Prioritizing.
God, I'm blatantly stealing so many logs this week. Next week I'll do all my own logs like a grown-up. I swear!
Log stolen from Milani. ;)
After the races at Ista, Milani runs into A'son. They discuss priorities, the need for distance and things to worry about.
Plateau -- Ista Weyr(#1094RJs)
The Istan Plateau is barely visible here on ground level for what it is: a mass of lava that flowed out from the broken line of the northwestern Istan bowl toward and into the sea. The rich soil of the plateau yields a lush dusky emerald and violet carpet of vegetation. The plateau suddenly ends at the sea in a high sloping cliff. You can see the rainbow of a roaring waterfall at the center edge, fed from a large pool that dragons often are found bathing in. A well-worn trail leads south from the plateau and down to the black volcanic sands of the island's beaches. The massive spires of the five black Spindles rise out of the ebon rock of the far side of the Weyr bowl to loom menacingly, distant yet still stark against the sky. The ocean glimmers a brilliant turquoise to the west.
The wet fall season oppresses the island with high humidity and sweltering temperatures. This morning, clouds interrupt the sky and the air hardly moves more than a whisper.
Paths lead down to the beach and back toward the Weyr around the corrals.
The sound of the festivities can still be heard in the background, though it's dying down as the night comes to a close. A'son is leaving, heading across the far end of the plateau and off to the bowl. His stride is slow and retiring, he doesn't seem like he's in any hurry right now to get where he's going. Now and again he looks up, checking the airspace above him.
Walking along the edge of the plateau a little away from where the fun's still ongoing, Milani drifts along, catching a bit of the evening breeze and fanning her face with the broad-brimmed hat she wore earlier. She's humming a little off-key as she goes and catches motion out of the corner of her eye, turns a little and spots the Weyrleader. There's a moment's hesitation then she changes direction a little so that her path intersects his. "Hey you," she says quietly as she nears, smiles warmly.
Milani appears out of nowhere for A'son and he shakes his head, looking startled. "Oh, hey. I thought you were still back at the party? Still a lot of life left to it." He says, nodding in that direction. "I'm about ready to head home, go to bed. Get some sleep. Fun today, work tomorrow. You know how that goes."
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Milani says with a little laugh and shakes her head. "I got a little overheated in the crowd, thought I'd step away for a bit, get some fresher air." Her gaze follows his nod and then returns back to him. "Fun today ... long day though, that you're heading to bed so early? And yeah, I get it."
"It's not so early, night is getting kind of long. And sort of. There was this. And I had a visitor today who took up a good deal of energy to entertain. And I have plenty of things to mull over and work on still when I get back to my weyr." A'son says, lifting his shoulders with a shrug. "Hopefully I'll do them." Dark eyes go back to the crowds in the distance. "Yeah, it does get hot here. Easy to get overheated."
"I guess I'm still kind of on Reaches' time," Milani replies thoughtfully, tilting her head up to the sky, looking up at the stars. "It's earlier back home still," she muses onward and then fixes him with a long look. "Hopefully? Thinking about /not/ doing them?" A hint of a tease in her voice.
"Yes, I imagine that it is. I don't know how you and X'lar stay awake. What with all the traveling back and forth you two do." His eyes have found the sky but are soon dropping back down to her again. "Perhaps. I might decide that I'd rather take a long bath instead, sleep and get to work on my problems in the morning. With a fresh mind."
"You know me. I never run out of energy. Or at least, rarely," Milani says with a little laugh. "As for X'lar, you'd have to ask him." The assistant headwoman shrugs once lightly and meets his gaze briefly when he looks back down. "Baths are nice, probably even nicer down here than up at the Reaches. You know. To deal with all that sweat." Beat. "You've got problems, Ays?"
"I always have some sort of a problem, you know me. I wouldn't be me if there wasn't something not so great going on." A'son lifts his shoulders, smiling faintly. "I think X'lar would only run out of energy if he ran out of meatrolls. I don't think I've ever seen a kid eat that much before in my life." He watches her expression and then shakes his head, "Don't worry about it if you're planning on worrying about my problems. It's just the wings, one of them in particular."
"Ohhh wing problems. So Weyrleader problems. Got it. That's mostly the job then," Milani decides then drops her head, giggling. "Mm. Don't cut Xie off from his meatrolls. He might pass out." There's humor in her voice and she shakes her head next. "Don't worry. I won't. You, maybe. But I don't know Ista well enough to worry about the problems here. Got plenty of things to worry about up at the Reaches. Then again, if you want a relatively neutral ear, you can always run anything that's not you know, super secret confidential by me."
