Log: Meeting Jaispe and Viviana
Who: Jaispe, Milani, Viviana
When: 17:33 on day 22, month 5, Turn 14, of the 10th Interval.
Where: Lake Shore, High Reaches Weyr
What: Milani's got a lot on her mind and seeks solace by the lake when Jaispe happens by. A friendly conversation causes Millie to slip up a little, saying more than she meant to. Then Viviana arrives and hackles go up.
Just a titch before dinner, Milani's off-duty and perched on a tall boulder at the lakeside. Her skirts, likely proper enough when left to hang naturally are hiked up in loops into her belt, leaving much of her long legs bare. A heavy key ring hangs just shy of her right hip and she's just pulling loose the metal clip that holds her long hair up in a braid coiled at the back of her head. She lets out a soft sigh of relief as the heavy mass drops in a loose tangle around her shoulders and down to her waist. The girl tilts her head back then, looking up at the sky thoughtfully and reaches over to pick up a flat stone. This she hefts in one hand then hauls her arm back and sends it skipping over the surface of the lake with several audible plinking plonks.
Jaispe looks to be killing a little time before dinner herself, circulating around the lake at a lazy pace, with frequent pauses to exchange greetings with those others that she meets along the way. Milani is one of those she comes across, the goldrider offering a cheerful wave to the girl who's taking her hair down; Jaispe pauses entirely when Milani skips her rock. "I never could do that," she notes aloud, with a shake of her head. "Evening."
Milani tilts a look downward from atop the boulder, blinking a couple of times, eyes intent on the goldrider's face, skipping out to the knot on her shoulder and back up to her eyes. "Good evening. You must be the new weyrwoman, right?" She reaches down for another rock and tosses it upward, catching in a curved palm. "Want to give it another shot? I've got a whole pile here. Lots on my mind, so." She shrugs once then leans down to offer her free hand to Jaispe. "I'm Milani. I work for the Headwoman."
"Nice to meet you. Jaispe," the woman introduces herself, with an enthusiastic nod. "I doubt it'll help but I can try." She steps forward to take Milani's hand and join her on the boulder. "Is everyone here tall?" she complains, with a grin as she settles down, smoothing out her own bright skirt, notably not hiked up like Milani's. "How are you? Do you mind teaching me, trying to teach me, anyway? It's pretty out tonight. Seems a little warmer," she adds a second later, with a glance up and then at the water.
"Likewise." Milani nods politely and helps the shorter woman clamber up the boulder. "Don't think so? I'm just cursed with it. I mean, it kind of runs in the family. My older brother's even taller than I am." The assistant headwoman hands over two of the flat rocks to the goldrider. "I don't mind nope." She considers for a moment before speaking again. "Like I said. Got a lot on my mind. Two of my friends're in the lockup at Crom Hold. Not exactly fun times. But yeah, it's nice out. Nice time of the year at the Reaches. Not like winter. You're from Igen right?"
"My family's all... average," Jaispe remarks, with a wrinkle of her nose. "And Southern, actually -- well, Southern, then Igen," she amends, "but I was only at Igen for a little while. It /feels/ like winter." Taking the two rocks offered, she turns them over in her hands, lifts on to inspect it more closely. It lowers again, unskipped, for the mention of the Crom debacle. "Oh, that. What a thing to arrive in time for," she notes, with an awkward laugh. "That N'thei guy; I met him. Just the other day, in fact. He /seemed/ nice enough?"
"Feels like winter now? Shells, hate to break it to you but you better stock up on sweaters for when it's really winter. Sweaters and a lot of fur." Milani nods a couple of times and picks up another rock, turning it over a couple of times in a mirror gesture to Jaispe's. "Mm. Yeah. That can't be too easy." Her smile flashes briefly, bright and sympathetic then she laughs outright. "N'thei? Yeah he can be charming. But another friend of mine summed it up about right: he's a piece of work. Ays is nice though. A'son. His little brother Joe. I hope they're okay." Milani frowns out at the water briefly then turns slightly with the flat rock lying on her palm. "Key's to get the flat side lined up with the water right and throw shallow so it just bounces, instead of breaking into the water. My brother taught me.'
"Satiet told me I should find some more appropriate clothes already," Jaispe agrees, with an unenthusiastic nod for Milani's warning. "He wasn't exactly /charming/, but he was nice, anyway. Told me, well, he gave me advice and stuff, anyway." She lifts her shoulders slightly, with a rueful half-smile. "A'son and Joe, I haven't met either of them. But I'm sure they're... Well, I mean, they could... I give up, I have no idea." And the thought worries her slightly, makes her fidget with that rock until Milani explains, and she mimics the girl's way of holding it flat on her palm. "I just fell into the middle of all this with Crom, I think; I don't know what's going on at all. But I hope they're all fine, too, still."
"Yeah, it doesn't stay warm for very long up here." Milani's face remains sympathetic then the teen's head dips with a giggle. "It's okay. You'll meet them soon enough. A'son 'specially. He's a bronzerider, Nikoth's. Kinda hot. Joe's his little brother. Not quite so hot. Full of piss and vinegar." My, my. Someone's got a bit of a dirty mouth. "You want a run down? I can tell you what I know anyway?" Her eyes drop down to the rock in her palm and she nods. "Yeah. Me too. I miss 'em." Then she hefts the rock with a meaningful look and demonstrates the throw, slowing it down a little, which means the rock doesn't skip much, but it does skip.
"Kinda... Oh." Jaispe blinks at Milani, then grins herself, bemused. "Well. I'm sure they're both nice, whatever they're, um, full of. Right." She nods, and then, quickly, "Oh, would you really, please? I'd appreciate it. I mean, I've just heard little bits and pieces so far, about what's happened and happening and all that. It's really confusing." She watches Milani as she lobs the rock out, and tests the move herself without releasing the rock this time. "Like that?"
