(no subject)
7-11-2006 (Penny, Sian, Reyce, M'eri, Issa, E'sere):
Living Cavern
Large enough to hold the majority of the Weyr's human population, this cavern can become loud enough to deafen thanks to the acoustics caused by its size. The ceiling is so far overhead that it's cast into shadow, a darkness that is broken only by the spark and glitter of a lucky beam of light striking the minerals found in the rock walls. Below, most of the floor is covered with an assortment of long tables and benches. There are some smaller tables, surrounded by chairs, but privacy appears to be a rare thing in this bustling cavern. Large hearths line the west wall, with fires burning day and night to warm the food and drink that keep the Weyr's inhabitants fueled. The serving tables are near the hearth, opposite the dais that holds the single table reserved for the Weyr leadership and honored guests.
This room may be +watched (+help watch).
Contents:
M'eri Sian Penny
Obvious Exits:
Upper Caverns (UC) Lower Caverns (LC) Kitchen (K)
Infirmary (INF) Bowl (B)
Lacking only about an hour until dinnertime now, the caverns are starting to fill, and those much-desired seats by the hearths are in constant change as folks leave and arrive and switch around. Penny, for her part, leaves her satchel on her armchair as she stands and goes to the hearth for some more hot water from the pot boiling there, filling her cup and adding a new tea bag from her own pocket. She makes her way back to her seat, moving her back again in order to sit down. She's not relinquishing her coveted armchair.
Sian enters the room, tugging a soft grey shawl closer around her shoulders as she heads for the pots of tea. Her step is slow and careful, but she walks with head up and lips smiling. It's the first time anyone's seen her since the..eventful...Turn's End and she's looking a touch on the fragile side, but otherwise quite a bit..slimmer.
Reyce enters from the bowl, wrapped into a bundle of winter clothes that frankly make it difficult to walk. He manages it somehow, crossing the Living Cavern in a hurry when he spots a vacancy by the hearth - one that's snapped up seconds before he can get to it. Muttering oaths through his scarf, he starts snatching off the winter layers and throwing them on the bench behind him: less comfortable, but still somewhat near to the warmth.
M'eri is a general pillar of blueriderness, it would seem, as he seems untouched both by weariness or the cold. He strolls into the living caverns, his scarf bouncing against his back as he strides up to the hearth. He doesn't bother sitting down, just bends there for a moment, letting the fire warm his hands. Once he's primarily satisfied, he goes to the meal table, opening his coat to let the cool - but not too cold - air into his heavier underlayers. Piling roasted tubers, cooked strips of herdbeast, and greens along with a few breadrolls onto a plate, he grabs the prepared klah, sweetens a mug of it heavily, then, finally, makes his way towards a table.
It'd be hard not to miss the form of one's teacher making her way across the caverns, and Penny is not utterly blind. She blinks, gets to her feet. "Lady Sian!" she greets, smiling after a moment's hesitation and incling her head with impeccable manners. "You look well. Have a seat -- you're after some tea as well?" And she surrenders up her hard-won armchair to the Lady. Aww. Such manners, when it's her teacher.
Sian pauses once tea is claimed and turns to greet Penny in return. "Penny, how nice to see you!" She pauses and then shakes her head. "I shouldn't take your chair, but the warmth would, I fear, be most welcome." Approaching, she holds out her cup to the girl "Please hold this a moment?" is murmured softly before she uses both hands to support herself into the seat. "Do sit beside me and tell me the latest news?"
Issa sits, dwelling in the same chair for quite some time, it would seem, that chair she's turned away from it's table to face the hearth. Cross-legged, with a stack of moldy hides balanced between her knees as she surveys them very closely, even using a magnifying glass to decipher some of the more dilapidated parts. Even though she is engaged in scholarly pursuits, she appears very childlike, biting her lower lip as she pushes the hair that falls in front of her face back behind one of her ears. Shielded by her concentration against the usual noise of the caverns, she slips her hand over and grabs the mug of klah kept nearby and sips, gingerly.
"You're allowed to take advantage, Lady," Penny assures her, eyes twinkling a little. "And I don't mind in the slightest." She takes the cup obediently, casting her eyes about until she finds an unoccupied wooden chair by a nearby table, to drag it over. Unfortunately, it's right by a particular bluerider, tucking into his dinner. "Excuse me," she murmurs politely, before she actually looks up. Oh. It's him. "Ah. Hi!" The greeting is cheerful enough, any potential wariness put down to M'eri's general insanity. She drags the chair back towards the armchair so recently taken by Sian. "I'm afraid I don't know much of the news. All the classes have been in uproar since Turn's end," she admits.
Reyce looks up sharply, alerted to the teacher's presence by Penny's greeting and not at all by his own watchfulness. Only now does it occur to him to take note of who else is present, and he does so under cover of peeling off his gloves and heavy jacket. Another man sitting near his chosen place on the bench grumbles something about not planning to save the seat for him, but Reyce throws it off with a shrug and goes in search of food.
M'eri blinks askance as Penny moves the chair, only to grin at her brilliantly at her greeting, undoubtedly accepting any wariness as probably for the best, "Hey!" He laughs quietly as she moves off, sending a cheery wave in Sian's direction as well only to turn back to his food and continue with vigorous eating. The man behaves as if he hasn't eaten all day, which may very well be true. Reyce's grumbling manner is met with the same sort of cheerful wave, though it is more of a salute at this point. M'eri can't help but be friendly, right? Right.
Sian sips at her reclaimed tea and then cradles the cup in her hands. "I had a weyr-nanny stay with Riann for a little while today. I felt the need to get out and see to some of my paperwork and, well, get a change of scenery." She nods to those who look over or greet and, for a moment, focuses on Issa, trying to see what she's working on.
The magnifying glass falls onto the page with a muffled thump as Issa drops it, forcing herself to take a break. Squinted eyes are rubbed at forcefully for a moment to regain focus, and then she stretches, arms flung behind her head carelessly. "Umnh," she mutters as she takes stock of the living caverns for what could be the first time that night. Reyce over by the food is noticed, watched for a brief moment, but ultimately turned away from. Instead she turns over her shoulder, catching sight of the bluerider and his lovely table manners. "Oh, h'lo," she greets, surprised that he could sneak up on her with such habits.
Penny glances over her shoulder at M'eri's laughter as she seats herself in the chair, tucking one leg up unconsciously, and probably not in a very ladylike manner. She turns her attention back to her instructor. "How is Riann?" she asks eventually, her expression settling on something that's -almost- a pleasant smile. "When do the rest of us get to see her?" Her eyes follow Sian's line of sight, towards where Issa's working.
Reyce slows his step for a moment, startled by M'eri's enthusiasm, but he's in too much of a hurry to get food before someone takes his seat. Again. He fails anyway, returning with a plate of carefully arranged meat and vegetables - perhaps he shouldn't have taken his time to arrange it - to find that his things have been shoved further down the bench. Muttering a few more oaths, and glaring at the woman who stole his spot, Reyce follows his stuff down the table. His glances trails over to Issa, to whom he now sits a little bit closer, but he doesn't say anything to her just yet.
M'eri doesn't have bad manners! He just eats like a rider should! Fast, and a lot. He licks his lips absently only to smile at Issa warmly at her somewhat surprised greeting, "How d'do?" He pauses to take a drink of klah, savoring the heat of it as it spreads through his chest and into his stomach. He twists greens around his fork, combines them with tuber, and adds a bit of chopped meat, this concoction carefully cut to fit into his mouth.
Sian reaches out a hand towards Penny and lightly taps the knee of the tucked-up leg in silent reminder/instruction and smiles. "Not until things warm up a bit. It is too bitter cold for such a wee one now. You could come up to the weyr for a visit if you'd like, though. She is healthy and a very happy baby, for all her small size and early arrival." She wraps both hands back around the mug and sips before murmuring a touch lower. "You should see her father, he positively dotes on her. I find it quite fascinating to watch R'vain with her."
Penny's eyes lift to the ceiling as she drops the knee back down, sitting up a little straighter. She hides the signs of exasperation quickly though, mastering it quietly and offering a sweet smile back at Sian. "Surely you can let your favorite students in to peep at her," she presses, still smiling. Though she doesn't sound all that urgent about it. "Really? That's... hard to imagine," she says tactfully of R'vain's fathering.