"It's not super secret confidential. But I've heard it's bad form to say you think one of your Wingleader's is a raging idiot. To anyone who's not the Weyrwoman or the Wingleader herself." A'son replies, smooth even if he's tense on the subject. "Plenty of things to worry about up at High Reaches?" He asks, then shakes his head. "Plenty of things to worry about everywhere I guess, you have to make sure you're giving all your worry to the right place. To your own people."
"Ohhh." Milani makes a little face. "So you're trying to figure out whether or not to replace him or her? And like, is this because stuff is changing over from there being Thread to there not being Thread? Because ... there's some riders up at the Reaches that are you know," she lifts a finger and twirls it at the side of her head. "They're getting a little loopy already with things changing." A deep breath in, another out and she nods. "I ... lost something that I shouldn't have." Oh vague. "And the traders are still there. I mean it's good right, because there's lots of trade, but some of the residents aren't happy having them so -- well, close." She tilts another look over at him. "Giving all your worry to the right place. What if you've got people you care about in more than one place?"
"She doesn't want to believe it's ending, I think. She thinks her riders aren't good enough, that I'm not experienced and that I'm being blithe about everything. So... I didn't give her what she wanted. Now she's angry." A'son purses his lips, dropping his eyes to the ground. "I didn't think it was a good thing when you said the traders were living there. High Reaches needs to tell them to get lost before something bad happens, those aren't a good type of people. Never liked traders." He shakes his head, lifting his sight up again. "Sometimes you have to let them take care of themselves, let them grow up and take care of it without you. Life changes, people change. Maybe you'll be back to help them, maybe you won't. But you have to worry most about what's right in front of you."
"Mmm. That's what a lot of the older riders are starting to sound like. They jump up to go to the expected Fall sites. And when there isn't anything ... well, when they come back to the Weyr, they look almost disappointed that there was nothing to do but make sure it was all clear," Milani murmurs softly, an edge of sadness in her eyes and in her voice. "And here's most of us happy to have Thread-free skies." She blows out a long breath and leans to bump her shoulder against his lightly. "Even if she's angry at you, I think you did the right thing. Because you've got the whole Weyr and the coverage area to think about, not just one wing." Beat. "Not that ... y'know, I'm an expert or anything," she tacks on with a self-deprecating laugh. What he says about traders sends her quiet. "Mostly, I'm just trying to keep anything bad from happening. Tempers flaring. That kind of thing." She chews lightly on her lip and looks down at the ground. "You talking about the Reaches, Ays? Or -- something else?"
"I'm not an expert either. Which makes it kind of hard to know if I did the right thing. But I would have never, ever thought about mouthing off to the weyrleader when I was just a rider or a resident. Never." A'son shakes his head, and looks sad too when she tells that story. "I can understand the feeling. It's a hard transition to make." He kicks his foot at the stones on the ground. "Reaches. It's trouble brewing over there. I'm worried about it. But I have to worry about Ista first, I have to worry about here, my home before something bad happens to us. You never know. Intervals are tricky business."
"That's because you're a very dedicated person," Milani says, tipping her head back a little and she colors a little. "I would've. But I used to talk back to everyone," she notes with a sheepish grin then sobers, nodding. "Then don't. Don't worry about Reaches. You're right about needing to focus here. I just like to tell you what's going on at home, so you know." Beat. "I can stop though ... though I guess by now, it'd be better to keep you in the loop so when it all blows over, you can be relieved." A little face. "I guess they are. Though at the same time, being able to walk around outside without any fear? Good thing."
"Yeah well, you never cursed the Weyrleader out. Did you? Or fight with him, in public? More than once?" A'son questions, eyebrows hiking up, expression saying that he knows she didn't. "It's not that I don't want to know. Or that I don't care. But I need to make Ista my home and I can't do that if I'm always worrying about what's going on there because I still think of that as home. I need to... sort of break away from it. Or I'll never be able to do the things that I need to do here."
"The Weyrleader? No. Satiet either. Not to their faces anyway," Milani muses. "I mean, I know from what Mum and Da say that ... well there's an order, right? For riders. And that kind of has to get followed." Her lips press together briefly and one hand moves to touch his arm lightly. "I'm sorry this wingleader's being so uppity, Ays. Giving an opinion's one thing, but cussing you out? Not good." A definite shake of her head and then the rest ... well, she's mulling it over and looking at the ground again. "Does that mean breaking away from everything about the Reaches?" she finally asks. "Because ... you're right. Ista's your home now."
