Log: A Talker and A Listener
Who: Madilla, Milani
When: Early evening, 1/21/20
Where: Common Room, High Reaches Weyr
What: Madilla and Milani catch up and talk about what's strange and not. Including Mr. Brilliant-But-Maybe-Crazy Alex.
Resident Common Room, High Reaches Weyr(#378RJs)
Just off of the main passageway lies the small cavern that forms the hub of the residents' quarters, kept immaculately clean by the headwoman's staff and warmed in cold weather by a stone hearth to the left and well back from the entrance. Comfortable chairs and a plush fur arrayed before the hearth make an inviting spot to curl up with a book or handicraft, or just to sit and chat. Beyond, additional chairs stand in clusters throughout the room, some upholstered with age-softened hide, some plain wood. At the widest point of the cavern, a round table gleams with polish, though its surface is nicked and scarred from Turns of use. Beyond the table, the very back of the cavern often lies in shadow unless the glowbaskets there are unlidded to cast cozy pools of light. The commingled scents of klah, smoke and polish permeate the air along with the sweetness of rosemary and lavender.
Tapestries hang across the entrances to dormitories and more private quarters as well as the exit to the outer hall, colorful protections from drafts.
Today's blizzard conditions have kept people inside for the most part, and that means the common room is crowded, and has been for much of the day. With the dinner hour nearing, however, a number of people have begun to clear out, leaving room for those not yet heading in that direction to get something just slightly closer to peace and quiet. Amongst those still scattered about the room is Madilla, who perches on the very edge of one of the chairs, sewing together what looks very much like a collection of fabric scraps.
The door to the headwoman's office swings shut and the sound of a key turning in the lock announces the end of 'on duty' for Milani. Stepping away, clipboard-free for once, the headwoman starts to step across the room heading for the caverns herself, when she drops back a step or two upon catching a glimpse of Madilla. "Hey there," Millie says brightly enough. "What are you working on?"
Milani's approach doesn't interrupt Madilla's obvious concentration, but her words do: the Apprentice glances up in surprise, which fades into a warmer smile as she reaches up to twist a strand of hair behind one ear. "Oh - good evening, Milani. Off to dinner? I'm making a quilt." She lifts what she's working on to show it off: patchwork squares, mostly in shades of blue. "Journeywoman Delifa wants me to have something /other/ than study to do of an evening."
"Yes, in a little bit. Nice to be off-duty and all that," Milani answers the apprentice with a likewise warm smile. She laughs a little at the healer's further answer. "Goodness. Instea dof study, sewing. I'm hopeless at it myself, though my mother is good. I can mend well enough I guess."
Madilla's nod for being off duty is an earnest one. "It feels like half the weyr has a running nose," she puts in, looking wry. "Delifa laughed, too. She said I obviously don't know how to just relax, which is probably true, but... I like sewing. It's been nice to pick it up again; I haven't really had to do much since I left home. At least you can mend. Half of the women around here can't even do that much, I've found. I suppose you don't need to, when there are people whose job it is."
"Have you really? Seems like a lot of the aunties do it, or knit or crochet. Though yes, when there's a whole staff of seamstresses ..." Milani trails off with a smile and pulls a chair up nearby. "'Tis the season of running noses. And lots of mint tea." The headwoman settles down comfortably, kicks off her shoes and folds up into that chair, propping her elbow on the chair's arm. "Other than that, everything going well for you?"
"I can't crochet. Or knit. I tried the knitting, but that really didn't work. I suppose I was thinking more - well, the young people." Madilla twists her lips, explaining further, "The people I'm supposed to become friends with." She shifts, so as to let her face Milani more easily, and nods. "It is, isn't it. Though, nearly month two, already. I'm... good. working hard. And... you?" Though her hands keep working, her gaze shifts across towards the Headwoman as she asks this.