Issa is one of daintier proportions than M'eri, as evidenced by the very slight sips she intermittently steals from her mug. The greenrider swivels in her seat, pulling herself so that she more or less faces the table instead of away from it, while her other hand folds the hides into a more secure packet. And somehow she still manages to keep her position on her perch. "Got somewhere to go, bluerider?" she asks, draping one arm over the back of the chair and resting her chin on top. Though engaged in idle conversation here, her eyes tend to wander, getting back the bearing she lost from studying so long. Reyce is watched intently, with the failsafe of a small smile on her lips should he look up. Then she moves to Sian and Penny, reacting to talk of R'vain as a doting father with a subtle roll of her eyes.
Reyce does look up, but at M'eri. Now that he's had time to settle into his own seat, the bluerider merits a second glance. Whatever conclusions he draws from that look, however, he keeps to himself, watching blandly as the other man shovels food into his mouth. Reyce himself is not exactly a dainty eater, though he's not going at the same rate as M'eri; he does, however, have a surprisingly particular habit of switching between meat and veggies at regular intervals. Apparently, the concentration required for this eating regimen has him too busy to engage in any small talk.
M'eri, personally, seems to primarily eat one group of food at a time, finishing off his tubers first, then moving to his meat, and finishing on his greens, all in a clockwise direction. He doesn't seem to find any particular problem with being looked at, or if anyone finds his manners off center. The question from Issa is taken with a curious cock of his dark, fine eyebrows before he smiles, wipes his mouth with his napkin, and clears his throat to speak, "More sweep duties. And it's M'eri, if you please. If you don't, that's all right, too." His bright blue eyes give a glint of good-natured playfulness, something that doesn't fade even after he's finished talking. He takes a long drink of the klah, pushing his hair from his eyes absentmindedly, then canting his head to the side.
A soft laugh and Sian nods. "I know - believe me. I wondered, often, what kind of father he would be. But, watching him with her, is really amazing. He's so gentle and...awed, really. I fear for her future mates if they are going to have to pass /his/ inspection to get near her." She sips at her tea and rolls a shoulder slightly, tugging the shawl a little tighter. "I don't remember it being quite this cold in here before."
Penny's annoyance with being reprimanded as to her mannerisms fades a bit as she raises a concerned eyebrow. "It's no colder than usual, Lady Sian; perhaps you should move closer to the fire so you don't catch a chill?" Though it's not as though Penny isn't wrapped up in layers, but at least she has the excuse of hailing from tropical climes. She doesn't answer to the matter of R'vain, though from the faintly puzzled look on her face, she can't quite picture it.
Issa's fingers lift and tap against the chair back with a painfully slow beat as she watches M'eri eat with an almost instinctive curiousity. The bluerider's light manner seems contagious, as a grin shows itself, faintly at first, but growing. "M'eri it is then. I suppose it might become quite confusing if I were to just refer to you as bluerider." Her gaze is cast about at all the other bluerider knots tied to the shoulders of all the other blueriders scattered about the tables nearby. "And for the sake of clarity, I'm Issa." Grin at full force now, she lets her gaze linger a little longer on M'eri and his eating, before turning it to Reyce and his. She's almost impolite in her staring now, but she still makes no move to speak first, resigning herself to the tap-tap-tap-tap of her fingers against the wood.
"I think I'm going to have to have R'vain present Riann in a month or so, so you all can see that the man /does/ have a side other than that which he presents publically." Sian replies, smiling faintly. "Although, Faranth knows I've been trying to change that a little now and then." A nod to Penny "I think it's just me. Neiran warned me about 'overdoing' it for a little while. I guess I didn't think that walking about the caverns would be 'overdoing' it."
Reyce must feel the weight of that stare on his back, because he actually glances up and over his shoulder, meeting Issa's eye for a second. With food in his mouth, he gets to buy himself some extra time by chewing it, and then washing down the mouthful with a quick gulp of his drink. To his credit, he doesn't pretend not to have noticed her therebefore, but nods and says, "Issa." His gaze flicks over to M'eri, then back to her to add, somewhat defensively, "Saw you there. Was gonna say hello when I finished eating."
"We have to wait an entire month?" Penny smiles ruefully. Then she gives a little shiver herself, looking down for a moment; she's not been looking entirely well herself, the past couple of sevendays. "I do think I'm going to brave the chill and go back to the caucus complex; I'm afraid the smell of dinner cooking is turning my stomach a bit. Perhaps something at lunch didn't agree with me." She stands, lays a hand on the arm of Sian's chair. "Are you all right here?" As if being in a room with dozens on dozens of other people wasn't safe enough.
Sian arches one slender brow and looks at Penny, then curls a finger to draw the girl down so she can whisper in her ear. For once, the etiquette teacher eschews 'accepted' behavior and keeps things private.
M'eri laughs heartily only to stifle himself with a bit of meat, though he's sure to say, once he's finished chewing and all that nonsense, "Aye, it might be a bit odd. I'd have to get a bunch of blueriders to line up in a row just to be confusing." Heh. He does glance after some of his peers as well, but his attention soon returns to Issa for that introduction, to which is offered another bright smile, "A pleasure, then, Issa." He looks aside at Reyce when the man speaks up, finally, only to respond to the flicked glance with another little wave. Hey, Reyce doesn't have to speak to him, but if he keeps looking at him, he'll keep getting waved at.
But, possibly to her discredit, Issa does. "Oh, Reyce. I didn't even notice you there," she says with an underlying laugh, continuing with her quite obvious stare, "Thought you were just some stranger come to eat in rude silence." The dry tease ends there, and she lifts her head from its resting spot to motion casually in M'eri's direction. "Reyce, this here's M'eri, whom I've just met..." The introduction is cut short as she catches M'eri's wave at Reyce. "Oh, do you know each other already?" Both hands now reach up to grasp the back of her chair, the hides settled snugly into her lap, and she wavers between watching them both.
With a curious tilt of her head, Penny stops, looking at Sian in surprise at the woman's breach of ettiquette. Then she bends to hear what the Lady has to say; whatever it is doesn't agree with her at all. She straightens abruptly, taking a step back and bumping into the chair she had just vacated. She shakes her head, eyes a little wider than usual. "No," she replies, indeed looking a little pale now, as if she really -is- queasy. "No. You're mistaken." She remembers herself enough to incline her head politely. "G-Good evening," she adds, before she flees.
Penny has left.
Sian shakes her head as she watches Penny flee. "No, dear, I don't think I am." She looks down at her tea and then, after a minute, takes a sip.
Reyce's mouth pops open, perhaps to excuse himself for eating 'in rude silence,' but he snaps it back shut with a frown. That frown only intensifies when he realizes that M'eri's wave - he was all set to ignore it - has been noticed, and now he has to shift some attention onto the bluerider. He eyes the other man, wary, then comments dispassionately, "Dunno. M'eri, we know each other?"
M'eri shakes his head as he goodnaturedly states, "No, he just keeps lookin' at me, so I figured it was good to be friendly." That said, he pops a forkful of greens into his mouth, lifting his attention to both Issa and Reyce only to shrug his shoulders nonchalantly. He examines his now empty plate before he sets it aside so he can draw his klah mug in closer, wrapping his hands around it and absorbing the lingering heat that radiates through the stone.
Issa smiles, blue eyes switching eagerly between the two men. She seems immensly pleased that she's managed to force some manner of social exchange out of Reyce, apathetic though it may be. She too takes her mug off the table to sip, but soon replaces it. "Well, then, M'eri, Reyce. Of Benden," she finishes off the introduction she began, rushing through the formality required. "So how is your sister?" she asks innocently enough, turning her eyes on the student and matching his frown with a tight-lipped grin.
Sian finally looks up from her tea and sets the cup aside. A soft sigh and she presses both hands to the arms of the chair and slowly rises, keeping one hand on the chair until she's sure she's steady, then with a very slow and careful step, starts to make her way through the room towards the caverns and her 'office'. This is not her usual brisk, confident step by any stretch of the imagination.