"Yeah, there's an order to everything. Or else there's chaos." A'son says simply, frowning again. "I don't know if uppity is the word. She's not a bad leader, but sometimes I think she's crazy. She's not even a bad person. But well, it is what it is now." He puts one of his hands on hers and pats, then gives it a little squeeze. "I'm not going to forget my friends or ignore you when you come to visit. Or forgetting where I'm from. But I am... putting some distance. I have to be Ista's Weyrleader, not that bronzerider from High Reaches who's kind of at Ista now."
"Right. And this is kinda ... out of order," Millie says slowly and then giggles. "Crazy. Hm. Everyone's a little crazy around the edges aren't they? But some more than most I guess." Her fingers curl around his lightly, stay put if he allows. "Distance," she echoes and takes a deep breath. "Got it." And her hand tightens briefly then makes to pull away. Granting distance. "In that case Weyrleader, sir," she teases just a little, smiling to take any sting out of the use of the title, "I suppose I'd better go get a ride back to the Reaches and pay more attention to what those traders're up to, hm? Because you could kind of argue that I've been spending too much time down at Ista, lately."
"We need to protect what's ours. And I think maybe it sounds like you'd better keep an eye on these traders. Don't let them rob the Reaches blind or something, Millie. Find what you lost too, sounds like maybe it was important." A'son squeezes her hand back once again and pulls closer to give her an impulsive hug. "I'm sure T'mic is still around somewhere to give you a ride back. I didn't mean for you to never visit, but until things settle down we both need to make sure priorities are... prioritized. Good luck back in the mountains." He wishes, pulling away and smiling faintly.
"I don't think --" Milani starts to deny the idea of blind robbery going on then she just lets him pull her close for however briefly and lets her head drop to his shoulder, hugs back until he draws away, fingers lingering just a touch on his arm before she snatches them back and folds her hands behind her back. "Probably," she answers about the greenrider and she nods just once. "Prioritizing." And her hand reappears as she snaps off a jaunty salute a la Weyrling, grins at A'son blithely. "And you here, Ays. Write if you need -- a friend. Some things, it doesn't matter where you're from for them to still be true." Beat. "Enjoy that bath. And sleep well. Prioritizing takes a lot of energy." On that last, she winks, before turning to head back towards the party to hitch a ride.
A'son laughs, another head shake as he watches her go off. He sighs and turns to the direction he had been heading, once more walking at a slow and steady pace back to his weyr.
Log stolen from Milani. ;)
After the races at Ista, Milani runs into A'son. They discuss priorities, the need for distance and things to worry about.
Plateau -- Ista Weyr(#1094RJs)
The Istan Plateau is barely visible here on ground level for what it is: a mass of lava that flowed out from the broken line of the northwestern Istan bowl toward and into the sea. The rich soil of the plateau yields a lush dusky emerald and violet carpet of vegetation. The plateau suddenly ends at the sea in a high sloping cliff. You can see the rainbow of a roaring waterfall at the center edge, fed from a large pool that dragons often are found bathing in. A well-worn trail leads south from the plateau and down to the black volcanic sands of the island's beaches. The massive spires of the five black Spindles rise out of the ebon rock of the far side of the Weyr bowl to loom menacingly, distant yet still stark against the sky. The ocean glimmers a brilliant turquoise to the west.
The wet fall season oppresses the island with high humidity and sweltering temperatures. This morning, clouds interrupt the sky and the air hardly moves more than a whisper.
Paths lead down to the beach and back toward the Weyr around the corrals.
The sound of the festivities can still be heard in the background, though it's dying down as the night comes to a close. A'son is leaving, heading across the far end of the plateau and off to the bowl. His stride is slow and retiring, he doesn't seem like he's in any hurry right now to get where he's going. Now and again he looks up, checking the airspace above him.
Walking along the edge of the plateau a little away from where the fun's still ongoing, Milani drifts along, catching a bit of the evening breeze and fanning her face with the broad-brimmed hat she wore earlier. She's humming a little off-key as she goes and catches motion out of the corner of her eye, turns a little and spots the Weyrleader. There's a moment's hesitation then she changes direction a little so that her path intersects his. "Hey you," she says quietly as she nears, smiles warmly.
Milani appears out of nowhere for A'son and he shakes his head, looking startled. "Oh, hey. I thought you were still back at the party? Still a lot of life left to it." He says, nodding in that direction. "I'm about ready to head home, go to bed. Get some sleep. Fun today, work tomorrow. You know how that goes."
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Milani says with a little laugh and shakes her head. "I got a little overheated in the crowd, thought I'd step away for a bit, get some fresher air." Her gaze follows his nod and then returns back to him. "Fun today ... long day though, that you're heading to bed so early? And yeah, I get it."