"What happened with trying to knit? Me I wound up making this ... lumpy ... thing when Mum tried to teach me," Milani confesses with a girlish giggle then she cocks her head to the side. "Is that what Delifa told you? Make friends?" A bob of her head. "Mm, month 2 and we might see the sun more and then the long slow thaw ... and the end of skating." Milani's chin pillows in her hand and she considers the question rather than answering right away. "Mostly just fine, even happy often enough. There's moments though --"
The confession makes Madilla laugh; "Me, too. And knots. Lots of knots." Of the making friends, she nods, slow and rueful, explaining, "She worries that I work too hard. And don't spend enough time with people my age." The healer half shuts her eyes at mention of sun, but they flicker open again moments later, as the Headwoman continues: she focuses upon her, watchful and concerned, even her hands stilling. For a few moments, she doesn't seem to know what to say, and then, "Yes, of course. Moments. That's probably... Carobet would say that's normal. Mindhealers, in general. Not that..." She breaks off, awkward.
"Oh dear. Knots. Well then. Clearly, you and me are not cut out for knitting," Milani jokes a little and then quiets to listen further. "Guess she just wants you to be happy. Which is a good thing. Do you have a hard time talking to girls and boys around your age, Madilla? You know, from what I see, you just always seem so collected. Able." There's a warm smile on the tail end of those words and then a breath out a nod. "Mm. I still see her weekly. Carobet."
"Clearly not," agrees Madilla, tone probably intended to be light, though there's an underlying tension, perhaps as a result of the rest of the conversation. "She... does. She's like a mother to me. I don't seem to have much in common with most people my own age, that's all. We seem to want different things in life." Milani's comments have drawn a flush to her cheeks, her head ducking back down as she resumes her work. "Do you?" Carobet seems to make Madilla more uncomfortable, but she adds, "So do a lot of people. I suppose it helps. Talking. About things."
"That's nice, Madilla," Milani says sincerely, softly about Delifa. "Everyone needs someone like that in their lives, I think. Someone you can turn to and trust and lean on." Her head tilts a little and her smile turns wry. "Not much in common. Hm. Maybe you just haven't met the right people your age yet. I mean, being serious and hard working isn't just for grownups," the headwoman points out. Her hand drops, fingers poking at the chair's arm a bit. "Mm. Once a week. Sometimes, there's not as much to say, sometimes there's a lot."
There's a distinctly fond smile on Madilla's face as she agrees, "I think so. I'm-- lucky. That she cares about me that way. Especially when I'm so far from my /actual/ mother." There's a light shrug of her shoulders as she continues, noting, "Perhaps. There's W'chek, of course. And Leova thinks I should befriend B'tal. But most people think I'm very strange, and it's hard to get beyond that." Slowly, she nods, then, concluding, finally, in a soft voice, "I'm glad you can. Talk to her, I mean. If it helps. I... It's better. Than bottling things up inside. Right?"
"Yes," Milani agrees. "I don't know what I'd do without mine. And she's right here at the Reaches!" She quiets again to listen, nods a few times. "B'tal's a nice guy. He takes a little getting used to if you don't know him very well, but he's really smart and helpful. He's fixing my clock for me." Beam. The headwoman leans forward, reaching across to rest gentle fingertips against Madilla's forearm. "For what it's worth, Madilla, I don't think you're strange at all. Everyone is different. I mean, have you met Alex? Our starcrafter? He is strange by all rights, but in the end, he's also still just a person with a particular view on life. Just because he wanders off randomly in the middle of talking to a person doesn't make him unworthy of being talked to." Those quieter words widen Milani's smile a little. "It does help and well ... honestly, overall, talking is /not/ something I have trouble doing." Says the chatterbox.
"It's a little awkward with mine, now," admits Madilla. "When I do see her. But she's still my mother. Delifa's just... Delifa." There's a twisted-lip smile for B'tal, and then an earnest nod at mention of the clock, but the healer stills as those fingertips come to rest on her arm, her gaze lifting to meet Milani's gaze again. "I haven't met Alex. I've seen him, though. I... suppose you're right. /I'm/ not worried, but Delifa..." She uses her other hand to smooth out the fabric in her lap, and laughs, finally, earnestly - even warmly. "I suppose it's not. Something you have trouble with, I mean. Which isn't a bad thing."
"Understandably maybe? I mean, you've changed your life a lot from how you grew up and everything she might've expected for you, right?" Milani smiles again, nodding about Delifa. "Mm. Different women different views. And for all she's fond of you, she /is/ your superior, not your mother, so that kind of makes things ... well just different," Millie says with a little frown as she thinks that one through on the fly. "He's interesting to talk to, if you can keep up with him. His thoughts kind of shift mid-stream and he's a little paranoid, but clearly brilliant. Amazing at math." The headwoman just grins for the last. "Yeah. It comes in handy for my job."