Reyce raises his eyes to Sian as she passes, not entirely unaware of her presence despite his failure to address her. "There you have it, then," he murmurs on the tail of M'eri's answer. And then scowls at the mention of his sister. "Wouldn't know. Alive, more than likely." He raises the klah mugs to his lips for a long sip.
M'eri contemplates Reyce extensively, taking in his dour mood as well as fully catching both name and origin, licking his upper lip absently. Finally, he blinks and smiles brilliantly, "Oh, that's right! I did meet you. Naturally, I was the least interesting person there and I think you had absolutely no taste for me whatsoever, but still. Nice to see you again." It's sort of like an outpouring of words, really, and he simply returns to his klah once done.
Sian has left.
Issa is not only an informal student of moldy hides, but is adept at studying people as well, and she watches the reaction to her mention of Reyce's sister closely. "That's good to hear," is the casual response that covers the making of a mental notation. M'eri's chatter proves a good cover, as does her mug, from which she now takes the time to savor several small sips before putting it down again. "Ah, the connections you make in Caucus," she mildly marvels. "I suppose it really does do what they planned after all. Someday, Reyce, someday you're going to need a bluerider to ferry something precious and... Benden-like... wine, I don't know. But there M'eri will be. A helpful bluerider you know, just when you need one."
Reyce bristles, but he still has the klah mug by his mouth to hide his expression. Alas, only the expression on his lips: that flash of anger in his eyes is clear as day. He keeps them averted, not looking at either of them while he speaks. "Naturally, M'eri. I can only imagine that's why we didn't recognize each other at first." He frowns down into his mug, as though he'd just spotted a fly in it. "If you would ever like to carry on some business with Benden, be sure you let me know." An unmistakeable note of dry formality has leaked into his tone, possibly to cover his frustration.
M'eri shrugs his lean shoulders once more, canting his head back this time, propping an elbow on the back of his chair, "I don't mind doing as I'm asked. I'm a dragonrider, after all. Orders. Since we're friends and all, now, though, I imagine I wouldn't have a problem ferrying something if you need it." Amongst all the highly formal people that fill High Reaches, many of whom involved in Caucus, M'eri is an interesting contradiction to the lifestyle overall. Highly informal, he recognizes his duties and their limitations, not bothering to try and make connections or anything of that sort. In politics, he is severely lacking, and seems both aware and uncaring of it. Thus ends this M'eri lesson. Taking another drink of his klah, he examines its low form and queries, "Do either of you want anything else to drink? I'm going up to refill my klah."
Issa takes note of the increasingly cross and moody manner that Reyce exudes, but the only reaction she gives is to sigh slightly through her nose and turn to address only M'eri with her smile. "I would love some more, thank you," she says, looking up at him charmingly. She hands off her mug, asking, "Just two spoons of sweetner, please?" That done, her eyes return to Reyce, her lips pursed in silence as she drifts back into staring at him.
Reyce, still in his overly formal mode, acknowledges M'eri's response with a stiff nod, but declines the offered refill with a short, "I'm fine, thanks." He still has food on his plate, so he stabs a piece of meat and starts chewing on it, glancing back to catch Issa's stare - he has some kind of sense for it, apparently. Reyce raises an eyebrow, but he's not about to say anything, especially not with food in his mouth.
M'eri uncurls easily from his seat, reaching to take the mug with a light bow of his head, "Two spoons. Gotcha." He then wanders back towards the tables, humming as he goes, apparently unbothered by Reyce's moodiness. He sets the mugs down, fills both, and dumps sweetener and milk into his before sweetening Issa's own. It doesn't take him long, and he soon returns to the table, setting Issa's mug down in front of her before languidly collapsing into his own seat once more.
The stare lasts for a moment longer after Reyce acknowledges it. Then Issa takes a breath, pausing before she speaks, a frustration of her own finding an escape. "Why is it that..." But apparently she's waited too long, for M'eri comes back with a clatter of a mug and Issa looks up from her spot again to thank M'eri as he sits. Forgotten are the words of before, as is the tone, and more conversationally, she asks, "So, do you have any siblings, bluerider M'eri?" as if they had just been conversing about Reyce's sister all along.
Reyce blinks at the frustration in her tone, actually pausing his chewing for a second. Then M'eri returns and his eyes flick to the bluerider, but the formal mode has left him by now, and he makes no effort to welcome him on his return. Just raises that mug of klah and takes a drink, listening in thoughtful silence to his answer.
M'eri nods his head slightly at the question, taking a drink of his klah and sighing softly over the pleasure of having the heat back in both hand and stomach. He settles in a bit more comfortably, winding his long legs up and into his seat, before he finally elaborates, "I've got a little brother named Neiran. He works in the infirmary here. Have you met him?" His eyebrows go up curiously at Issa, though he cants his head to incluse Reyce in the question. Really, people wouldn't be able to even guess that relation, normally. Neiran was almost as sour as Reyce.
"Really?" is Issa's almost immediate, pleased response. Pondering into her klah, she finally shakes her head softly. "No, can't say that I have. But infirmary... he the skinny guy or the jumpy redheaded one?" Being a fighting rider, she's seen her fair share of the infirmary, enough to be that much familiar.
Reyce, being a fellow sourpuss, of course recognizes the name right away. His soft laughter echoes into his klah mug at first, as he was drinking from it when M'eri answered the question, but a moment later he puts the back of his hand over his mouth, muffling himself. "Given those choices, I would guess he's the skinny guy. Neiran," he remarks absently, "has the bunk opposite mine. Though I didn't know he had a brother." Here, or at all.
M'eri laughs himself a little at the question more than anything else, assuring, with utter certainty, "He has to be the thin one. I've never seen Neiran jumpy in my life, unless it involved something disgusting." He rolls his shoulders, taking another drink of his klah before he glances at Reyce and informs, with a wry note in his voice, "Aye, he wouldn't advertise it much." He motions towards himself, then shrugs helplessly, looking between Issa and Reyce before he asks, "What about the two of you? Siblings? Besides Reyce's apparent existence of a sister."
E'sere has arrived.
Issa smiles at M'eri's amusement, again catching the man's infectious (at least to her) friendliness. She spares a look toward Reyce for only a split second at another mention of this sister of his, but quickly after, she answers with, "Nothing of the sort, full, half, fostered or otherwise. As far as my mother goes, anyway." Nothing is said of a father. "Of course, growing up in the Weyr, I had plenty of substitutes." Shoulders lift in a shrug of complacency in the fact of her past.
Reyce leans an elbow on the table, all the better to angle himself for a better way to keep his eyes on both of them. At the question about his own siblings, he snorts. "How high can you count? The Lord of Benden is ever racking it up." He starts to raise his klah mug again, but notices - as it reaches his lips - that there's nothing left in it. Reyce frowns at the mug, blaming it. "Most people stop counting it at twelve, though, which is how many /legitimate/ half-sibs I have." His distaste for the emphasized word is evident.
E'sere ambles in from the frozen bowl, dusting the blown snow from his coat after he shrugs it off. Draping it over his arm as he walks, he heads to the serving table and selects himself a warm meal and a glass of bracing wine against the cool that permeates even the interior of the Weyr. Then, turning, he eyes the crowds speculatively and sets a course through the tables, choosing Issa's out of the pack. "Good evening," he greets the trio there, dipping his head in greating. "Is this seat taken?" He's already hooking a boot behind one leg to tug it out, though he waits on seating himself in it."
Steal! M'eri, fast as can be, steals away Reyce's empty mug and slides gracefully to his feet, querying, "Sweetener or no?" He turns his attention to Issa and gives a faint grin, informing her, playfully, "Ah, but there's no substitute for the scorn of a loving younger sibling." He does comment on Reyce's sibling count as well, contemplating soundly before eventually saying, "At least you have a lot to choose from, should you ever care to get along with any." When E'sere arrives, he glances aside and gives him a casual salute with two fingers, smiling easily, "Hello, E'sere. Go ahead and take it."
Issa sits in a chair facing the table, completely backwards in it and cross-legged, without any indication of how she got that way. Perched on her lap is an older, moldy hide and folded inside of it, a magnifying glass. She looks up and recognizes E'sere as the voice seeking a seat, and adds her quasi-invitation to M'eri's. "Not taken, no." An amused smile returns to her lips, nothing to do with E'sere and everything to do with M'eri's clever grab.
