Log: So Long, A'son
Who: Milani, A'son
When: 13:32 on 7/31/15
Where: A'son's Former Digs, High Reaches Weyr
What: Milani's cleaning up A'son's old weyr when the bronzerider returns for something he forgot. A terribly sweet/sad/awkward/funny conversation follows.
Two weeks after the flight, A'son's old weyr at the Reaches is getting echoingly empty. Today there's only one person taking care of the last cleanup tasks before the place is assigned to someone else: Milani, dressed for what's been an uncharacteristically hot summer so far in a sleeveless top and light skirt, a bright blue square of cloth holding back her hair as she sorts through bins of chipped crockery. Against one wall, rolled up tight is the rug she found for him several turns ago now and the chairs have been pushed up against the walls, along with a broom, standing ready for a good sweeping of the floor beneath. Another box stands nearish to the weyr's entrance: a collection of forgotten objects, things that likely belong to the bronzerider, carefully set aside by the assistant headwoman. A steaming bucket of hot water curls wispy tendrils upward through the sunbeams that dapple the floor, apparently intended for a full scrubbing of the sooty hearth.
Nikoth lands on the old familiar ledge outside, and A'son slides down off of his neck. "No, I'm still not forgiving you. No, I don't care. You wish." The bronzerider can be heard mumbling as he walks away and into the main area of his former home. Surprise is evident on his face as he looks to the bed, to the old shelves that used to hold his things and then down to the box. Further surprise registers when he realizes Milani is inside cleaning. "Hey, kid." He says quietly, voice not veiled enough to totally hide the rough edges creeping in.
The sound of dragon wings outsided is perhaps not unexpected and without looking up, Milani calls out: "P'trel, I'm not /done/ yet, give it another couple of hours oh--" she breaks off at the sound of /that/ voice and looks up, eyes wide, mouth hanging open slightly. The brightly checkered cracked mug in her hand drops from nerveless fingers into the bin and promptly shatters itself and the topmost piece: a plate with stripes on it. She sits there for a moment unmoving, then she's on her feet and flying at him to throw her arms around his neck and hug him tight unless he fends her off. "Ays!" Her own voice is weirdly mish mashed between joy and that some rough edge that's in his.
"Hey, you're breaking my dishes that I never actually used!" A'son says with mock exclamation. He fronts a smile and returns the attack of the hug that he receives. Gently after a moment or two he'll disentangle her from around his neck. "You know, I didn't die or anything. You don't have to act like you've seen a ghost or something... I'm here and well, I- I forgot something, so I came back. How is everyone?" He asks, jaw tensely set.
"Yeah well, someone has to do it right?" Milani fires back, looking up at him with a bright smile as he draws back. It fades a little to find that tension in his jaw. "I know. I'm just happy to see you. I can be happy to see you, can't I? I mean, you stole in and snuck your stuff out the other night so y'know. Didn't get to say -- well anything. Not even um ..." swallow, "congratulations?" Her hand catches lightly at his and she squeezes gently. "Fine, mostly. N'thei's pretending like he sort of doesn't care while threatening to hang you up by your toes and the like. Except really he just thinks that you've brought your own punishment crashing down on your head." Beat. "Couldn't tell you about the Weyrwoman and Joe feels abandoned. I bet Talien's missing you already as much as I am and I haven't talked to Shan yet." And there she runs out of steam.
"Oh yeah, of course. It's actually nice to see someone happy to see me for a change." A'son smiles, though it doesn't touch his eyes. "I guess so. Who's going to get my old digs, do you know or...?" He looks around, biting his lips lightly before directing his attention back onto her again. "I guess it's, congratulatory worthy. Sort of. Hey, tell him I just went there to drop someone off. I got off of Nikoth and she went up and... He wasn't about to let me stop him this time. It was an accident." He casts his eyes down when she mentions Jolak, "Tell him I'm sorry? He can come visit whenever he wants to? I mean and tell Shanlee that I'm sorry too, but not about leaving. Tell her I'm sorry about the fight. She'll remember." He brings his hand up to cover his mouth and just shakes his head. "Yeah, I'm sorry. Pretty much. But like I said, I'm not dead or anything. Just sort of far away."