Milani smirks a little at that 'oh'. "Yeah. Ays is cool. Joe's still kinda figuring himself out." She takes a breath and lets it out, gathering her thoughts to tell the goldrider about Crom. Her eyes flicker down to Jaispe's and nods. "Yep. Just like that. Give it a whirl." She pauses again then starts in on the necessary information. "Okay, I guess it started with some argument or something between the Weyrleader and Lord Crom. Then there was this Threadfall right? And both Reaches and Telgar turned up to fight it and it was a right mess. Rumor is it's because Lord Crom called for Telgar and didn't tell the Reaches about it. Anyway. Riders died and there were burrows. Messy." She tsks lightly and then goes on. "So yeah, it's been a lotta back and forth ever since and the Crom decided to send the tithe to Telgar instead of here and there was like, not enough coal for the winter. And then there was this fair right? And the Weyrleaders all got together and talked and it went bad and the Weyrs are still not getting along."
"I remember something about that 'Fall, I think," Jaispe muses, practicing her throwing motion a couple more times before finally releasing the rock. It plunks solidly down into the water, landing too crooked to skip. The goldrider's face falls, her brow creasing as she looks at the second rock she holds, and then the ripples spreading out across the water. "It sounds messy. And N'thei and A'son and Joe were trying to, I don't know, but they don't exactly seem to have helped much, really. Telgar must be upset about this now, and Crom too, I bet?" She tilts her head, and leans forward, studying the water from where she and Milani sit on a boulder together.
Reaching over, Milani turns Jaispe's wrist gently. "Gotta keep your wrist this way, keep the rock flat towards the water." She's quiet for a minute then clears her throat and goes on. "Well, since they've been caught I guess there's not much sense in covering anymore. They were trying to help the Weyr, yeah? But ... they got caught." She sends another rock skimming towards the water and it skips three times before sinking into the water. "See? Level to the water."
A small pebble bounces against other pebbles, its projected course erratic at best as it ricochets off a larger rock. The sound of the toe of a boot making purchase against another pebble announces yet another launch and this time the stone bounces off the side of a large rock near the boulder where Milani and Jaispe sit. "Ouch! Just like the 'reaches, even the stones are cruel!" Viviana grumbles as she stands on one foot, rubbing at her poor boot.
"Oh, right," says Jaispe, with a quick nod as Milani corrects her. She tilts her head, lips pursing as she adjust her form, tests it again and then moves to flick the second stone into the water. This time, she gets a skip out of it: one decent-sized one, and a baby hop after that before it thunks down and out of sight. Still, it engineers a rather excited and unladylike squeal from the young woman. "Oh, look, did you see?" she asks Milani, beaming. She wrinkles her nose then, admitting, "I doubt I can do it again, but still. You're a good teacher." Pause. The younger girl's words cut through her cheer, and Jaispe hesitates slightly. "No, I suppose not," she agrees. "People were covering for them? Like this isn't the first time this has happened?" Though she frowns then, the goldrider still lifts a hand, offering the grumbly new arrival a wave.
"There you go!" Milani beams over at the goldrider brightly. "Now you just gotta practice." She flushes a little at Jaispe's words. "Well didn't know for sure /who/ was doing it, but you can't help noticing when there was no coal and then there is, right?" She shrugs once and opens her mouth to say something else then looks downward at the grumbling and the rattling of the pebble. "Cruel stones huh? Hi there."
Viviana barely awknowledges the 'skipping' success with a little sniff and an upturn of her chin in the stone's direction. At the mention of the coal, she shivers dramatically. "All they were doing was bringing warmth to this desperately cold barren land.." Another shiver for good measure seems called for and this time, the lass includes a rubbing of her upper arms. As she walks closer, she nods to Milani. "Cruel, indeed, ma'am, cold indeed."
Jaispe glances sideways at Milani, curious, but she doesn't question either the girl's flush or her unvoiced thoughts. "I guess not," she simply agrees, with a wrinkle of her nose. "I wouldn't want to go through a winter here without coal, though. I mean, it can't have been very fun even for you natives." Waving a hand at Milani and Viviana, too, the weyrwoman adds, "I bet somebody lost their toes and fingers or something. I bet I would -- I hope all this is settled by next winter, at least!"
Milani eyes Viviana's approach with upraised brows and stats to open her mouth again to offer some sort of remark, likely a flippant one and then suddenly she bursts out laughing. "Ma'am?" Then she offers Jaispe a simple nod. "Yeah. Me and you and everyone else at the Reaches." A little sourly with a sniff of her own, but she takes the sting out of it with a little grin.
Viviana rolls her eyes at Milani's laugh. "My mother told me to be polite and polite I'll be until I drive her or someone else insane with it, /ma'am/." With a sniff in Jaispe's direction, having not noticed her knot, Viv corrects her with a certain air. "I'm not /native/ ma'am. I'm from Landing Falls Hold." With that pronouncement, she looks sideways to see if the two are suitably impressed.
"Well, I'm sure Satiet and R'hin can sort something out?" Jaispe offers, though tentatively now, as she glances to Milani. Folding her hands in her lap, the woman gives Viviana an equally uncertain look, grey eyes cutting sideways to look at the headwoman's assistant curiously. "I've... never actually heard of it, sorry," Jaispe herself admits to Viviana. "Does being polite usually drive people crazy?"
"Hope so. It's their job right?" Milani tilts a look over at Jaispe, steady but with a hint of expectation in it. A moment passes and then she shifts her gaze back to Viviana, blank at the naming of the girl's hold. "Never heard of it," she says bluntly. "And you don't look much older than I am so, I dunno about the whole ma'am thing. I'm Milani though and this is Jaispe, rider of gold Lultiath. Well met." Oh so she /does/ have some manners.