"It's not so early, night is getting kind of long. And sort of. There was this. And I had a visitor today who took up a good deal of energy to entertain. And I have plenty of things to mull over and work on still when I get back to my weyr." A'son says, lifting his shoulders with a shrug. "Hopefully I'll do them." Dark eyes go back to the crowds in the distance. "Yeah, it does get hot here. Easy to get overheated."
"I guess I'm still kind of on Reaches' time," Milani replies thoughtfully, tilting her head up to the sky, looking up at the stars. "It's earlier back home still," she muses onward and then fixes him with a long look. "Hopefully? Thinking about /not/ doing them?" A hint of a tease in her voice.
"Yes, I imagine that it is. I don't know how you and X'lar stay awake. What with all the traveling back and forth you two do." His eyes have found the sky but are soon dropping back down to her again. "Perhaps. I might decide that I'd rather take a long bath instead, sleep and get to work on my problems in the morning. With a fresh mind."
"You know me. I never run out of energy. Or at least, rarely," Milani says with a little laugh. "As for X'lar, you'd have to ask him." The assistant headwoman shrugs once lightly and meets his gaze briefly when he looks back down. "Baths are nice, probably even nicer down here than up at the Reaches. You know. To deal with all that sweat." Beat. "You've got problems, Ays?"
"I always have some sort of a problem, you know me. I wouldn't be me if there wasn't something not so great going on." A'son lifts his shoulders, smiling faintly. "I think X'lar would only run out of energy if he ran out of meatrolls. I don't think I've ever seen a kid eat that much before in my life." He watches her expression and then shakes his head, "Don't worry about it if you're planning on worrying about my problems. It's just the wings, one of them in particular."
"Ohhh wing problems. So Weyrleader problems. Got it. That's mostly the job then," Milani decides then drops her head, giggling. "Mm. Don't cut Xie off from his meatrolls. He might pass out." There's humor in her voice and she shakes her head next. "Don't worry. I won't. You, maybe. But I don't know Ista well enough to worry about the problems here. Got plenty of things to worry about up at the Reaches. Then again, if you want a relatively neutral ear, you can always run anything that's not you know, super secret confidential by me."
"It's not super secret confidential. But I've heard it's bad form to say you think one of your Wingleader's is a raging idiot. To anyone who's not the Weyrwoman or the Wingleader herself." A'son replies, smooth even if he's tense on the subject. "Plenty of things to worry about up at High Reaches?" He asks, then shakes his head. "Plenty of things to worry about everywhere I guess, you have to make sure you're giving all your worry to the right place. To your own people."
"Ohhh." Milani makes a little face. "So you're trying to figure out whether or not to replace him or her? And like, is this because stuff is changing over from there being Thread to there not being Thread? Because ... there's some riders up at the Reaches that are you know," she lifts a finger and twirls it at the side of her head. "They're getting a little loopy already with things changing." A deep breath in, another out and she nods. "I ... lost something that I shouldn't have." Oh vague. "And the traders are still there. I mean it's good right, because there's lots of trade, but some of the residents aren't happy having them so -- well, close." She tilts another look over at him. "Giving all your worry to the right place. What if you've got people you care about in more than one place?"
"She doesn't want to believe it's ending, I think. She thinks her riders aren't good enough, that I'm not experienced and that I'm being blithe about everything. So... I didn't give her what she wanted. Now she's angry." A'son purses his lips, dropping his eyes to the ground. "I didn't think it was a good thing when you said the traders were living there. High Reaches needs to tell them to get lost before something bad happens, those aren't a good type of people. Never liked traders." He shakes his head, lifting his sight up again. "Sometimes you have to let them take care of themselves, let them grow up and take care of it without you. Life changes, people change. Maybe you'll be back to help them, maybe you won't. But you have to worry most about what's right in front of you."
"Mmm. That's what a lot of the older riders are starting to sound like. They jump up to go to the expected Fall sites. And when there isn't anything ... well, when they come back to the Weyr, they look almost disappointed that there was nothing to do but make sure it was all clear," Milani murmurs softly, an edge of sadness in her eyes and in her voice. "And here's most of us happy to have Thread-free skies." She blows out a long breath and leans to bump her shoulder against his lightly. "Even if she's angry at you, I think you did the right thing. Because you've got the whole Weyr and the coverage area to think about, not just one wing." Beat. "Not that ... y'know, I'm an expert or anything," she tacks on with a self-deprecating laugh. What he says about traders sends her quiet. "Mostly, I'm just trying to keep anything bad from happening. Tempers flaring. That kind of thing." She chews lightly on her lip and looks down at the ground. "You talking about the Reaches, Ays? Or -- something else?"