"Well I am, really happy." Milani smiles again to prove it. Trying too hard though. And she chews on her lip after a minute, clears her throat. "Tell him ... tell them all yourself? You're here. Why not go see your brother at least?" Her head tilts to the side a little and she swallows hard again. "Nothing much you can do about your bronze having a big libido, yeah? Though next time, maybe we should tie him down." Beat. "So you can come home." Her hand tightens lightly on his again and she nods. "Really far. Really, really, really far." That blue square of cloth comes into view as she ducks her head, looking down at sandaled toes and his own booted ones just in front of them. "My mother said she'd bring me down to visit. If um -- if you want visitors?" A hopeful peek upwards.
"Um, no. It'd be better if you told them. I can't really stay long. I have to just get... something and then I have to go again. I'm still trying to figure out all the stupid Istan flight charts and everything else." A'son again looks away from her, oh, look at all those interesting shelves! "Home. It's not that far away, Millie. It's just a dragon's ride between. And of course I want visitors, I'm not sure what to make of these people. They hardly wear any clothes and it's so sharding hot. I had to cut all the sleeves off my shirts." As opposed to getting new ones apparently.
Very very tentatively, Milani lifts a hand toward his cheek. "Ays ... don't hide out from us forever, okay? And yeah, it's a short ride Between if you can /get one/ when you /want one/. I mean I'm good at convincing people but -- " she shrugs lightly. "It's hot. Of course they don't wear much. Shells, it's hot /here/ right now so I'm not --" she cuts that off, clears her throat again. "So yeah, anyway, it's been all sorts of weird I guess since it happened. And that sounds like an /awful/ lot of work and oh! I wrote you a letter, but I didn't send it yet. Do you want me to read it to you instead? Or send it another time. You know. In case you're feeling homesick. And ... I could find you some nice short sleeved shirts? In Istan colors even. Oh not Weyr colors, but like, the colors that they like to wear down there. Fashionable-like." Her eyes are back on his face again, full of way too much unspoken, as she chatters on meaninglessly.
He can really only look away for so long before has to acknowledge the hand on his cheek. A'son smiles grimly and takes her hand and gives it a gentle squeeze before he lifts his own away. "You should make friends with the senior weyrlings, they're usually up to traveling. Dying to get away most of the time." He sighs and shrugs his shoulders. "I won't hide away forever, but I need to adjust. I guess. Running back to High Reaches everytime I feel sad won't make it any better for me at Ista." He shakes his head at her offer, "No. I'll have to get my things from there. It wouldn't be right to take from Reaches. Send the lettter to me?"
"I guess we'll have some of those again soon, yeah. Clutches've been so far apart and so small ..." Milani trails off and then beams again. "I bet Aerianth's and Nikoth's will be nice and big and get lots of good riders for Ista. You'll be a good Weyrleader Ays." Her palm lingers on his cheek a moment then she pulls her hand away and curls it behind her back. "Of course you do. Don't think anyone's saying you don't, but -- well. It hasn't even been that long and I've missed you!" She makes big eyes at him and tries to poke at his shoulder. "Are you going to be all Mr. Glum man just because you get to amble around in the warm weather with gorgeous beaches and scantily clad women? Seriously, A'son. You just don't know a good thing when you've got it, yeah?" She's trying to jolly him in that 'give me a hard time' way he's claimed he likes in the past. "Wouldn't be taking from the Reaches if it all got traded or paid for properly," says the business-woman in Milani." His last though softens her gaze from sparklingly snappy and she nods. "Okay. I will. And if you want I'll write more." Beat. "And come down too."
"I'll make sure that I'm down for the hatching, that's soon, right?" A'son asks, lacing his fingers together behind his neck. "I'll cheer your boy Aleudre on. I suppose." He shrugs his shoulders once again. "Maybe, or maybe I'll be so bad they try to get rid of me as soon as possible. And yes, I am. Because I'm getting sunburned and I hardly venture outside of the weyr if I don't have to, you know." If anything, he'll always be the best at finding the worst possible aspect of a situation. He moves from the spot he's been rooted in finally, and goes to the box. He'll spend several minutes rummaging around in it, picking things up, putting them back. "Ha. Found it." It's a small bound book that he tucks under his arm. "You have to write more. You can be my writing buddy or something and, yeah. You have to visit. Keep my sane." He grins a little at the last.