Viviana blinks, taking aback by Jaispe's confession. "/Never/ heard of Landing Falls? Why, we're known across Pern for our nuts. All sorts of nuts! Every variety and the dyes we make from them, why, weavercraft just /dies/ for them, literally /dies/ for them!" Her eyes narrow as she stares Jaispe down. "You wouldn't believe what can drive a person insane if you try hard enough." Paling slightly at the introductions, she's quick to nod her head in 'respect' although she gives Jaispe a critical once over. "My apologies ma'am. you don't /look/ anything like a goldrider. My duties to you and your qween. Well met, Milani, I am Viviana. Here on /official/ business."
Jaispe agrees, nodding to Milani again, "Right, right. It's their job." She grins faintly, shaking her head as she leans back, bracing herself with her hands behind her. Apologetically, though, she glances back at Viviana, wincing. "Well, no? I mean, I'm from Southern originally so I don't really know much about the geography here?" she offers in explanation. "Or clothes, dyes, any of that bit. I'm sorry." But a hint of pink touches her fair cheeks in response to the appraising look the holder gives her. "Oh. It's the clothes, isn't it? They're not age-appropriate," she says, woeful as she smoothes at her bright skirt.
Milani takes in Viviana's explanation with a grin threatening to burst forth just about any second. "Weaverhall dies for your dyes huh? That's kind of funny." The girl's arms fold across her chest and she pulls her legs up into a crossed position. She shoots Jaispe a reassuring look and barrels on. "What's a goldrider look like anyway? They're all different. Viviana huh? Nice name." Beat. "Official business? Really? Need to find someone for that?" That last is offered a bit more cheerily, though amusement still threatens to break out on Milani's face.
Viviana purses her lips as she listens to Jaispe's explanation, reluctantly nodding. "Well, if you are from that far away, I suppose you wouldn't have known." Milani is not afforded the same forgiveness as Viviana once again narrows her gaze at the girl with a look of suspicion. "You aren't making fun of me, are you? And yes, the apprentices and journeymen scramble to get a hold of our nuts .. well the shells of the nuts at least. Bakercraft likes the meat of the nut more.." She waves off her explanation as if it's become too tiresome even for her. "I don't know what goldrider's clotheslook like, never seen one, a goldrider, I mean, up close but I was expecting something a little more ... obstentious and grand-like or something."
Jaispe tilts her head at Milani's joke, repeating, "Dies for your -- oh!" She's a little slow to take onto the wordplay, obvious though it is, but she grins herself when she does. "Satiet said I didn't look age-appropriate," she confesses then, to Viviana. "But it's hard finding a whole new wardrobe, all at once. Everything else I had worked at Southern, and Igen, but maybe we were just more, you know, relaxed there or something."
Blanking her face out, Milani makes wide eyes at Viviana. "Sound like pretty good nuts then." She eyes Jaispe's clothing and shrugs. "Y'know, what you've got there looks fine to me. Not every goldrider has to look like a fashion plate. Especially not when you've got work to do. But if you want some help, my mother's good with the fashion advice."
Viviana sniffs. "Well, you do know what they say about /Southern/ don't you? I mean, don't you all go around there half dressed most of the time anyhow? But Igen? Wouldn't sand get everywhere if you were not going around wearing much? Wouldn't be very comfortable if you ask me but don't let /them/ tell you how too dress. A girl can dress any way she pleases, it's not right for people to tell you that you got to dress a certain way .. you know!" Unaware of her own hypocrisy, she blithefully rambles on. "Let me guess, the weyrwoman Satiet is all for tradition and old ways, right?" Stoutly defending the one whose wardrobe she just trashed, Viv retorts. "I /think/ she looks just /fine/."
"Really?" inquires Jaispe, brows rising as Milani offers her her mother's services. "Is she a weaver? I asked my daughter and she said I looked all right for a mother, which isn't the same thing as a goldrider, I suppose. Lultiath's been saying the same thing for years but she doesn't have any good suggestions." Her thin shoulders lift, smile wry as the two younger women advise her. "I don't think she is," Jaispe notes of her superior. "I mean, I don't know her well, but..." A glance to Milani asks for the more familiar girl's opinion, though Jaispe adds, an afterthought, "Thank you, both of you. And we don't /really/ wander around like that. I mean, not all of us, at Southern."
Milani just stares at Viviana for a minute. "Depends on what part of the South, right? It's not all like Ista." She turns back towards Jaispe though with a shake of her head. "No, she's a greenrider but she's always done sewing stuff and she started to train a little y'know, before Thread came." She pats her own skirt which is rather well tailored even thogh it's all improperly hiked up. "She made me this. As for the Weyrwoman, I dunno about /traditional/ but she's a piece of work too. Strong y'know?"
Viviana meets the stare with a defensive shrug. "I'm just a little girl from a small hold, what am I to know of such matters?" Another airy wave of her hand makes her point. "See, strong-minded. You got to be, to be a goldrider and you /have/ to stand out. Just like that skirt, /she's/ wearing. Maybe you do fit the role, after all ma'am. Know your own mind and aren't afraid of really standing out in a crowd." Something brings her back to other thoughts and she asks Milani. "Is it true? They got that bronzerider from here chained to a wall and feeding him nothing but gruel?"
"Southern's like Ista, the Weyr," Jaispe notes, wistfully. "All tropical and humid. But the other places, like Ierne and Honshu and those, they're cold, more like the Reaches. But -- you think so?" At Viviana's praise, her smile strengthens, encouraged by those words. "Thank you. I mean, I still have to, you know, find some warmer things, too, but. What's your mother's name, anyway?" The latter she directs at Milani, curious. "And maybe I can talk to her, although I bet she's really busy if she's a rider, too."