Reyce jerks back as the mug is taken, staring at the place where it was with a comical look of surprise. Where'd it go? Comical does not suit Reyce very well, however, so he quickly turns it into a scowl. For more klah, though ... "Yeah, just a spoon." E'sere gets a glance and a nod, both greeting and permission to take the chair. Reyce himself is sitting on a bench at a nearby table, next to a pile of discarded winter clothes.
"M'eri, Issa," E'sere greets the two riders personally as he arranges plate and glass and finally settles himself into that chair. Issa's positioning in particular is noted, though he keeps silent on that subject. Instead: "Working, this time of night? Or is your reading for pleasure?" he asks her. And, for the holder, a simple, "Sir. Don't let me interrupt you. You were discussing siblings? My commiserations," he notes with a wry smile.
M'eri makes his way over to the meal table, his walk jaunty and probably proud of himself for managing to get Reyce's mug before he could protest. Naturally, he makes the klah to order and soon returns to the table, setting it neatly in front of Reyce only to tumble back into his seat comfortably. He folds his hands loosely around his own mug, puffing dark hair away from his forehead so that it won't fall into his eyes, "Do you have any siblings, E'sere?"
"A little of both," she confides to E'sere, lifting the hides to let the pages flip through her fingers quickly before falling into their same resting place. "Promised my mother I'd help her distinguish the more illegible parts. Something on a disagreement among harpers turns and turns and turns ago." Her eyes lift from the hides again and she furnishes a tight-lipped smile for closure. Silence then follows as she turns to klah, favoring it with cooling puffs before she drinks any, listening to E'sere's answer though she appears inattentive.
Reyce grunts his thanks to M'eri, a bit reluctant, as the klah mug is returned, and pauses to check it before answering E'sere. Not finding any poison, and apparently satisfied with the taste, he says (in a brief evocation of his formal tone from before), "Not at all, Wingleader; I was finished discussing it. My thanks, however." His eyes flick up to E'sere briefly when he speaks, but for the most part he's stealing a glance at Issa.
"I believe," answers E'sere distantly, seeming more focused on his meal than the question, "my father has two or three children with his wife, though I've not met them. Mother, of course, has only myself." He lifts his shoulders in a shrug, then glances sideways at Issa himself. "Ah, I see. It sounds... interesting," he comments after a moment, glancing at the hides as she flips through them. "What else are children for, I suppose."
M'eri rests his fist on his chin, thinking things over while his eyes randomly wander along the wall's line where it reaches the ceiling, "Hm. Interesting... we could be lined up by sibling amount. Start with Issa, who has no siblings, to me, who has one sibling, to E'sere, who has a few blood-related siblings, to Reyce, who has more than he wants." He seems satisfied with this lineup, taking a slow drink of his klah and ruffling his bangs away from his face.
"I suppose," Issa mirrors E'sere's words, "it's the least I can do to make sure that she keeps her job." Words are light and delivered while preoccupied with brushing some crumb that's managed to make it's way onto the front page of her small stack. Reyce's attentions aren't noted, or possibly even ignored, as she continues to ask idly, "By the way, have you seen Weyrwoman Diya recently? I've been meaning to speak to her, but keep calling when she's busy." She takes a moment to listen to M'eri's rambling about lining up, offering a puzzled tilt of her head. "Almost as confusing as the bluerider lineup, and possibly just as pointless," she notes amiably.
Reyce just rolls his eyes over to M'eri, listening to his suggestion with disinterest and a shrug. E'sere's answer peaked his interest for a short while, but with Reyce such things are short-lived, and now he's back to poking at his vegetables and eating them. What little remains of his meal has grown cold, by now, but with vegetables these things don't matter. And neither does speech, while he's eating; Reyce just listens and snacks.
"Indeed," E'sere agrees, glancing sideways at Issa with a small grin. "I have not, though, spoken with the Weyrwoman lately. I'm sure her work keeps her very busy these days--I didn't even have the opportunity to speak with her at Turn's End. The bluerider line-up?" He catches the greenrider's last words and quirks a brow, glancing between Issa and M'eri curiously.
"Neither did I," she mentions briefly, with a shrug to dismiss the topic. Apparently it wasn't that important to begin with. More of the ubiquitous klah-sipping occurs before Issa decides to explain. "Mmm," she mumbles before swallowing, waving one hand briefly to convey the insignificance of it all. "It was just how M'eri and I were introduced, is all. He gave me his name so that I could pick him out of a line of blueriders and avoid confusion. And then Reyce got roped into talking to us both, poor thing."
M'eri shrugs helplessly as his lineup is taken with confusion and apparent disinterest, only smiling faintly at the others before he takes a drink of his klah. He just sticks his tongue out at Issa, of course, being formal as he is. Grinning a little afterwards, he seems content to listen to everyone for the most part, though mention of his name and the story from before gets a small nod of his head.
Reyce raises his eyebrows at her description of he was 'roped in,' but he's not one to object. "Sure," he murmurs quietly, looking at E'sere with another shrug. Then he pops another vegetable in his mouth to cover his lack of loquaciousness.
"Ah, I see," agrees E'sere, nodding in answer to Issa. He glances sideways at M'eri to note, "That's our M'eri, I suppose, with a somewhat unique approach to, ah, everything." To put it diplomatically. Politely, he asks then, "How have you been, though?" He glances at each of the three, arching a brow curiously at the lack of talking on two of four's parts.
"Perfectly fine." Issa slips her words before all the rest with a general manner of sweeping out a required response, without much emphasis at all behind them. "Faring better than some after Turn's End."
Reyce just isn't the chatty sort, although he looks quickly at Issa after her last comment. Eyeing her for a second, he says, "Talked to a girl from the infirmary the other day." Drawing in a deep sniff, he turns his face away and scratches absently at stubble on his cheek. "Sounds like Roa's doing all right."
E'sere glances to Reyce, frowning slightly. "Is she? I've set out, several times, to visit myself, but circumstances have conspired against me thus far." He lifts her shoulders after a moment, continuing his meal slowly. "I do believe, though," he adds to Issa in a lighter tone, "I got my surprise in--repeatedly."
Issa nods in agreement with E'sere, "Me too. Can't seem to get in a good visit, no matter how hard I try." Another hint of frustration, reminicent of earlier, crops up, but is quickly abandoned. "I'd noticed that, as well," she comments on surprises, a twist of a grin for the way the night turned out exactly as predicted. But then to Reyce. She turns her eyes, slightly widened, on him, attempting to hold his gaze as she asks, "Any news about the others? I heard several were injured, not just Roa."
"It's what I heard," Reyce answers the wingleader mildly. As for Issa, he lets his gaze be held, for a moment, although its with his chin raised so he can scratch some stubble under there, too. "She mentioned another rider, but I don't know him. Not much information, just that they're both doing fine. Something about shelves, I think." And the moment is gone, as Reyce drops his chin but looks away again with an unhelpful shrug.
E'sere nods slowly, frown returning at Reyce's words. "I see. I had heard as much myself, but. Morelenth and I haven't been able to find out much ourselves--I suspect the people to ask are the guards, but I don't have many... sources among them," admits the rider.
Issa turns to E'sere when Reyce breaks eye contact, drumming the fingers of both hands now on the chair back in front of her. "Guards. Mm, yes, I suppose so." Her mind races through a catalogue of faces as her eyes drift downward to the table, gaze lost in the grain of the wood while her hand sightlessly picks up her mug and manages to bring it to her lips. "I'm afraid I don't either. The one I happen to have met once... he's young, and not likely to know much."
Reyce looks between both of them, squinting curiously. "What, is Roa's dragon not talking or something?" He flips his hand over in a kind of small, preemptive apology for his not knowing how these dragon things work.
E'sere nods once to Issa, though he's concentrating on cutting his meat, always mannerfully. "I've met a few of them on occasion, but not enough to feel comfortable calling in favors," he admits. And, to Reyce: "I'd rather speak to her in purpose, in that case--I've always believed things go better in purpose, rather than relying on the dragons to do all my dirty work for me." A shrug.
