody's even mentioned the Gathers to me. I guess riders probably get to go to all of them they want, huh? I only ever got to go to the ones at home when they held them. No, no, no dresses. Some warmer clothes. I'm from the South, so I only have a few hand-me-down pieces, and it's getting colder."
"I do, yes. We became acquainted while he was still a weyrling," G'dri replies with a nod. Looking towards the girl for her second question, and the elder man's smile deepens when he spots the tinge of extra colour in her cheeks. "Yes, he did. Another point against your claim to being a coward, I should think, though I understand Chielyth doesn't fly as... enthusiastically with you as she does when by herself or with only Kai. She is quite remarkable in the air." The oil at least he knows exactly where it's kept and which shelf he wants to draw down a jug from. so once that's been retrieved and tucked into the crook of one arm, another gesture from his free hand. Back the way they came, doorward! "Does a pretty girl require someone to wear a pretty dress for, these days? My daughter will be crushed to hear it. We do, when we have time free from our duties. And often enough there are those willing to accept some item in trade for a ride, or are simply happy to take on a passenger if they're already planning on attending, so if you wished to go even without an escort, it should not be difficult for you to do so. Depending upon the quality of your soap, you perhaps shall have no trouble with barter should you wish. South, as in Southern, or perhaps Boll or Ista, Nerat?" That covers just about all the guesses, right? "Will this be your first winter, then?"
Xhonya bobs her head to his explaination. "I suppose it'd be a little hard for her to fly with two people on her back like she would with just one, huh? She's not very big." Which is to say, she's plenty big enough, just not in terms of dragons. She waits out in the aisle for him while he gets the oil and then turns the way he indicates. "Well, of course not, but it seems silly to get a pretty dress and nowhere to go. And I don't really know any dragonriders except B'kaiv and T'rev that I'd ask to take me. I'm sure they're both busy anyway." But perhaps, judging by her grin, she doesn't actually think either of them would tell her no. "Oh, I make good soap, sir. I've been doing it all of my life, and my grandmother did it all of her life, and she learned it from her mother, so I'm working to an advantage of a perfected recipe." Charmed by his attempt to guess where she's from, she simply directs another sunny smile up at him. "I won't bore you with where I come from. It doesn't matter too much in the long run. This will be my first winter here at Fort, yes. I've only been here for a few sevens. Just before the last clutch of eggs hatched is when I arrived, actually."
"The extra weight will present some difficulty," is confirmed, almost absently. "And yes, even for a green Chielyth is very small. Though you are not -so- big. Someone more a match with Kai's physique would be far more noticable to her." Another sidelong look is directed towards Xhonya as they make their way to the door, more considering this time than amused. "Our young Weyrleader, of a certainty, is quite busy. And his appearances at Gathers these days are likely far more occasions of business than pleasure." So less of the grinning, might be the inference. "Kai however, will likely be more available. You should ask him if he would like to attend one with you." Far more encouraging about the greenrider, he is. "A family tradition; those often do bring the best recipes, from pies to soaps one would assume. So have you come to Fort to ply your trade, or enhance it, or both?" She has no wish to volunteer, so the bluerider doesn't pry, doesn't even give her an odd look. Just accepts it as it is and moves on to something else. Assuming that of course she'd have watched, "Had you seen a Hatching before? Two doors down, left side." Presumably, where the clothes are.
Xhonya just giggles about his comment on how not-Kai-like she is. "Oh, T'rev's nice enough. I'm selling him some soap. He's been really nice. He bought me and Maitrey lunch the other day. Nobody's ever bought me lunch before!" A sidelong glance is directed up at G'dri for his almost unsubtle encouragement of her persual of his company. "To be honest, I'm not sure how B'kaiv feels about me. I messed up pretty bad with him, I think, but he said he wasn't mad at me. We were at the Vinter Hall, so I guess someone there upset him." Thin shoulders hike towards her ears uncertainly. "You, uh, really think I should ask him? Is that... too forward?" She reaches the door he directs her to and opens it up. "Hope they have something in my size. Maitrey keeps teasing me about how big my sweater is."