With eyes narrowing slightly, Milani purses her lips a little. "Which bronzerider?" Jaispe's happy smile and her question draw her attention back to the goldrider and she nods. "Don't worry, there's tons of stuff in stores." She pats the keys at her belt. "That /I/ can help you with. Mum? Emilly. Green Sionath's. Though, you're right. She doesn't have as much time as she used to." The girl heaves a sigh at that and her eyes drop back down to Viviana. "How long've you been at the Weyr anyway Viviana?"
Viviana shrugs. "Some bronzerider, that's what I heard in the lower caverns, when I was delivering nut samples to the cooks for them to taste. /Taste/ mind you, not gobble down like they were coming out of the woodwork or something." She's silent for a moment, then sheepishly admits. "Umm, about .... a half a sevenda, give or take? I'm taking the supply wagon back, I suppose." She sighs heavily. "I got nothing better to do, like travel to all sorts of places that are warm and green and lush..."
Jaispe does not touch the subject of the incarceration of a bronzerider. Instead, she moves to slide down the rock face, not very gracefully, and then tug her skirt, straightening it. "Oof! Only a sevenday? Me too! Well, about that long, anyway. It's getting late, though, isn't it? I promised Saiphe and Phaiseo we'd have dinner together -- you know, like a family? I should go find the nannies again and see. I hope I can find the nannies again, anyway," she notes, making a face.
"Well there's more than one. But I sure hope there's not any chains or gruel." Milani's chin lifts a little, though Jaispe, being nearer might notice the wobble in her lip. "Sure. There's all sorts of gossip all over right now. It's rough times." The assistant headwoman suddenly occupies herself with untucking the ends of her skirt from her belt and rearranging it properly. "Oh that's right you have little kids," Milani recalls. "You have a good dinner now, Jaispe. And keep practicing the skipping. Come find me if you need help with Stores. I'm usually on duty over there around the lower caverns somewhere."
Viviana rolls her eyes at Jaispe's less-than-graceful dismount from the rock. "Less than a sevenday but you get to /stay/ here, I heard about you, they kicked you out of Igen, right? They are odd down there, I hear... Do have a nice dinner, it smelt good in the kitchens." She doesn't notice the wobble of that lip but nods to Milani. "You work in the lower caverns?" Peering over at the girl's knot, she grins. "Ah, you got people telling /you/ what to do all day long too, huh?"
"Two of them," Jaispe says, quite proudly. "My daughter's eight and my son, he's four already -- he'll be five soon, actually, in just a few more months." And like many parents, she seems quite eager to ramble on about her children, but Viviana succeeds in distracting her. "Threw me out?" Jaispe repeats, sounding befuddled then. "Did they really? I think it was just a trade, actually; you know, with Josilina being Weyrwoman there, and leaving the Reaches. I better go, though. Lulla's getting bossy about it, and you know how she can be." She hesitates longer, though, to flash both, but especially Milani, another warm smile. "I'm sure they're fine, N'thei and A'son and Joe. Telgar wouldn't hurt them or anything," she offers in reassurance, before she turns to wander off, more or less in the right direction.
Catching up another one of her skipping stones, Milani looks down at Viviana again with a disbelieving look. "That was a /trade/," she informs the other teen and rolls her eyes skyward. "I report to the Headwoman. Not 'people'." Her head swings back down Jaispe's way. "I hope they get to bed okay for you tonight then. And um ... thanks." With a sudden motion, Millie casts that rock to skip across the lake and then hops to her feet, to slide right down the boulder too.
Viviana sniffs sympathetically at the retreating back of Jaispe "That's right, she should keep her head up, nothing like being fired, you know? I am sure High Reaches is glad to take the poor thing in, they are friendly like that here? Taking in waifs?" Her eyes widen innocently as she clutches her hands in front of her."Merciful like? I am sure Telgar won't hurt them, talkin' bout mercy. What about Crom though? Digging in coal dust has to make a person cranky. And you saying your Headwoman isn't a people?"
Milani fixes Viviana with another /look/. "I don't know /what/ you're talking about. "I'm sure Jaispe is a perfectly capable weyrwoman." Her hands smooth down her skirts again and she checks behind her to make sure they're not still rucked up. "I'm saying that I /only/ answer to the Headwoman. And the weyrwomen of course." That's offered over airily, Millie's chin lifted again. "But they don't run around telling me what to do every day." The comment about Crom brings a spark to her eyes. "The sooner Crom gets its head sorted on straight, the better. Cranky or not. I'm sure the Lord's not down in the shafts digging any coal."
Viviana blinks innocently. "I am sure she's a fine and capable weyrwoman too, I mean, I was just saying -- what with her being down at Igen for such a short time and before that from Southern? And we both know what /southern/ is like..." Idly looking down at Milani's skirts, she offers oh-so-helpfully. "Got some dirt on your hem, I think.." She sniffs suspiciously. "Well, you are an /assistant/ don't assistants just do what they are told to do?"
Up goes Milani's chin again. "Actually, I've /no/ idea what Southern is really like, but maybe I'll get to find out someday. It was nice meeting you Viviana. Please /do/ let me know if you need any help while you're here selling nuts. I'm very good at finding places for things in Stores and I know just about where everything is too. I'm heading for some dinner myself though, so beg pardon, but I'm off." No acknowledgement about her hem at all.
Viviana sniffs and her chin goes up as well. "I'm not some /trader/ girl selling my wares to just /anyone/ thank you very much." Tossing her hair over her shoulder with a jerk of her head, she spins on her heel. "Oh I am sure if I need any /assistance/ at all, I'll be sure to call on you." Sniff! "I think I'll go check out the dinner table as well, not as plentiful as /ours/ but it it does make me grateful for the bounty back home. If you'll be excusing me?" Excusing or not, Viv heads back toward the weyr.