"And Oshisyth wouldn't dream of speaking to a queen, even one she knows, if it wasn't important," Issa replies for herself, "And apparently, it's not important." The greenrider stirs, taking up the hides she's folded into a manageable packet before unwinding her legs and standing. "It's to bed with me, boys. Or at least more studying while the klah keeps me up," she says in way of explanation and farewell. "Oh, E'sere. Before I forget..." Issa furnishes a neatly creased hide from a pocket in her jacket, and hands it off to the bronzerider before moving much further. "Wingleader wrote to you. Saw him write it, and it looks like we may be delayed somewhat." A shrug, and she leaves him with the burden of the letter and whatever explanations may be needed for the mysteriousness. "Contact Oshisyth if you need me," she instructs finally, as usual, and then finds he way out into the cold of the bowl.
Reyce presses his lips together as E'sere explains his reasons - accepting them, apparently, if not quite agreeing. "Sure," he replies mildly. Issa's words, because they quickly become something that seems like none of his business, he allows to flow right past him, though he does nod farewell when she excuses herself for the night. And then sips from his klah, leaving the choice of conversation up to the wingleader.
"Thank you, Issa," E'sere says, accepting the letter and sliding it in the pocket of his own jacket in turn. "I will. Good night," are his parting words to her. Then, turning back to his meal for a few seconds, he eats in silence, finishing his own meal. Cleaning up the mess, he notes to Reyce, "I should be on my way as well. I've a few things to do myself before I turn in for the night. Good night."
Reyce glances up from his drink with a short nod. "Good night," he says. As for himself, he has no intention of leaving - only of gathering up his winter clothes and his klah mug for a move closer to the hearth. Its warmth will be denied him no longer.
Living Cavern
Large enough to hold the majority of the Weyr's human population, this cavern can become loud enough to deafen thanks to the acoustics caused by its size. The ceiling is so far overhead that it's cast into shadow, a darkness that is broken only by the spark and glitter of a lucky beam of light striking the minerals found in the rock walls. Below, most of the floor is covered with an assortment of long tables and benches. There are some smaller tables, surrounded by chairs, but privacy appears to be a rare thing in this bustling cavern. Large hearths line the west wall, with fires burning day and night to warm the food and drink that keep the Weyr's inhabitants fueled. The serving tables are near the hearth, opposite the dais that holds the single table reserved for the Weyr leadership and honored guests.
This room may be +watched (+help watch).
Contents:
M'eri Sian Penny
Obvious Exits:
Upper Caverns (UC) Lower Caverns (LC) Kitchen (K)
Infirmary (INF) Bowl (B)
Lacking only about an hour until dinnertime now, the caverns are starting to fill, and those much-desired seats by the hearths are in constant change as folks leave and arrive and switch around. Penny, for her part, leaves her satchel on her armchair as she stands and goes to the hearth for some more hot water from the pot boiling there, filling her cup and adding a new tea bag from her own pocket. She makes her way back to her seat, moving her back again in order to sit down. She's not relinquishing her coveted armchair.
Sian enters the room, tugging a soft grey shawl closer around her shoulders as she heads for the pots of tea. Her step is slow and careful, but she walks with head up and lips smiling. It's the first time anyone's seen her since the..eventful...Turn's End and she's looking a touch on the fragile side, but otherwise quite a bit..slimmer.
Reyce enters from the bowl, wrapped into a bundle of winter clothes that frankly make it difficult to walk. He manages it somehow, crossing the Living Cavern in a hurry when he spots a vacancy by the hearth - one that's snapped up seconds before he can get to it. Muttering oaths through his scarf, he starts snatching off the winter layers and throwing them on the bench behind him: less comfortable, but still somewhat near to the warmth.
M'eri is a general pillar of blueriderness, it would seem, as he seems untouched both by weariness or the cold. He strolls into the living caverns, his scarf bouncing against his back as he strides up to the hearth. He doesn't bother sitting down, just bends there for a moment, letting the fire warm his hands. Once he's primarily satisfied, he goes to the meal table, opening his coat to let the cool - but not too cold - air into his heavier underlayers. Piling roasted tubers, cooked strips of herdbeast, and greens along with a few breadrolls onto a plate, he grabs the prepared klah, sweetens a mug of it heavily, then, finally, makes his way towards a table.
It'd be hard not to miss the form of one's teacher making her way across the caverns, and Penny is not utterly blind. She blinks, gets to her feet. "Lady Sian!" she greets, smiling after a moment's hesitation and incling her head with impeccable manners. "You look well. Have a seat -- you're after some tea as well?" And she surrenders up her hard-won armchair to the Lady. Aww. Such manners, when it's her teacher.
Sian pauses once tea is claimed and turns to greet Penny in return. "Penny, how nice to see you!" She pauses and then shakes her head. "I shouldn't take your chair, but the warmth would, I fear, be most welcome." Approaching, she holds out her cup to the girl "Please hold this a moment?" is murmured softly before she uses both hands to support herself into the seat. "Do sit beside me and tell me the latest news?"
Issa sits, dwelling in the same chair for quite some time, it would seem, that chair she's turned away from it's table to face the hearth. Cross-legged, with a stack of moldy hides balanced between her knees as she surveys them very closely, even using a magnifying glass to decipher some of the more dilapidated parts. Even though she is engaged in scholarly pursuits, she appears very childlike, biting her lower lip as she pushes the hair that falls in front of her face back behind one of her ears. Shielded by her concentration against the usual noise of the caverns, she slips her hand over and grabs the mug of klah kept nearby and sips, gingerly.
"You're allowed to take advantage, Lady," Penny assures her, eyes twinkling a little. "And I don't mind in the slightest." She takes the cup obediently, casting her eyes about until she finds an unoccupied wooden chair by a nearby table, to drag it over. Unfortunately, it's right by a particular bluerider, tucking into his dinner. "Excuse me," she murmurs politely, before she actually looks up. Oh. It's him. "Ah. Hi!" The greeting is cheerful enough, any potential wariness put down to M'eri's general insanity. She drags the chair back towards the armchair so recently taken by Sian. "I'm afraid I don't know much of the news. All the classes have been in uproar since Turn's end," she admits.
Reyce looks up sharply, alerted to the teacher's presence by Penny's greeting and not at all by his own watchfulness. Only now does it occur to him to take note of who else is present, and he does so under cover of peeling off his gloves and heavy jacket. Another man sitting near his chosen place on the bench grumbles something about not planning to save the seat for him, but Reyce throws it off with a shrug and goes in search of food.
M'eri blinks askance as Penny moves the chair, only to grin at her brilliantly at her greeting, undoubtedly accepting any wariness as probably for the best, "Hey!" He laughs quietly as she moves off, sending a cheery wave in Sian's direction as well only to turn back to his food and continue with vigorous eating. The man behaves as if he hasn't eaten all day, which may very well be true. Reyce's grumbling manner is met with the same sort of cheerful wave, though it is more of a salute at this point. M'eri can't help but be friendly, right? Right.
Sian sips at her reclaimed tea and then cradles the cup in her hands. "I had a weyr-nanny stay with Riann for a little while today. I felt the need to get out and see to some of my paperwork and, well, get a change of scenery." She nods to those who look over or greet and, for a moment, focuses on Issa, trying to see what she's working on.
The magnifying glass falls onto the page with a muffled thump as Issa drops it, forcing herself to take a break. Squinted eyes are rubbed at forcefully for a moment to regain focus, and then she stretches, arms flung behind her head carelessly. "Umnh," she mutters as she takes stock of the living caverns for what could be the first time that night. Reyce over by the food is noticed, watched for a brief moment, but ultimately turned away from. Instead she turns over her shoulder, catching sight of the bluerider and his lovely table manners. "Oh, h'lo," she greets, surprised that he could sneak up on her with such habits.
Penny glances over her shoulder at M'eri's laughter as she seats herself in the chair, tucking one leg up unconsciously, and probably not in a very ladylike manner. She turns her attention back to her instructor. "How is Riann?" she asks eventually, her expression settling on something that's -almost- a pleasant smile. "When do the rest of us get to see her?" Her eyes follow Sian's line of sight, towards where Issa's working.