Madilla agrees with a wry nod of her head, saying, "I suppose so. I don't /feel/ so different, but I am. It's a strange thing; like I don't entirely fit in anywhere, except that that makes it sound far more dramatic than it actually is." She adjusts the position of the patch she's working on, glances at it, then folds it up, adding, "Of course. A very different kind of relationship. Is he? He always seemed a little... intimidating. So intense. Though it doesn't surprise me that he's brilliant; that's kind of the way it goes, isn't it? Brilliance and madness, sort of a toss up. I don't think talking so much would be handy in mine... but I see what you mean." Beat. "I suppose I should go and have dinner."
"Actually, I think that makes a lot of sense and don't think it's very dramatic at all," Milani replies quite seriously and seeks to meet Madilla's gaze for a moment. "I mean, you're from a hold, trained at Craft, posted to a Weyr. That's a lot of mixed up ways of life right there," the headwoman points out. "Plus you're a /crafter/ posted to a Weyr with all of the usual craft expectations, but a Weyr's ways all around you. So, see, it only makes sense that you're close with W'chek too because -- well he's got all that going on minus the craft thing." Milani nods further about Alex. "The edge of madness maybe? Maybe being that smart can put you there," she muses slowly and blows out a breath. "Listening seems like a good skill for being a healer and Madilla -- you're a good listener," Milani says earnestly as she slides out of her chair and fishes her shoes out from under it to put them back on. "Have dinner with me? I can talk your ear off and listen some too." And Millie seeks to thread her arm companionably through the healer's if that invitation is accepted.
Madilla looks - honestly relieved, actually, for that not to be considered dramatic. "Divided loyalties," is what she concludes, as she packs away her sewing into a little cloth bag at her feet. "Or something like that. I suppose so. Edge of madness. Yes." She looks pleased, even outright flattered, for being considered a good listener, nodding as she accepts the offer, and the threaded arm, so that the pair can wander off towards the caverns. "I think so. I hope so, anyway. It's--" And on goes the conversation, all the way to dinner.
When: Early evening, 1/21/20
Where: Common Room, High Reaches Weyr
What: Madilla and Milani catch up and talk about what's strange and not. Including Mr. Brilliant-But-Maybe-Crazy Alex.
Resident Common Room, High Reaches Weyr(#378RJs)
Just off of the main passageway lies the small cavern that forms the hub of the residents' quarters, kept immaculately clean by the headwoman's staff and warmed in cold weather by a stone hearth to the left and well back from the entrance. Comfortable chairs and a plush fur arrayed before the hearth make an inviting spot to curl up with a book or handicraft, or just to sit and chat. Beyond, additional chairs stand in clusters throughout the room, some upholstered with age-softened hide, some plain wood. At the widest point of the cavern, a round table gleams with polish, though its surface is nicked and scarred from Turns of use. Beyond the table, the very back of the cavern often lies in shadow unless the glowbaskets there are unlidded to cast cozy pools of light. The commingled scents of klah, smoke and polish permeate the air along with the sweetness of rosemary and lavender.
Tapestries hang across the entrances to dormitories and more private quarters as well as the exit to the outer hall, colorful protections from drafts.
Today's blizzard conditions have kept people inside for the most part, and that means the common room is crowded, and has been for much of the day. With the dinner hour nearing, however, a number of people have begun to clear out, leaving room for those not yet heading in that direction to get something just slightly closer to peace and quiet. Amongst those still scattered about the room is Madilla, who perches on the very edge of one of the chairs, sewing together what looks very much like a collection of fabric scraps.
The door to the headwoman's office swings shut and the sound of a key turning in the lock announces the end of 'on duty' for Milani. Stepping away, clipboard-free for once, the headwoman starts to step across the room heading for the caverns herself, when she drops back a step or two upon catching a glimpse of Madilla. "Hey there," Millie says brightly enough. "What are you working on?"
Milani's approach doesn't interrupt Madilla's obvious concentration, but her words do: the Apprentice glances up in surprise, which fades into a warmer smile as she reaches up to twist a strand of hair behind one ear. "Oh - good evening, Milani. Off to dinner? I'm making a quilt." She lifts what she's working on to show it off: patchwork squares, mostly in shades of blue. "Journeywoman Delifa wants me to have something /other/ than study to do of an evening."