"Yeah, pretty soon, the Candidates have been touching them, so they're hard enough /to/ touch," Milani explains with a pair of nods and then her chin lifts slightly at mention of the tailor. "He's /not/ my anything. Not boy, not boyfriend." The assistant headwoman's arms fold across her chest and her lips purse a little at his explanation. "My mother has some herbal stuff you can use to help with the sunburn. Not just making it better. And well, you just need a hat. I mean, you're missing out on /scantily clad women/ right?" Again there's forced cheer in her voice. The rummaging she observes for a moment then reaches up to pull the cloth out of her hair, uses it to blot sweat from her brow instead. "All that stuff is yours, isn't it? Or d'you not want it anymore?" That little grin and the words bring out a laugh. "Don't you mean drive you absolutely over the edge, so they declare you incompetent and send you back to -- us?"
"I guess so. But really, what would those people do if it every actually got cold? They'd freeze, that's what." A'son says in return to her pointing out the scantily glad women thing again. "Some of it is. Some of it is still things left over from the previous owner, you know? But that one thing is mine for sure. Everything else I don't really need." He glances over his shoulder back at Nikoth. "I've got to get going, I still have things to do. There's a lot of it to do." He smirks at her response, takes the few steps over to give her a hug. "Don't be sad or miss me or anything? Promise? I'm not that far. You can visit, right letters. We're not going to stop being friends or anything. Okay?"
"Yeah well I bet they have sweaters /somewhere/ at Ista, yeah?" Milani reverts back to humor and nods as he describes the box contents. "Oh -- " disappointment registers on her face and her eyes drop to the floor again but she leans into that hug happily, returning it with a whole lot of exuberance. "I can't help missing you Ays. I can't promise that. But I'm doing my best not to be /sad/ because it's /not/ far and gee, now I get to visit you at the beach when I can!" And her eyes go all big and round and delighted for that prospect. His last earns another nod and she searches his face for a minute. "No way. You can't get rid of me. I'm stuck on you like one of those prickly burr things. See, /really/ annoying. Itchy even!" Oh she's trying so, so, so hard. And ultimately she fails just a little, because her head thunks down towards his chest and she stands there for a minute, just breathing him in before she pushes lightly on his shoulders and steps back. "I'm going to do something stupid if you don't get out of here, so yeah, go. Go be the bestest Weyrleader ever and I'll see you soon." Her arms fold across her chest again in a self-hug and that bright blue cloth swipes at her eyes hastily.
A'son takes in a breath and when she pulls away, he goes to tousle her hair. "Yeah, me too. I think maybe. Take care of my brother? I know he's an idiot sometimes. And don't let N'thei get too full of himself and I don't know what else. I'll be back to visit, I promise. When it's okay, when it feels normal again. I guess." His rambling stops and shuts his mouth. "Bye, Millie. I'll miss you too." There looks like there's a hard swallow there before he turns around on his heel and goes out to Nikoth, who's enjoying himself sunning on the ledge.
"Like he needs taking care of, but sure. Saw him just the other night. He's fine really, still making all his crazy inventions. Good ole Joe." She's rallying her courage though her eyes are still suspiciously bright. "It'd take more than even /my/ sharp tongue t'knock N'thei down to size, but I'll do my best. Besides. It's kind of fun." And that actually brings a wicked grin onto her face briefly. "Normal. Yeah. Normal's good." And when his rambling stops, so does hers and there's that look again. When he says he'll miss her, the brave little smile makes a renewed appearance and she nods. "See you soon, Ays." And she bites her tongue for anything further. She waits until after he's gone to plunk back down and bury her face in her hair cloth, shoulders shaking. After that cry, she's back to 'normal' herself or at least the semblance of it when P'trel comes to pick her and the bins of junk up, leaving behind a spotlessly clean and sweet smelling weyr that bears no traces of its former occupant.