Reyce slows his step for a moment, startled by M'eri's enthusiasm, but he's in too much of a hurry to get food before someone takes his seat. Again. He fails anyway, returning with a plate of carefully arranged meat and vegetables - perhaps he shouldn't have taken his time to arrange it - to find that his things have been shoved further down the bench. Muttering a few more oaths, and glaring at the woman who stole his spot, Reyce follows his stuff down the table. His glances trails over to Issa, to whom he now sits a little bit closer, but he doesn't say anything to her just yet.
M'eri doesn't have bad manners! He just eats like a rider should! Fast, and a lot. He licks his lips absently only to smile at Issa warmly at her somewhat surprised greeting, "How d'do?" He pauses to take a drink of klah, savoring the heat of it as it spreads through his chest and into his stomach. He twists greens around his fork, combines them with tuber, and adds a bit of chopped meat, this concoction carefully cut to fit into his mouth.
Sian reaches out a hand towards Penny and lightly taps the knee of the tucked-up leg in silent reminder/instruction and smiles. "Not until things warm up a bit. It is too bitter cold for such a wee one now. You could come up to the weyr for a visit if you'd like, though. She is healthy and a very happy baby, for all her small size and early arrival." She wraps both hands back around the mug and sips before murmuring a touch lower. "You should see her father, he positively dotes on her. I find it quite fascinating to watch R'vain with her."
Penny's eyes lift to the ceiling as she drops the knee back down, sitting up a little straighter. She hides the signs of exasperation quickly though, mastering it quietly and offering a sweet smile back at Sian. "Surely you can let your favorite students in to peep at her," she presses, still smiling. Though she doesn't sound all that urgent about it. "Really? That's... hard to imagine," she says tactfully of R'vain's fathering.
Issa is one of daintier proportions than M'eri, as evidenced by the very slight sips she intermittently steals from her mug. The greenrider swivels in her seat, pulling herself so that she more or less faces the table instead of away from it, while her other hand folds the hides into a more secure packet. And somehow she still manages to keep her position on her perch. "Got somewhere to go, bluerider?" she asks, draping one arm over the back of the chair and resting her chin on top. Though engaged in idle conversation here, her eyes tend to wander, getting back the bearing she lost from studying so long. Reyce is watched intently, with the failsafe of a small smile on her lips should he look up. Then she moves to Sian and Penny, reacting to talk of R'vain as a doting father with a subtle roll of her eyes.
Reyce does look up, but at M'eri. Now that he's had time to settle into his own seat, the bluerider merits a second glance. Whatever conclusions he draws from that look, however, he keeps to himself, watching blandly as the other man shovels food into his mouth. Reyce himself is not exactly a dainty eater, though he's not going at the same rate as M'eri; he does, however, have a surprisingly particular habit of switching between meat and veggies at regular intervals. Apparently, the concentration required for this eating regimen has him too busy to engage in any small talk.
M'eri, personally, seems to primarily eat one group of food at a time, finishing off his tubers first, then moving to his meat, and finishing on his greens, all in a clockwise direction. He doesn't seem to find any particular problem with being looked at, or if anyone finds his manners off center. The question from Issa is taken with a curious cock of his dark, fine eyebrows before he smiles, wipes his mouth with his napkin, and clears his throat to speak, "More sweep duties. And it's M'eri, if you please. If you don't, that's all right, too." His bright blue eyes give a glint of good-natured playfulness, something that doesn't fade even after he's finished talking. He takes a long drink of the klah, pushing his hair from his eyes absentmindedly, then canting his head to the side.
A soft laugh and Sian nods. "I know - believe me. I wondered, often, what kind of father he would be. But, watching him with her, is really amazing. He's so gentle and...awed, really. I fear for her future mates if they are going to have to pass /his/ inspection to get near her." She sips at her tea and rolls a shoulder slightly, tugging the shawl a little tighter. "I don't remember it being quite this cold in here before."
Penny's annoyance with being reprimanded as to her mannerisms fades a bit as she raises a concerned eyebrow. "It's no colder than usual, Lady Sian; perhaps you should move closer to the fire so you don't catch a chill?" Though it's not as though Penny isn't wrapped up in layers, but at least she has the excuse of hailing from tropical climes. She doesn't answer to the matter of R'vain, though from the faintly puzzled look on her face, she can't quite picture it.
Issa's fingers lift and tap against the chair back with a painfully slow beat as she watches M'eri eat with an almost instinctive curiousity. The bluerider's light manner seems contagious, as a grin shows itself, faintly at first, but growing. "M'eri it is then. I suppose it might become quite confusing if I were to just refer to you as bluerider." Her gaze is cast about at all the other bluerider knots tied to the shoulders of all the other blueriders scattered about the tables nearby. "And for the sake of clarity, I'm Issa." Grin at full force now, she lets her gaze linger a little longer on M'eri and his eating, before turning it to Reyce and his. She's almost impolite in her staring now, but she still makes no move to speak first, resigning herself to the tap-tap-tap-tap of her fingers against the wood.
"I think I'm going to have to have R'vain present Riann in a month or so, so you all can see that the man /does/ have a side other than that which he presents publically." Sian replies, smiling faintly. "Although, Faranth knows I've been trying to change that a little now and then." A nod to Penny "I think it's just me. Neiran warned me about 'overdoing' it for a little while. I guess I didn't think that walking about the caverns would be 'overdoing' it."
Reyce must feel the weight of that stare on his back, because he actually glances up and over his shoulder, meeting Issa's eye for a second. With food in his mouth, he gets to buy himself some extra time by chewing it, and then washing down the mouthful with a quick gulp of his drink. To his credit, he doesn't pretend not to have noticed her therebefore, but nods and says, "Issa." His gaze flicks over to M'eri, then back to her to add, somewhat defensively, "Saw you there. Was gonna say hello when I finished eating."
"We have to wait an entire month?" Penny smiles ruefully. Then she gives a little shiver herself, looking down for a moment; she's not been looking entirely well herself, the past couple of sevendays. "I do think I'm going to brave the chill and go back to the caucus complex; I'm afraid the smell of dinner cooking is turning my stomach a bit. Perhaps something at lunch didn't agree with me." She stands, lays a hand on the arm of Sian's chair. "Are you all right here?" As if being in a room with dozens on dozens of other people wasn't safe enough.
Sian arches one slender brow and looks at Penny, then curls a finger to draw the girl down so she can whisper in her ear. For once, the etiquette teacher eschews 'accepted' behavior and keeps things private.
M'eri laughs heartily only to stifle himself with a bit of meat, though he's sure to say, once he's finished chewing and all that nonsense, "Aye, it might be a bit odd. I'd have to get a bunch of blueriders to line up in a row just to be confusing." Heh. He does glance after some of his peers as well, but his attention soon returns to Issa for that introduction, to which is offered another bright smile, "A pleasure, then, Issa." He looks aside at Reyce when the man speaks up, finally, only to respond to the flicked glance with another little wave. Hey, Reyce doesn't have to speak to him, but if he keeps looking at him, he'll keep getting waved at.
But, possibly to her discredit, Issa does. "Oh, Reyce. I didn't even notice you there," she says with an underlying laugh, continuing with her quite obvious stare, "Thought you were just some stranger come to eat in rude silence." The dry tease ends there, and she lifts her head from its resting spot to motion casually in M'eri's direction. "Reyce, this here's M'eri, whom I've just met..." The introduction is cut short as she catches M'eri's wave at Reyce. "Oh, do you know each other already?" Both hands now reach up to grasp the back of her chair, the hides settled snugly into her lap, and she wavers between watching them both.
With a curious tilt of her head, Penny stops, looking at Sian in surprise at the woman's breach of ettiquette. Then she bends to hear what the Lady has to say; whatever it is doesn't agree with her at all. She straightens abruptly, taking a step back and bumping into the chair she had just vacated. She shakes her head, eyes a little wider than usual. "No," she replies, indeed looking a little pale now, as if she really -is- queasy. "No. You're mistaken." She remembers herself enough to incline her head politely. "G-Good evening," she adds, before she flees.
Penny has left.
Sian shakes her head as she watches Penny flee. "No, dear, I don't think I am." She looks down at her tea and then, after a minute, takes a sip.