When: 17:33 on day 22, month 5, Turn 14, of the 10th Interval.
Where: Lake Shore, High Reaches Weyr
What: Milani's got a lot on her mind and seeks solace by the lake when Jaispe happens by. A friendly conversation causes Millie to slip up a little, saying more than she meant to. Then Viviana arrives and hackles go up.
Just a titch before dinner, Milani's off-duty and perched on a tall boulder at the lakeside. Her skirts, likely proper enough when left to hang naturally are hiked up in loops into her belt, leaving much of her long legs bare. A heavy key ring hangs just shy of her right hip and she's just pulling loose the metal clip that holds her long hair up in a braid coiled at the back of her head. She lets out a soft sigh of relief as the heavy mass drops in a loose tangle around her shoulders and down to her waist. The girl tilts her head back then, looking up at the sky thoughtfully and reaches over to pick up a flat stone. This she hefts in one hand then hauls her arm back and sends it skipping over the surface of the lake with several audible plinking plonks.
Jaispe looks to be killing a little time before dinner herself, circulating around the lake at a lazy pace, with frequent pauses to exchange greetings with those others that she meets along the way. Milani is one of those she comes across, the goldrider offering a cheerful wave to the girl who's taking her hair down; Jaispe pauses entirely when Milani skips her rock. "I never could do that," she notes aloud, with a shake of her head. "Evening."
Milani tilts a look downward from atop the boulder, blinking a couple of times, eyes intent on the goldrider's face, skipping out to the knot on her shoulder and back up to her eyes. "Good evening. You must be the new weyrwoman, right?" She reaches down for another rock and tosses it upward, catching in a curved palm. "Want to give it another shot? I've got a whole pile here. Lots on my mind, so." She shrugs once then leans down to offer her free hand to Jaispe. "I'm Milani. I work for the Headwoman."
"Nice to meet you. Jaispe," the woman introduces herself, with an enthusiastic nod. "I doubt it'll help but I can try." She steps forward to take Milani's hand and join her on the boulder. "Is everyone here tall?" she complains, with a grin as she settles down, smoothing out her own bright skirt, notably not hiked up like Milani's. "How are you? Do you mind teaching me, trying to teach me, anyway? It's pretty out tonight. Seems a little warmer," she adds a second later, with a glance up and then at the water.
"Likewise." Milani nods politely and helps the shorter woman clamber up the boulder. "Don't think so? I'm just cursed with it. I mean, it kind of runs in the family. My older brother's even taller than I am." The assistant headwoman hands over two of the flat rocks to the goldrider. "I don't mind nope." She considers for a moment before speaking again. "Like I said. Got a lot on my mind. Two of my friends're in the lockup at Crom Hold. Not exactly fun times. But yeah, it's nice out. Nice time of the year at the Reaches. Not like winter. You're from Igen right?"
"My family's all... average," Jaispe remarks, with a wrinkle of her nose. "And Southern, actually -- well, Southern, then Igen," she amends, "but I was only at Igen for a little while. It /feels/ like winter." Taking the two rocks offered, she turns them over in her hands, lifts on to inspect it more closely. It lowers again, unskipped, for the mention of the Crom debacle. "Oh, that. What a thing to arrive in time for," she notes, with an awkward laugh. "That N'thei guy; I met him. Just the other day, in fact. He /seemed/ nice enough?"
"Feels like winter now? Shells, hate to break it to you but you better stock up on sweaters for when it's really winter. Sweaters and a lot of fur." Milani nods a couple of times and picks up another rock, turning it over a couple of times in a mirror gesture to Jaispe's. "Mm. Yeah. That can't be too easy." Her smile flashes briefly, bright and sympathetic then she laughs outright. "N'thei? Yeah he can be charming. But another friend of mine summed it up about right: he's a piece of work. Ays is nice though. A'son. His little brother Joe. I hope they're okay." Milani frowns out at the water briefly then turns slightly with the flat rock lying on her palm. "Key's to get the flat side lined up with the water right and throw shallow so it just bounces, instead of breaking into the water. My brother taught me.'
"Satiet told me I should find some more appropriate clothes already," Jaispe agrees, with an unenthusiastic nod for Milani's warning. "He wasn't exactly /charming/, but he was nice, anyway. Told me, well, he gave me advice and stuff, anyway." She lifts her shoulders slightly, with a rueful half-smile. "A'son and Joe, I haven't met either of them. But I'm sure they're... Well, I mean, they could... I give up, I have no idea." And the thought worries her slightly, makes her fidget with that rock until Milani explains, and she mimics the girl's way of holding it flat on her palm. "I just fell into the middle of all this with Crom, I think; I don't know what's going on at all. But I hope they're all fine, too, still."
"Yeah, it doesn't stay warm for very long up here." Milani's face remains sympathetic then the teen's head dips with a giggle. "It's okay. You'll meet them soon enough. A'son 'specially. He's a bronzerider, Nikoth's. Kinda hot. Joe's his little brother. Not quite so hot. Full of piss and vinegar." My, my. Someone's got a bit of a dirty mouth. "You want a run down? I can tell you what I know anyway?" Her eyes drop down to the rock in her palm and she nods. "Yeah. Me too. I miss 'em." Then she hefts the rock with a meaningful look and demonstrates the throw, slowing it down a little, which means the rock doesn't skip much, but it does skip.
"Kinda... Oh." Jaispe blinks at Milani, then grins herself, bemused. "Well. I'm sure they're both nice, whatever they're, um, full of. Right." She nods, and then, quickly, "Oh, would you really, please? I'd appreciate it. I mean, I've just heard little bits and pieces so far, about what's happened and happening and all that. It's really confusing." She watches Milani as she lobs the rock out, and tests the move herself without releasing the rock this time. "Like that?"