"Yes, in a little bit. Nice to be off-duty and all that," Milani answers the apprentice with a likewise warm smile. She laughs a little at the healer's further answer. "Goodness. Instea dof study, sewing. I'm hopeless at it myself, though my mother is good. I can mend well enough I guess."
Madilla's nod for being off duty is an earnest one. "It feels like half the weyr has a running nose," she puts in, looking wry. "Delifa laughed, too. She said I obviously don't know how to just relax, which is probably true, but... I like sewing. It's been nice to pick it up again; I haven't really had to do much since I left home. At least you can mend. Half of the women around here can't even do that much, I've found. I suppose you don't need to, when there are people whose job it is."
"Have you really? Seems like a lot of the aunties do it, or knit or crochet. Though yes, when there's a whole staff of seamstresses ..." Milani trails off with a smile and pulls a chair up nearby. "'Tis the season of running noses. And lots of mint tea." The headwoman settles down comfortably, kicks off her shoes and folds up into that chair, propping her elbow on the chair's arm. "Other than that, everything going well for you?"
"I can't crochet. Or knit. I tried the knitting, but that really didn't work. I suppose I was thinking more - well, the young people." Madilla twists her lips, explaining further, "The people I'm supposed to become friends with." She shifts, so as to let her face Milani more easily, and nods. "It is, isn't it. Though, nearly month two, already. I'm... good. working hard. And... you?" Though her hands keep working, her gaze shifts across towards the Headwoman as she asks this.
"What happened with trying to knit? Me I wound up making this ... lumpy ... thing when Mum tried to teach me," Milani confesses with a girlish giggle then she cocks her head to the side. "Is that what Delifa told you? Make friends?" A bob of her head. "Mm, month 2 and we might see the sun more and then the long slow thaw ... and the end of skating." Milani's chin pillows in her hand and she considers the question rather than answering right away. "Mostly just fine, even happy often enough. There's moments though --"
The confession makes Madilla laugh; "Me, too. And knots. Lots of knots." Of the making friends, she nods, slow and rueful, explaining, "She worries that I work too hard. And don't spend enough time with people my age." The healer half shuts her eyes at mention of sun, but they flicker open again moments later, as the Headwoman continues: she focuses upon her, watchful and concerned, even her hands stilling. For a few moments, she doesn't seem to know what to say, and then, "Yes, of course. Moments. That's probably... Carobet would say that's normal. Mindhealers, in general. Not that..." She breaks off, awkward.
"Oh dear. Knots. Well then. Clearly, you and me are not cut out for knitting," Milani jokes a little and then quiets to listen further. "Guess she just wants you to be happy. Which is a good thing. Do you have a hard time talking to girls and boys around your age, Madilla? You know, from what I see, you just always seem so collected. Able." There's a warm smile on the tail end of those words and then a breath out a nod. "Mm. I still see her weekly. Carobet."
"Clearly not," agrees Madilla, tone probably intended to be light, though there's an underlying tension, perhaps as a result of the rest of the conversation. "She... does. She's like a mother to me. I don't seem to have much in common with most people my own age, that's all. We seem to want different things in life." Milani's comments have drawn a flush to her cheeks, her head ducking back down as she resumes her work. "Do you?" Carobet seems to make Madilla more uncomfortable, but she adds, "So do a lot of people. I suppose it helps. Talking. About things."
"That's nice, Madilla," Milani says sincerely, softly about Delifa. "Everyone needs someone like that in their lives, I think. Someone you can turn to and trust and lean on." Her head tilts a little and her smile turns wry. "Not much in common. Hm. Maybe you just haven't met the right people your age yet. I mean, being serious and hard working isn't just for grownups," the headwoman points out. Her hand drops, fingers poking at the chair's arm a bit. "Mm. Once a week. Sometimes, there's not as much to say, sometimes there's a lot."