Reyce's mouth pops open, perhaps to excuse himself for eating 'in rude silence,' but he snaps it back shut with a frown. That frown only intensifies when he realizes that M'eri's wave - he was all set to ignore it - has been noticed, and now he has to shift some attention onto the bluerider. He eyes the other man, wary, then comments dispassionately, "Dunno. M'eri, we know each other?"
M'eri shakes his head as he goodnaturedly states, "No, he just keeps lookin' at me, so I figured it was good to be friendly." That said, he pops a forkful of greens into his mouth, lifting his attention to both Issa and Reyce only to shrug his shoulders nonchalantly. He examines his now empty plate before he sets it aside so he can draw his klah mug in closer, wrapping his hands around it and absorbing the lingering heat that radiates through the stone.
Issa smiles, blue eyes switching eagerly between the two men. She seems immensly pleased that she's managed to force some manner of social exchange out of Reyce, apathetic though it may be. She too takes her mug off the table to sip, but soon replaces it. "Well, then, M'eri, Reyce. Of Benden," she finishes off the introduction she began, rushing through the formality required. "So how is your sister?" she asks innocently enough, turning her eyes on the student and matching his frown with a tight-lipped grin.
Sian finally looks up from her tea and sets the cup aside. A soft sigh and she presses both hands to the arms of the chair and slowly rises, keeping one hand on the chair until she's sure she's steady, then with a very slow and careful step, starts to make her way through the room towards the caverns and her 'office'. This is not her usual brisk, confident step by any stretch of the imagination.
Reyce raises his eyes to Sian as she passes, not entirely unaware of her presence despite his failure to address her. "There you have it, then," he murmurs on the tail of M'eri's answer. And then scowls at the mention of his sister. "Wouldn't know. Alive, more than likely." He raises the klah mugs to his lips for a long sip.
M'eri contemplates Reyce extensively, taking in his dour mood as well as fully catching both name and origin, licking his upper lip absently. Finally, he blinks and smiles brilliantly, "Oh, that's right! I did meet you. Naturally, I was the least interesting person there and I think you had absolutely no taste for me whatsoever, but still. Nice to see you again." It's sort of like an outpouring of words, really, and he simply returns to his klah once done.
Sian has left.
Issa is not only an informal student of moldy hides, but is adept at studying people as well, and she watches the reaction to her mention of Reyce's sister closely. "That's good to hear," is the casual response that covers the making of a mental notation. M'eri's chatter proves a good cover, as does her mug, from which she now takes the time to savor several small sips before putting it down again. "Ah, the connections you make in Caucus," she mildly marvels. "I suppose it really does do what they planned after all. Someday, Reyce, someday you're going to need a bluerider to ferry something precious and... Benden-like... wine, I don't know. But there M'eri will be. A helpful bluerider you know, just when you need one."
Reyce bristles, but he still has the klah mug by his mouth to hide his expression. Alas, only the expression on his lips: that flash of anger in his eyes is clear as day. He keeps them averted, not looking at either of them while he speaks. "Naturally, M'eri. I can only imagine that's why we didn't recognize each other at first." He frowns down into his mug, as though he'd just spotted a fly in it. "If you would ever like to carry on some business with Benden, be sure you let me know." An unmistakeable note of dry formality has leaked into his tone, possibly to cover his frustration.
M'eri shrugs his lean shoulders once more, canting his head back this time, propping an elbow on the back of his chair, "I don't mind doing as I'm asked. I'm a dragonrider, after all. Orders. Since we're friends and all, now, though, I imagine I wouldn't have a problem ferrying something if you need it." Amongst all the highly formal people that fill High Reaches, many of whom involved in Caucus, M'eri is an interesting contradiction to the lifestyle overall. Highly informal, he recognizes his duties and their limitations, not bothering to try and make connections or anything of that sort. In politics, he is severely lacking, and seems both aware and uncaring of it. Thus ends this M'eri lesson. Taking another drink of his klah, he examines its low form and queries, "Do either of you want anything else to drink? I'm going up to refill my klah."
Issa takes note of the increasingly cross and moody manner that Reyce exudes, but the only reaction she gives is to sigh slightly through her nose and turn to address only M'eri with her smile. "I would love some more, thank you," she says, looking up at him charmingly. She hands off her mug, asking, "Just two spoons of sweetner, please?" That done, her eyes return to Reyce, her lips pursed in silence as she drifts back into staring at him.
Reyce, still in his overly formal mode, acknowledges M'eri's response with a stiff nod, but declines the offered refill with a short, "I'm fine, thanks." He still has food on his plate, so he stabs a piece of meat and starts chewing on it, glancing back to catch Issa's stare - he has some kind of sense for it, apparently. Reyce raises an eyebrow, but he's not about to say anything, especially not with food in his mouth.
M'eri uncurls easily from his seat, reaching to take the mug with a light bow of his head, "Two spoons. Gotcha." He then wanders back towards the tables, humming as he goes, apparently unbothered by Reyce's moodiness. He sets the mugs down, fills both, and dumps sweetener and milk into his before sweetening Issa's own. It doesn't take him long, and he soon returns to the table, setting Issa's mug down in front of her before languidly collapsing into his own seat once more.
The stare lasts for a moment longer after Reyce acknowledges it. Then Issa takes a breath, pausing before she speaks, a frustration of her own finding an escape. "Why is it that..." But apparently she's waited too long, for M'eri comes back with a clatter of a mug and Issa looks up from her spot again to thank M'eri as he sits. Forgotten are the words of before, as is the tone, and more conversationally, she asks, "So, do you have any siblings, bluerider M'eri?" as if they had just been conversing about Reyce's sister all along.
Reyce blinks at the frustration in her tone, actually pausing his chewing for a second. Then M'eri returns and his eyes flick to the bluerider, but the formal mode has left him by now, and he makes no effort to welcome him on his return. Just raises that mug of klah and takes a drink, listening in thoughtful silence to his answer.
M'eri nods his head slightly at the question, taking a drink of his klah and sighing softly over the pleasure of having the heat back in both hand and stomach. He settles in a bit more comfortably, winding his long legs up and into his seat, before he finally elaborates, "I've got a little brother named Neiran. He works in the infirmary here. Have you met him?" His eyebrows go up curiously at Issa, though he cants his head to incluse Reyce in the question. Really, people wouldn't be able to even guess that relation, normally. Neiran was almost as sour as Reyce.
"Really?" is Issa's almost immediate, pleased response. Pondering into her klah, she finally shakes her head softly. "No, can't say that I have. But infirmary... he the skinny guy or the jumpy redheaded one?" Being a fighting rider, she's seen her fair share of the infirmary, enough to be that much familiar.
Reyce, being a fellow sourpuss, of course recognizes the name right away. His soft laughter echoes into his klah mug at first, as he was drinking from it when M'eri answered the question, but a moment later he puts the back of his hand over his mouth, muffling himself. "Given those choices, I would guess he's the skinny guy. Neiran," he remarks absently, "has the bunk opposite mine. Though I didn't know he had a brother." Here, or at all.
M'eri laughs himself a little at the question more than anything else, assuring, with utter certainty, "He has to be the thin one. I've never seen Neiran jumpy in my life, unless it involved something disgusting." He rolls his shoulders, taking another drink of his klah before he glances at Reyce and informs, with a wry note in his voice, "Aye, he wouldn't advertise it much." He motions towards himself, then shrugs helplessly, looking between Issa and Reyce before he asks, "What about the two of you? Siblings? Besides Reyce's apparent existence of a sister."
E'sere has arrived.
Issa smiles at M'eri's amusement, again catching the man's infectious (at least to her) friendliness. She spares a look toward Reyce for only a split second at another mention of this sister of his, but quickly after, she answers with, "Nothing of the sort, full, half, fostered or otherwise. As far as my mother goes, anyway." Nothing is said of a father. "Of course, growing up in the Weyr, I had plenty of substitutes." Shoulders lift in a shrug of complacency in the fact of her past.