Milani smirks a little at that 'oh'. "Yeah. Ays is cool. Joe's still kinda figuring himself out." She takes a breath and lets it out, gathering her thoughts to tell the goldrider about Crom. Her eyes flicker down to Jaispe's and nods. "Yep. Just like that. Give it a whirl." She pauses again then starts in on the necessary information. "Okay, I guess it started with some argument or something between the Weyrleader and Lord Crom. Then there was this Threadfall right? And both Reaches and Telgar turned up to fight it and it was a right mess. Rumor is it's because Lord Crom called for Telgar and didn't tell the Reaches about it. Anyway. Riders died and there were burrows. Messy." She tsks lightly and then goes on. "So yeah, it's been a lotta back and forth ever since and the Crom decided to send the tithe to Telgar instead of here and there was like, not enough coal for the winter. And then there was this fair right? And the Weyrleaders all got together and talked and it went bad and the Weyrs are still not getting along."
"I remember something about that 'Fall, I think," Jaispe muses, practicing her throwing motion a couple more times before finally releasing the rock. It plunks solidly down into the water, landing too crooked to skip. The goldrider's face falls, her brow creasing as she looks at the second rock she holds, and then the ripples spreading out across the water. "It sounds messy. And N'thei and A'son and Joe were trying to, I don't know, but they don't exactly seem to have helped much, really. Telgar must be upset about this now, and Crom too, I bet?" She tilts her head, and leans forward, studying the water from where she and Milani sit on a boulder together.
Reaching over, Milani turns Jaispe's wrist gently. "Gotta keep your wrist this way, keep the rock flat towards the water." She's quiet for a minute then clears her throat and goes on. "Well, since they've been caught I guess there's not much sense in covering anymore. They were trying to help the Weyr, yeah? But ... they got caught." She sends another rock skimming towards the water and it skips three times before sinking into the water. "See? Level to the water."
A small pebble bounces against other pebbles, its projected course erratic at best as it ricochets off a larger rock. The sound of the toe of a boot making purchase against another pebble announces yet another launch and this time the stone bounces off the side of a large rock near the boulder where Milani and Jaispe sit. "Ouch! Just like the 'reaches, even the stones are cruel!" Viviana grumbles as she stands on one foot, rubbing at her poor boot.
"Oh, right," says Jaispe, with a quick nod as Milani corrects her. She tilts her head, lips pursing as she adjust her form, tests it again and then moves to flick the second stone into the water. This time, she gets a skip out of it: one decent-sized one, and a baby hop after that before it thunks down and out of sight. Still, it engineers a rather excited and unladylike squeal from the young woman. "Oh, look, did you see?" she asks Milani, beaming. She wrinkles her nose then, admitting, "I doubt I can do it again, but still. You're a good teacher." Pause. The younger girl's words cut through her cheer, and Jaispe hesitates slightly. "No, I suppose not," she agrees. "People were covering for them? Like this isn't the first time this has happened?" Though she frowns then, the goldrider still lifts a hand, offering the grumbly new arrival a wave.
"There you go!" Milani beams over at the goldrider brightly. "Now you just gotta practice." She flushes a little at Jaispe's words. "Well didn't know for sure /who/ was doing it, but you can't help noticing when there was no coal and then there is, right?" She shrugs once and opens her mouth to say something else then looks downward at the grumbling and the rattling of the pebble. "Cruel stones huh? Hi there."
Viviana barely awknowledges the 'skipping' success with a little sniff and an upturn of her chin in the stone's direction. At the mention of the coal, she shivers dramatically. "All they were doing was bringing warmth to this desperately cold barren land.." Another shiver for good measure seems called for and this time, the lass includes a rubbing of her upper arms. As she walks closer, she nods to Milani. "Cruel, indeed, ma'am, cold indeed."
Jaispe glances sideways at Milani, curious, but she doesn't question either the girl's flush or her unvoiced thoughts. "I guess not," she simply agrees, with a wrinkle of her nose. "I wouldn't want to go through a winter here without coal, though. I mean, it can't have been very fun even for you natives." Waving a hand at Milani and Viviana, too, the weyrwoman adds, "I bet somebody lost their toes and fingers or something. I bet I would -- I hope all this is settled by next winter, at least!"
Milani eyes Viviana's approach with upraised brows and stats to open her mouth again to offer some sort of remark, likely a flippant one and then suddenly she bursts out laughing. "Ma'am?" Then she offers Jaispe a simple nod. "Yeah. Me and you and everyone else at the Reaches." A little sourly with a sniff of her own, but she takes the sting out of it with a little grin.
Viviana rolls her eyes at Milani's laugh. "My mother told me to be polite and polite I'll be until I drive her or someone else insane with it, /ma'am/." With a sniff in Jaispe's direction, having not noticed her knot, Viv corrects her with a certain air. "I'm not /native/ ma'am. I'm from Landing Falls Hold." With that pronouncement, she looks sideways to see if the two are suitably impressed.
"Well, I'm sure Satiet and R'hin can sort something out?" Jaispe offers, though tentatively now, as she glances to Milani. Folding her hands in her lap, the woman gives Viviana an equally uncertain look, grey eyes cutting sideways to look at the headwoman's assistant curiously. "I've... never actually heard of it, sorry," Jaispe herself admits to Viviana. "Does being polite usually drive people crazy?"
"Hope so. It's their job right?" Milani tilts a look over at Jaispe, steady but with a hint of expectation in it. A moment passes and then she shifts her gaze back to Viviana, blank at the naming of the girl's hold. "Never heard of it," she says bluntly. "And you don't look much older than I am so, I dunno about the whole ma'am thing. I'm Milani though and this is Jaispe, rider of gold Lultiath. Well met." Oh so she /does/ have some manners.