When: 13:32 on 7/31/15
Where: A'son's Former Digs, High Reaches Weyr
What: Milani's cleaning up A'son's old weyr when the bronzerider returns for something he forgot. A terribly sweet/sad/awkward/funny conversation follows.
Two weeks after the flight, A'son's old weyr at the Reaches is getting echoingly empty. Today there's only one person taking care of the last cleanup tasks before the place is assigned to someone else: Milani, dressed for what's been an uncharacteristically hot summer so far in a sleeveless top and light skirt, a bright blue square of cloth holding back her hair as she sorts through bins of chipped crockery. Against one wall, rolled up tight is the rug she found for him several turns ago now and the chairs have been pushed up against the walls, along with a broom, standing ready for a good sweeping of the floor beneath. Another box stands nearish to the weyr's entrance: a collection of forgotten objects, things that likely belong to the bronzerider, carefully set aside by the assistant headwoman. A steaming bucket of hot water curls wispy tendrils upward through the sunbeams that dapple the floor, apparently intended for a full scrubbing of the sooty hearth.
Nikoth lands on the old familiar ledge outside, and A'son slides down off of his neck. "No, I'm still not forgiving you. No, I don't care. You wish." The bronzerider can be heard mumbling as he walks away and into the main area of his former home. Surprise is evident on his face as he looks to the bed, to the old shelves that used to hold his things and then down to the box. Further surprise registers when he realizes Milani is inside cleaning. "Hey, kid." He says quietly, voice not veiled enough to totally hide the rough edges creeping in.
The sound of dragon wings outsided is perhaps not unexpected and without looking up, Milani calls out: "P'trel, I'm not /done/ yet, give it another couple of hours oh--" she breaks off at the sound of /that/ voice and looks up, eyes wide, mouth hanging open slightly. The brightly checkered cracked mug in her hand drops from nerveless fingers into the bin and promptly shatters itself and the topmost piece: a plate with stripes on it. She sits there for a moment unmoving, then she's on her feet and flying at him to throw her arms around his neck and hug him tight unless he fends her off. "Ays!" Her own voice is weirdly mish mashed between joy and that some rough edge that's in his.
"Hey, you're breaking my dishes that I never actually used!" A'son says with mock exclamation. He fronts a smile and returns the attack of the hug that he receives. Gently after a moment or two he'll disentangle her from around his neck. "You know, I didn't die or anything. You don't have to act like you've seen a ghost or something... I'm here and well, I- I forgot something, so I came back. How is everyone?" He asks, jaw tensely set.
"Yeah well, someone has to do it right?" Milani fires back, looking up at him with a bright smile as he draws back. It fades a little to find that tension in his jaw. "I know. I'm just happy to see you. I can be happy to see you, can't I? I mean, you stole in and snuck your stuff out the other night so y'know. Didn't get to say -- well anything. Not even um ..." swallow, "congratulations?" Her hand catches lightly at his and she squeezes gently. "Fine, mostly. N'thei's pretending like he sort of doesn't care while threatening to hang you up by your toes and the like. Except really he just thinks that you've brought your own punishment crashing down on your head." Beat. "Couldn't tell you about the Weyrwoman and Joe feels abandoned. I bet Talien's missing you already as much as I am and I haven't talked to Shan yet." And there she runs out of steam.
"Oh yeah, of course. It's actually nice to see someone happy to see me for a change." A'son smiles, though it doesn't touch his eyes. "I guess so. Who's going to get my old digs, do you know or...?" He looks around, biting his lips lightly before directing his attention back onto her again. "I guess it's, congratulatory worthy. Sort of. Hey, tell him I just went there to drop someone off. I got off of Nikoth and she went up and... He wasn't about to let me stop him this time. It was an accident." He casts his eyes down when she mentions Jolak, "Tell him I'm sorry? He can come visit whenever he wants to? I mean and tell Shanlee that I'm sorry too, but not about leaving. Tell her I'm sorry about the fight. She'll remember." He brings his hand up to cover his mouth and just shakes his head. "Yeah, I'm sorry. Pretty much. But like I said, I'm not dead or anything. Just sort of far away."