"I'm not an expert either. Which makes it kind of hard to know if I did the right thing. But I would have never, ever thought about mouthing off to the weyrleader when I was just a rider or a resident. Never." A'son shakes his head, and looks sad too when she tells that story. "I can understand the feeling. It's a hard transition to make." He kicks his foot at the stones on the ground. "Reaches. It's trouble brewing over there. I'm worried about it. But I have to worry about Ista first, I have to worry about here, my home before something bad happens to us. You never know. Intervals are tricky business."
"That's because you're a very dedicated person," Milani says, tipping her head back a little and she colors a little. "I would've. But I used to talk back to everyone," she notes with a sheepish grin then sobers, nodding. "Then don't. Don't worry about Reaches. You're right about needing to focus here. I just like to tell you what's going on at home, so you know." Beat. "I can stop though ... though I guess by now, it'd be better to keep you in the loop so when it all blows over, you can be relieved." A little face. "I guess they are. Though at the same time, being able to walk around outside without any fear? Good thing."
"Yeah well, you never cursed the Weyrleader out. Did you? Or fight with him, in public? More than once?" A'son questions, eyebrows hiking up, expression saying that he knows she didn't. "It's not that I don't want to know. Or that I don't care. But I need to make Ista my home and I can't do that if I'm always worrying about what's going on there because I still think of that as home. I need to... sort of break away from it. Or I'll never be able to do the things that I need to do here."
"The Weyrleader? No. Satiet either. Not to their faces anyway," Milani muses. "I mean, I know from what Mum and Da say that ... well there's an order, right? For riders. And that kind of has to get followed." Her lips press together briefly and one hand moves to touch his arm lightly. "I'm sorry this wingleader's being so uppity, Ays. Giving an opinion's one thing, but cussing you out? Not good." A definite shake of her head and then the rest ... well, she's mulling it over and looking at the ground again. "Does that mean breaking away from everything about the Reaches?" she finally asks. "Because ... you're right. Ista's your home now."
"Yeah, there's an order to everything. Or else there's chaos." A'son says simply, frowning again. "I don't know if uppity is the word. She's not a bad leader, but sometimes I think she's crazy. She's not even a bad person. But well, it is what it is now." He puts one of his hands on hers and pats, then gives it a little squeeze. "I'm not going to forget my friends or ignore you when you come to visit. Or forgetting where I'm from. But I am... putting some distance. I have to be Ista's Weyrleader, not that bronzerider from High Reaches who's kind of at Ista now."
"Right. And this is kinda ... out of order," Millie says slowly and then giggles. "Crazy. Hm. Everyone's a little crazy around the edges aren't they? But some more than most I guess." Her fingers curl around his lightly, stay put if he allows. "Distance," she echoes and takes a deep breath. "Got it." And her hand tightens briefly then makes to pull away. Granting distance. "In that case Weyrleader, sir," she teases just a little, smiling to take any sting out of the use of the title, "I suppose I'd better go get a ride back to the Reaches and pay more attention to what those traders're up to, hm? Because you could kind of argue that I've been spending too much time down at Ista, lately."
"We need to protect what's ours. And I think maybe it sounds like you'd better keep an eye on these traders. Don't let them rob the Reaches blind or something, Millie. Find what you lost too, sounds like maybe it was important." A'son squeezes her hand back once again and pulls closer to give her an impulsive hug. "I'm sure T'mic is still around somewhere to give you a ride back. I didn't mean for you to never visit, but until things settle down we both need to make sure priorities are... prioritized. Good luck back in the mountains." He wishes, pulling away and smiling faintly.
"I don't think --" Milani starts to deny the idea of blind robbery going on then she just lets him pull her close for however briefly and lets her head drop to his shoulder, hugs back until he draws away, fingers lingering just a touch on his arm before she snatches them back and folds her hands behind her back. "Probably," she answers about the greenrider and she nods just once. "Prioritizing." And her hand reappears as she snaps off a jaunty salute a la Weyrling, grins at A'son blithely. "And you here, Ays. Write if you need -- a friend. Some things, it doesn't matter where you're from for them to still be true." Beat. "Enjoy that bath. And sleep well. Prioritizing takes a lot of energy." On that last, she winks, before turning to head back towards the party to hitch a ride.
A'son laughs, another head shake as he watches her go off. He sighs and turns to the direction he had been heading, once more walking at a slow and steady pace back to his weyr.