There's a distinctly fond smile on Madilla's face as she agrees, "I think so. I'm-- lucky. That she cares about me that way. Especially when I'm so far from my /actual/ mother." There's a light shrug of her shoulders as she continues, noting, "Perhaps. There's W'chek, of course. And Leova thinks I should befriend B'tal. But most people think I'm very strange, and it's hard to get beyond that." Slowly, she nods, then, concluding, finally, in a soft voice, "I'm glad you can. Talk to her, I mean. If it helps. I... It's better. Than bottling things up inside. Right?"
"Yes," Milani agrees. "I don't know what I'd do without mine. And she's right here at the Reaches!" She quiets again to listen, nods a few times. "B'tal's a nice guy. He takes a little getting used to if you don't know him very well, but he's really smart and helpful. He's fixing my clock for me." Beam. The headwoman leans forward, reaching across to rest gentle fingertips against Madilla's forearm. "For what it's worth, Madilla, I don't think you're strange at all. Everyone is different. I mean, have you met Alex? Our starcrafter? He is strange by all rights, but in the end, he's also still just a person with a particular view on life. Just because he wanders off randomly in the middle of talking to a person doesn't make him unworthy of being talked to." Those quieter words widen Milani's smile a little. "It does help and well ... honestly, overall, talking is /not/ something I have trouble doing." Says the chatterbox.
"It's a little awkward with mine, now," admits Madilla. "When I do see her. But she's still my mother. Delifa's just... Delifa." There's a twisted-lip smile for B'tal, and then an earnest nod at mention of the clock, but the healer stills as those fingertips come to rest on her arm, her gaze lifting to meet Milani's gaze again. "I haven't met Alex. I've seen him, though. I... suppose you're right. /I'm/ not worried, but Delifa..." She uses her other hand to smooth out the fabric in her lap, and laughs, finally, earnestly - even warmly. "I suppose it's not. Something you have trouble with, I mean. Which isn't a bad thing."
"Understandably maybe? I mean, you've changed your life a lot from how you grew up and everything she might've expected for you, right?" Milani smiles again, nodding about Delifa. "Mm. Different women different views. And for all she's fond of you, she /is/ your superior, not your mother, so that kind of makes things ... well just different," Millie says with a little frown as she thinks that one through on the fly. "He's interesting to talk to, if you can keep up with him. His thoughts kind of shift mid-stream and he's a little paranoid, but clearly brilliant. Amazing at math." The headwoman just grins for the last. "Yeah. It comes in handy for my job."
Madilla agrees with a wry nod of her head, saying, "I suppose so. I don't /feel/ so different, but I am. It's a strange thing; like I don't entirely fit in anywhere, except that that makes it sound far more dramatic than it actually is." She adjusts the position of the patch she's working on, glances at it, then folds it up, adding, "Of course. A very different kind of relationship. Is he? He always seemed a little... intimidating. So intense. Though it doesn't surprise me that he's brilliant; that's kind of the way it goes, isn't it? Brilliance and madness, sort of a toss up. I don't think talking so much would be handy in mine... but I see what you mean." Beat. "I suppose I should go and have dinner."
"Actually, I think that makes a lot of sense and don't think it's very dramatic at all," Milani replies quite seriously and seeks to meet Madilla's gaze for a moment. "I mean, you're from a hold, trained at Craft, posted to a Weyr. That's a lot of mixed up ways of life right there," the headwoman points out. "Plus you're a /crafter/ posted to a Weyr with all of the usual craft expectations, but a Weyr's ways all around you. So, see, it only makes sense that you're close with W'chek too because -- well he's got all that going on minus the craft thing." Milani nods further about Alex. "The edge of madness maybe? Maybe being that smart can put you there," she muses slowly and blows out a breath. "Listening seems like a good skill for being a healer and Madilla -- you're a good listener," Milani says earnestly as she slides out of her chair and fishes her shoes out from under it to put them back on. "Have dinner with me? I can talk your ear off and listen some too." And Millie seeks to thread her arm companionably through the healer's if that invitation is accepted.
Madilla looks - honestly relieved, actually, for that not to be considered dramatic. "Divided loyalties," is what she concludes, as she packs away her sewing into a little cloth bag at her feet. "Or something like that. I suppose so. Edge of madness. Yes." She looks pleased, even outright flattered, for being considered a good listener, nodding as she accepts the offer, and the threaded arm, so that the pair can wander off towards the caverns. "I think so. I hope so, anyway. It's--" And on goes the conversation, all the way to dinner.