"Well I am, really happy." Milani smiles again to prove it. Trying too hard though. And she chews on her lip after a minute, clears her throat. "Tell him ... tell them all yourself? You're here. Why not go see your brother at least?" Her head tilts to the side a little and she swallows hard again. "Nothing much you can do about your bronze having a big libido, yeah? Though next time, maybe we should tie him down." Beat. "So you can come home." Her hand tightens lightly on his again and she nods. "Really far. Really, really, really far." That blue square of cloth comes into view as she ducks her head, looking down at sandaled toes and his own booted ones just in front of them. "My mother said she'd bring me down to visit. If um -- if you want visitors?" A hopeful peek upwards.
"Um, no. It'd be better if you told them. I can't really stay long. I have to just get... something and then I have to go again. I'm still trying to figure out all the stupid Istan flight charts and everything else." A'son again looks away from her, oh, look at all those interesting shelves! "Home. It's not that far away, Millie. It's just a dragon's ride between. And of course I want visitors, I'm not sure what to make of these people. They hardly wear any clothes and it's so sharding hot. I had to cut all the sleeves off my shirts." As opposed to getting new ones apparently.
Very very tentatively, Milani lifts a hand toward his cheek. "Ays ... don't hide out from us forever, okay? And yeah, it's a short ride Between if you can /get one/ when you /want one/. I mean I'm good at convincing people but -- " she shrugs lightly. "It's hot. Of course they don't wear much. Shells, it's hot /here/ right now so I'm not --" she cuts that off, clears her throat again. "So yeah, anyway, it's been all sorts of weird I guess since it happened. And that sounds like an /awful/ lot of work and oh! I wrote you a letter, but I didn't send it yet. Do you want me to read it to you instead? Or send it another time. You know. In case you're feeling homesick. And ... I could find you some nice short sleeved shirts? In Istan colors even. Oh not Weyr colors, but like, the colors that they like to wear down there. Fashionable-like." Her eyes are back on his face again, full of way too much unspoken, as she chatters on meaninglessly.
He can really only look away for so long before has to acknowledge the hand on his cheek. A'son smiles grimly and takes her hand and gives it a gentle squeeze before he lifts his own away. "You should make friends with the senior weyrlings, they're usually up to traveling. Dying to get away most of the time." He sighs and shrugs his shoulders. "I won't hide away forever, but I need to adjust. I guess. Running back to High Reaches everytime I feel sad won't make it any better for me at Ista." He shakes his head at her offer, "No. I'll have to get my things from there. It wouldn't be right to take from Reaches. Send the lettter to me?"
"I guess we'll have some of those again soon, yeah. Clutches've been so far apart and so small ..." Milani trails off and then beams again. "I bet Aerianth's and Nikoth's will be nice and big and get lots of good riders for Ista. You'll be a good Weyrleader Ays." Her palm lingers on his cheek a moment then she pulls her hand away and curls it behind her back. "Of course you do. Don't think anyone's saying you don't, but -- well. It hasn't even been that long and I've missed you!" She makes big eyes at him and tries to poke at his shoulder. "Are you going to be all Mr. Glum man just because you get to amble around in the warm weather with gorgeous beaches and scantily clad women? Seriously, A'son. You just don't know a good thing when you've got it, yeah?" She's trying to jolly him in that 'give me a hard time' way he's claimed he likes in the past. "Wouldn't be taking from the Reaches if it all got traded or paid for properly," says the business-woman in Milani." His last though softens her gaze from sparklingly snappy and she nods. "Okay. I will. And if you want I'll write more." Beat. "And come down too."
"I'll make sure that I'm down for the hatching, that's soon, right?" A'son asks, lacing his fingers together behind his neck. "I'll cheer your boy Aleudre on. I suppose." He shrugs his shoulders once again. "Maybe, or maybe I'll be so bad they try to get rid of me as soon as possible. And yes, I am. Because I'm getting sunburned and I hardly venture outside of the weyr if I don't have to, you know." If anything, he'll always be the best at finding the worst possible aspect of a situation. He moves from the spot he's been rooted in finally, and goes to the box. He'll spend several minutes rummaging around in it, picking things up, putting them back. "Ha. Found it." It's a small bound book that he tucks under his arm. "You have to write more. You can be my writing buddy or something and, yeah. You have to visit. Keep my sane." He grins a little at the last.