Viviana blinks, taking aback by Jaispe's confession. "/Never/ heard of Landing Falls? Why, we're known across Pern for our nuts. All sorts of nuts! Every variety and the dyes we make from them, why, weavercraft just /dies/ for them, literally /dies/ for them!" Her eyes narrow as she stares Jaispe down. "You wouldn't believe what can drive a person insane if you try hard enough." Paling slightly at the introductions, she's quick to nod her head in 'respect' although she gives Jaispe a critical once over. "My apologies ma'am. you don't /look/ anything like a goldrider. My duties to you and your qween. Well met, Milani, I am Viviana. Here on /official/ business."
Jaispe agrees, nodding to Milani again, "Right, right. It's their job." She grins faintly, shaking her head as she leans back, bracing herself with her hands behind her. Apologetically, though, she glances back at Viviana, wincing. "Well, no? I mean, I'm from Southern originally so I don't really know much about the geography here?" she offers in explanation. "Or clothes, dyes, any of that bit. I'm sorry." But a hint of pink touches her fair cheeks in response to the appraising look the holder gives her. "Oh. It's the clothes, isn't it? They're not age-appropriate," she says, woeful as she smoothes at her bright skirt.
Milani takes in Viviana's explanation with a grin threatening to burst forth just about any second. "Weaverhall dies for your dyes huh? That's kind of funny." The girl's arms fold across her chest and she pulls her legs up into a crossed position. She shoots Jaispe a reassuring look and barrels on. "What's a goldrider look like anyway? They're all different. Viviana huh? Nice name." Beat. "Official business? Really? Need to find someone for that?" That last is offered a bit more cheerily, though amusement still threatens to break out on Milani's face.
Viviana purses her lips as she listens to Jaispe's explanation, reluctantly nodding. "Well, if you are from that far away, I suppose you wouldn't have known." Milani is not afforded the same forgiveness as Viviana once again narrows her gaze at the girl with a look of suspicion. "You aren't making fun of me, are you? And yes, the apprentices and journeymen scramble to get a hold of our nuts .. well the shells of the nuts at least. Bakercraft likes the meat of the nut more.." She waves off her explanation as if it's become too tiresome even for her. "I don't know what goldrider's clotheslook like, never seen one, a goldrider, I mean, up close but I was expecting something a little more ... obstentious and grand-like or something."
Jaispe tilts her head at Milani's joke, repeating, "Dies for your -- oh!" She's a little slow to take onto the wordplay, obvious though it is, but she grins herself when she does. "Satiet said I didn't look age-appropriate," she confesses then, to Viviana. "But it's hard finding a whole new wardrobe, all at once. Everything else I had worked at Southern, and Igen, but maybe we were just more, you know, relaxed there or something."
Blanking her face out, Milani makes wide eyes at Viviana. "Sound like pretty good nuts then." She eyes Jaispe's clothing and shrugs. "Y'know, what you've got there looks fine to me. Not every goldrider has to look like a fashion plate. Especially not when you've got work to do. But if you want some help, my mother's good with the fashion advice."
Viviana sniffs. "Well, you do know what they say about /Southern/ don't you? I mean, don't you all go around there half dressed most of the time anyhow? But Igen? Wouldn't sand get everywhere if you were not going around wearing much? Wouldn't be very comfortable if you ask me but don't let /them/ tell you how too dress. A girl can dress any way she pleases, it's not right for people to tell you that you got to dress a certain way .. you know!" Unaware of her own hypocrisy, she blithefully rambles on. "Let me guess, the weyrwoman Satiet is all for tradition and old ways, right?" Stoutly defending the one whose wardrobe she just trashed, Viv retorts. "I /think/ she looks just /fine/."
"Really?" inquires Jaispe, brows rising as Milani offers her her mother's services. "Is she a weaver? I asked my daughter and she said I looked all right for a mother, which isn't the same thing as a goldrider, I suppose. Lultiath's been saying the same thing for years but she doesn't have any good suggestions." Her thin shoulders lift, smile wry as the two younger women advise her. "I don't think she is," Jaispe notes of her superior. "I mean, I don't know her well, but..." A glance to Milani asks for the more familiar girl's opinion, though Jaispe adds, an afterthought, "Thank you, both of you. And we don't /really/ wander around like that. I mean, not all of us, at Southern."
Milani just stares at Viviana for a minute. "Depends on what part of the South, right? It's not all like Ista." She turns back towards Jaispe though with a shake of her head. "No, she's a greenrider but she's always done sewing stuff and she started to train a little y'know, before Thread came." She pats her own skirt which is rather well tailored even thogh it's all improperly hiked up. "She made me this. As for the Weyrwoman, I dunno about /traditional/ but she's a piece of work too. Strong y'know?"
Viviana meets the stare with a defensive shrug. "I'm just a little girl from a small hold, what am I to know of such matters?" Another airy wave of her hand makes her point. "See, strong-minded. You got to be, to be a goldrider and you /have/ to stand out. Just like that skirt, /she's/ wearing. Maybe you do fit the role, after all ma'am. Know your own mind and aren't afraid of really standing out in a crowd." Something brings her back to other thoughts and she asks Milani. "Is it true? They got that bronzerider from here chained to a wall and feeding him nothing but gruel?"
"Southern's like Ista, the Weyr," Jaispe notes, wistfully. "All tropical and humid. But the other places, like Ierne and Honshu and those, they're cold, more like the Reaches. But -- you think so?" At Viviana's praise, her smile strengthens, encouraged by those words. "Thank you. I mean, I still have to, you know, find some warmer things, too, but. What's your mother's name, anyway?" The latter she directs at Milani, curious. "And maybe I can talk to her, although I bet she's really busy if she's a rider, too."