"He is," G'dri agrees about the niceness of T'rev. Of course he wouldn't go about badmouthing his Weyrleader even if there was anything bad to say - which there isn't, at least not to his mind. His smile returns, never far below the surface even when he's being serious. "Messed up?" he questions gently. Then, a short nod, something further in her words striking a chord with him but he doesn't follow it verbally. "If you two are becoming friends, most certainly. And that, child, depends upon how you asked him. Some men would see it as bold, if you asked with the intent of the occasion being something more, hm, intimate. But a simple desire to enjoy a day out with a friend, there is nothing too forward in that." With deepening crinkles about his merry eyes, "Even if the invitation is not entirely so innocent as that." Reaching with his free hand to hold the door so that she can step through first, then following her, "You are somewhat smaller in stature than my daughter, but I believe I can direct you well enough to the section of apparel that should hold sizes more suitable to you. I have helped her pick out 'new' items often enough." Eyeballing the shelves for a moment, he hangs a left, dipping his chin slightly as he starts silently counting along the rows.
Now the blush flares up even hotter on her cheeks. "I thought I had gotten us kicked out at Vinter. But he said it wasn't me. I just didn't want to tell some jerky Journeyman my name. I was outside with Chielyth, so it wasn't even his business." Said with the righteous conviction of the very young. "Um. I don't think he's interested in anything...romantic. It'd just be as friends. If that's even what we are." The logic here being dragonriders have better people to be friends with, right? Inside this new cavern she looks around at everything for a long moment and then lets him have the lead. "I'm glad you know where things are. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but more often than not I can't find my way out of a canvas bag. I usually just grab the first thing I find that might sort of work when I come in here."
G'dri frowns a moment, shaking his head. "Even were the poor attitude of another your fault, a Journeyman has no real authority to kick someone out of a Hall. Such prerogative as that remains with the Craftmaster and their staff. Journeyman are limited to, as you say, being jerky, if they are so inclined." Whatever disapproval there was for bad manners fades quickly under a return of mild amusement. "Friendships take time to grow. There is a start here, in that there is something you can enjoy together. Anything further will come, in time. Instant connections are rare, off the Sands." He pauses, considering his next words carefully before delivering them, "Do not be disheartened by his manner." Implication: there's more to gruff and growly if one has the patience to wait it out. "I have lived here for twenty-three turns. I should hope by now I know where things are. Though I will tell you, the storerooms were not always to precisely organized. Even the stores assistants could lost in here, once upon a time. Ah, here we are." He stops by a set of shelves with neatly folded clothes all lined up not just by size and type but colour too, with the lower shelves at the back half removed for the hanging of dresses. "I'm not sure if the smaller sizes will be one shelf further up or one back, though I'd recommend some oversized items so that you can layer shirts and leggings beneath them."
Xhonya laughs softly. "You know, I don't think that guy told me a single line of truth. Told me I'd have to sign a visitor's log before they'd let me in the Hall and all kinds of things. And the apprentices told me all greenriders are gay!" A dainty snort is given for that idea. Obviously, they're all backwater there, right? She turns a genuine, shy smile up at him. "I...get the impression that Kai might not be as nice to everyone else as he is to me? I... like him though. He's been kinder than I feel I deserve sometimes." Doesn't hurt that he's cute. The trip down the rows to the clothing is silent. Dubiously: "Could try some stuff on, make sure it's the right size. You've been very helpful. I hope you find those buckles."
"Well," and here G'dri will allow there might be a little bit of truth in what Xhonya was told, maybe, "Benden's Vintner Hall has always been a little more... guarded... than others usually are. They do after all, have the secrets of their fine wines to protect." For all the so-serious delivery, once the words are spoken the bluerider drops a wink to the girl. "Ha! Yes, a commonly held misconception, that one. Often male greenriders are, or at least are open to both genders as potential partners, but it is not always the case. Though greens and even blues do seem to choose such individuals more often than not. However I also am personally acquainted with many female greenriders who would object most heartily to being called gay, for they do love their men." For her guess, he simply smiles, "That is not, I think, an entirely accurate description. He is a very nice young man." What he is though, G'dri doesn't say. He has said quite enough. The rest is up to her. "I don't believe anyone will object to you trying any items on. When you find that which suits, remember to seek an assistant so they can log the removal to keep their numbers accurate for the next inventory. I have been happy to be of assistance, and it has been a pleasure making your acquaintance, young Xhonya, thank you." With another little bow and an encouraging smile, he'll reorient himself and head off in the opposite direction, in search of those buckles.