"Yeah, pretty soon, the Candidates have been touching them, so they're hard enough /to/ touch," Milani explains with a pair of nods and then her chin lifts slightly at mention of the tailor. "He's /not/ my anything. Not boy, not boyfriend." The assistant headwoman's arms fold across her chest and her lips purse a little at his explanation. "My mother has some herbal stuff you can use to help with the sunburn. Not just making it better. And well, you just need a hat. I mean, you're missing out on /scantily clad women/ right?" Again there's forced cheer in her voice. The rummaging she observes for a moment then reaches up to pull the cloth out of her hair, uses it to blot sweat from her brow instead. "All that stuff is yours, isn't it? Or d'you not want it anymore?" That little grin and the words bring out a laugh. "Don't you mean drive you absolutely over the edge, so they declare you incompetent and send you back to -- us?"
"I guess so. But really, what would those people do if it every actually got cold? They'd freeze, that's what." A'son says in return to her pointing out the scantily glad women thing again. "Some of it is. Some of it is still things left over from the previous owner, you know? But that one thing is mine for sure. Everything else I don't really need." He glances over his shoulder back at Nikoth. "I've got to get going, I still have things to do. There's a lot of it to do." He smirks at her response, takes the few steps over to give her a hug. "Don't be sad or miss me or anything? Promise? I'm not that far. You can visit, right letters. We're not going to stop being friends or anything. Okay?"
"Yeah well I bet they have sweaters /somewhere/ at Ista, yeah?" Milani reverts back to humor and nods as he describes the box contents. "Oh -- " disappointment registers on her face and her eyes drop to the floor again but she leans into that hug happily, returning it with a whole lot of exuberance. "I can't help missing you Ays. I can't promise that. But I'm doing my best not to be /sad/ because it's /not/ far and gee, now I get to visit you at the beach when I can!" And her eyes go all big and round and delighted for that prospect. His last earns another nod and she searches his face for a minute. "No way. You can't get rid of me. I'm stuck on you like one of those prickly burr things. See, /really/ annoying. Itchy even!" Oh she's trying so, so, so hard. And ultimately she fails just a little, because her head thunks down towards his chest and she stands there for a minute, just breathing him in before she pushes lightly on his shoulders and steps back. "I'm going to do something stupid if you don't get out of here, so yeah, go. Go be the bestest Weyrleader ever and I'll see you soon." Her arms fold across her chest again in a self-hug and that bright blue cloth swipes at her eyes hastily.
A'son takes in a breath and when she pulls away, he goes to tousle her hair. "Yeah, me too. I think maybe. Take care of my brother? I know he's an idiot sometimes. And don't let N'thei get too full of himself and I don't know what else. I'll be back to visit, I promise. When it's okay, when it feels normal again. I guess." His rambling stops and shuts his mouth. "Bye, Millie. I'll miss you too." There looks like there's a hard swallow there before he turns around on his heel and goes out to Nikoth, who's enjoying himself sunning on the ledge.
"Like he needs taking care of, but sure. Saw him just the other night. He's fine really, still making all his crazy inventions. Good ole Joe." She's rallying her courage though her eyes are still suspiciously bright. "It'd take more than even /my/ sharp tongue t'knock N'thei down to size, but I'll do my best. Besides. It's kind of fun." And that actually brings a wicked grin onto her face briefly. "Normal. Yeah. Normal's good." And when his rambling stops, so does hers and there's that look again. When he says he'll miss her, the brave little smile makes a renewed appearance and she nods. "See you soon, Ays." And she bites her tongue for anything further. She waits until after he's gone to plunk back down and bury her face in her hair cloth, shoulders shaking. After that cry, she's back to 'normal' herself or at least the semblance of it when P'trel comes to pick her and the bins of junk up, leaving behind a spotlessly clean and sweet smelling weyr that bears no traces of its former occupant.