With eyes narrowing slightly, Milani purses her lips a little. "Which bronzerider?" Jaispe's happy smile and her question draw her attention back to the goldrider and she nods. "Don't worry, there's tons of stuff in stores." She pats the keys at her belt. "That /I/ can help you with. Mum? Emilly. Green Sionath's. Though, you're right. She doesn't have as much time as she used to." The girl heaves a sigh at that and her eyes drop back down to Viviana. "How long've you been at the Weyr anyway Viviana?"
Viviana shrugs. "Some bronzerider, that's what I heard in the lower caverns, when I was delivering nut samples to the cooks for them to taste. /Taste/ mind you, not gobble down like they were coming out of the woodwork or something." She's silent for a moment, then sheepishly admits. "Umm, about .... a half a sevenda, give or take? I'm taking the supply wagon back, I suppose." She sighs heavily. "I got nothing better to do, like travel to all sorts of places that are warm and green and lush..."
Jaispe does not touch the subject of the incarceration of a bronzerider. Instead, she moves to slide down the rock face, not very gracefully, and then tug her skirt, straightening it. "Oof! Only a sevenday? Me too! Well, about that long, anyway. It's getting late, though, isn't it? I promised Saiphe and Phaiseo we'd have dinner together -- you know, like a family? I should go find the nannies again and see. I hope I can find the nannies again, anyway," she notes, making a face.
"Well there's more than one. But I sure hope there's not any chains or gruel." Milani's chin lifts a little, though Jaispe, being nearer might notice the wobble in her lip. "Sure. There's all sorts of gossip all over right now. It's rough times." The assistant headwoman suddenly occupies herself with untucking the ends of her skirt from her belt and rearranging it properly. "Oh that's right you have little kids," Milani recalls. "You have a good dinner now, Jaispe. And keep practicing the skipping. Come find me if you need help with Stores. I'm usually on duty over there around the lower caverns somewhere."
Viviana rolls her eyes at Jaispe's less-than-graceful dismount from the rock. "Less than a sevenday but you get to /stay/ here, I heard about you, they kicked you out of Igen, right? They are odd down there, I hear... Do have a nice dinner, it smelt good in the kitchens." She doesn't notice the wobble of that lip but nods to Milani. "You work in the lower caverns?" Peering over at the girl's knot, she grins. "Ah, you got people telling /you/ what to do all day long too, huh?"
"Two of them," Jaispe says, quite proudly. "My daughter's eight and my son, he's four already -- he'll be five soon, actually, in just a few more months." And like many parents, she seems quite eager to ramble on about her children, but Viviana succeeds in distracting her. "Threw me out?" Jaispe repeats, sounding befuddled then. "Did they really? I think it was just a trade, actually; you know, with Josilina being Weyrwoman there, and leaving the Reaches. I better go, though. Lulla's getting bossy about it, and you know how she can be." She hesitates longer, though, to flash both, but especially Milani, another warm smile. "I'm sure they're fine, N'thei and A'son and Joe. Telgar wouldn't hurt them or anything," she offers in reassurance, before she turns to wander off, more or less in the right direction.
Catching up another one of her skipping stones, Milani looks down at Viviana again with a disbelieving look. "That was a /trade/," she informs the other teen and rolls her eyes skyward. "I report to the Headwoman. Not 'people'." Her head swings back down Jaispe's way. "I hope they get to bed okay for you tonight then. And um ... thanks." With a sudden motion, Millie casts that rock to skip across the lake and then hops to her feet, to slide right down the boulder too.
Viviana sniffs sympathetically at the retreating back of Jaispe "That's right, she should keep her head up, nothing like being fired, you know? I am sure High Reaches is glad to take the poor thing in, they are friendly like that here? Taking in waifs?" Her eyes widen innocently as she clutches her hands in front of her."Merciful like? I am sure Telgar won't hurt them, talkin' bout mercy. What about Crom though? Digging in coal dust has to make a person cranky. And you saying your Headwoman isn't a people?"
Milani fixes Viviana with another /look/. "I don't know /what/ you're talking about. "I'm sure Jaispe is a perfectly capable weyrwoman." Her hands smooth down her skirts again and she checks behind her to make sure they're not still rucked up. "I'm saying that I /only/ answer to the Headwoman. And the weyrwomen of course." That's offered over airily, Millie's chin lifted again. "But they don't run around telling me what to do every day." The comment about Crom brings a spark to her eyes. "The sooner Crom gets its head sorted on straight, the better. Cranky or not. I'm sure the Lord's not down in the shafts digging any coal."
Viviana blinks innocently. "I am sure she's a fine and capable weyrwoman too, I mean, I was just saying -- what with her being down at Igen for such a short time and before that from Southern? And we both know what /southern/ is like..." Idly looking down at Milani's skirts, she offers oh-so-helpfully. "Got some dirt on your hem, I think.." She sniffs suspiciously. "Well, you are an /assistant/ don't assistants just do what they are told to do?"
Up goes Milani's chin again. "Actually, I've /no/ idea what Southern is really like, but maybe I'll get to find out someday. It was nice meeting you Viviana. Please /do/ let me know if you need any help while you're here selling nuts. I'm very good at finding places for things in Stores and I know just about where everything is too. I'm heading for some dinner myself though, so beg pardon, but I'm off." No acknowledgement about her hem at all.
Viviana sniffs and her chin goes up as well. "I'm not some /trader/ girl selling my wares to just /anyone/ thank you very much." Tossing her hair over her shoulder with a jerk of her head, she spins on her heel. "Oh I am sure if I need any /assistance/ at all, I'll be sure to call on you." Sniff! "I think I'll go check out the dinner table as well, not as plentiful as /ours/ but it it does make me grateful for the bounty back home. If you'll be excusing me?" Excusing or not, Viv heads back toward the weyr.