Reyce leans an elbow on the table, all the better to angle himself for a better way to keep his eyes on both of them. At the question about his own siblings, he snorts. "How high can you count? The Lord of Benden is ever racking it up." He starts to raise his klah mug again, but notices - as it reaches his lips - that there's nothing left in it. Reyce frowns at the mug, blaming it. "Most people stop counting it at twelve, though, which is how many /legitimate/ half-sibs I have." His distaste for the emphasized word is evident.
E'sere ambles in from the frozen bowl, dusting the blown snow from his coat after he shrugs it off. Draping it over his arm as he walks, he heads to the serving table and selects himself a warm meal and a glass of bracing wine against the cool that permeates even the interior of the Weyr. Then, turning, he eyes the crowds speculatively and sets a course through the tables, choosing Issa's out of the pack. "Good evening," he greets the trio there, dipping his head in greating. "Is this seat taken?" He's already hooking a boot behind one leg to tug it out, though he waits on seating himself in it."
Steal! M'eri, fast as can be, steals away Reyce's empty mug and slides gracefully to his feet, querying, "Sweetener or no?" He turns his attention to Issa and gives a faint grin, informing her, playfully, "Ah, but there's no substitute for the scorn of a loving younger sibling." He does comment on Reyce's sibling count as well, contemplating soundly before eventually saying, "At least you have a lot to choose from, should you ever care to get along with any." When E'sere arrives, he glances aside and gives him a casual salute with two fingers, smiling easily, "Hello, E'sere. Go ahead and take it."
Issa sits in a chair facing the table, completely backwards in it and cross-legged, without any indication of how she got that way. Perched on her lap is an older, moldy hide and folded inside of it, a magnifying glass. She looks up and recognizes E'sere as the voice seeking a seat, and adds her quasi-invitation to M'eri's. "Not taken, no." An amused smile returns to her lips, nothing to do with E'sere and everything to do with M'eri's clever grab.
Reyce jerks back as the mug is taken, staring at the place where it was with a comical look of surprise. Where'd it go? Comical does not suit Reyce very well, however, so he quickly turns it into a scowl. For more klah, though ... "Yeah, just a spoon." E'sere gets a glance and a nod, both greeting and permission to take the chair. Reyce himself is sitting on a bench at a nearby table, next to a pile of discarded winter clothes.
"M'eri, Issa," E'sere greets the two riders personally as he arranges plate and glass and finally settles himself into that chair. Issa's positioning in particular is noted, though he keeps silent on that subject. Instead: "Working, this time of night? Or is your reading for pleasure?" he asks her. And, for the holder, a simple, "Sir. Don't let me interrupt you. You were discussing siblings? My commiserations," he notes with a wry smile.
M'eri makes his way over to the meal table, his walk jaunty and probably proud of himself for managing to get Reyce's mug before he could protest. Naturally, he makes the klah to order and soon returns to the table, setting it neatly in front of Reyce only to tumble back into his seat comfortably. He folds his hands loosely around his own mug, puffing dark hair away from his forehead so that it won't fall into his eyes, "Do you have any siblings, E'sere?"
"A little of both," she confides to E'sere, lifting the hides to let the pages flip through her fingers quickly before falling into their same resting place. "Promised my mother I'd help her distinguish the more illegible parts. Something on a disagreement among harpers turns and turns and turns ago." Her eyes lift from the hides again and she furnishes a tight-lipped smile for closure. Silence then follows as she turns to klah, favoring it with cooling puffs before she drinks any, listening to E'sere's answer though she appears inattentive.
Reyce grunts his thanks to M'eri, a bit reluctant, as the klah mug is returned, and pauses to check it before answering E'sere. Not finding any poison, and apparently satisfied with the taste, he says (in a brief evocation of his formal tone from before), "Not at all, Wingleader; I was finished discussing it. My thanks, however." His eyes flick up to E'sere briefly when he speaks, but for the most part he's stealing a glance at Issa.
"I believe," answers E'sere distantly, seeming more focused on his meal than the question, "my father has two or three children with his wife, though I've not met them. Mother, of course, has only myself." He lifts his shoulders in a shrug, then glances sideways at Issa himself. "Ah, I see. It sounds... interesting," he comments after a moment, glancing at the hides as she flips through them. "What else are children for, I suppose."
M'eri rests his fist on his chin, thinking things over while his eyes randomly wander along the wall's line where it reaches the ceiling, "Hm. Interesting... we could be lined up by sibling amount. Start with Issa, who has no siblings, to me, who has one sibling, to E'sere, who has a few blood-related siblings, to Reyce, who has more than he wants." He seems satisfied with this lineup, taking a slow drink of his klah and ruffling his bangs away from his face.
"I suppose," Issa mirrors E'sere's words, "it's the least I can do to make sure that she keeps her job." Words are light and delivered while preoccupied with brushing some crumb that's managed to make it's way onto the front page of her small stack. Reyce's attentions aren't noted, or possibly even ignored, as she continues to ask idly, "By the way, have you seen Weyrwoman Diya recently? I've been meaning to speak to her, but keep calling when she's busy." She takes a moment to listen to M'eri's rambling about lining up, offering a puzzled tilt of her head. "Almost as confusing as the bluerider lineup, and possibly just as pointless," she notes amiably.
Reyce just rolls his eyes over to M'eri, listening to his suggestion with disinterest and a shrug. E'sere's answer peaked his interest for a short while, but with Reyce such things are short-lived, and now he's back to poking at his vegetables and eating them. What little remains of his meal has grown cold, by now, but with vegetables these things don't matter. And neither does speech, while he's eating; Reyce just listens and snacks.
"Indeed," E'sere agrees, glancing sideways at Issa with a small grin. "I have not, though, spoken with the Weyrwoman lately. I'm sure her work keeps her very busy these days--I didn't even have the opportunity to speak with her at Turn's End. The bluerider line-up?" He catches the greenrider's last words and quirks a brow, glancing between Issa and M'eri curiously.
"Neither did I," she mentions briefly, with a shrug to dismiss the topic. Apparently it wasn't that important to begin with. More of the ubiquitous klah-sipping occurs before Issa decides to explain. "Mmm," she mumbles before swallowing, waving one hand briefly to convey the insignificance of it all. "It was just how M'eri and I were introduced, is all. He gave me his name so that I could pick him out of a line of blueriders and avoid confusion. And then Reyce got roped into talking to us both, poor thing."
M'eri shrugs helplessly as his lineup is taken with confusion and apparent disinterest, only smiling faintly at the others before he takes a drink of his klah. He just sticks his tongue out at Issa, of course, being formal as he is. Grinning a little afterwards, he seems content to listen to everyone for the most part, though mention of his name and the story from before gets a small nod of his head.
Reyce raises his eyebrows at her description of he was 'roped in,' but he's not one to object. "Sure," he murmurs quietly, looking at E'sere with another shrug. Then he pops another vegetable in his mouth to cover his lack of loquaciousness.
"Ah, I see," agrees E'sere, nodding in answer to Issa. He glances sideways at M'eri to note, "That's our M'eri, I suppose, with a somewhat unique approach to, ah, everything." To put it diplomatically. Politely, he asks then, "How have you been, though?" He glances at each of the three, arching a brow curiously at the lack of talking on two of four's parts.
"Perfectly fine." Issa slips her words before all the rest with a general manner of sweeping out a required response, without much emphasis at all behind them. "Faring better than some after Turn's End."
Reyce just isn't the chatty sort, although he looks quickly at Issa after her last comment. Eyeing her for a second, he says, "Talked to a girl from the infirmary the other day." Drawing in a deep sniff, he turns his face away and scratches absently at stubble on his cheek. "Sounds like Roa's doing all right."
E'sere glances to Reyce, frowning slightly. "Is she? I've set out, several times, to visit myself, but circumstances have conspired against me thus far." He lifts her shoulders after a moment, continuing his meal slowly. "I do believe, though," he adds to Issa in a lighter tone, "I got my surprise in--repeatedly."
Issa nods in agreement with E'sere, "Me too. Can't seem to get in a good visit, no matter how hard I try." Another hint of frustration, reminicent of earlier, crops up, but is quickly abandoned. "I'd noticed that, as well," she comments on surprises, a twist of a grin for the way the night turned out exactly as predicted. But then to Reyce. She turns her eyes, slightly widened, on him, attempting to hold his gaze as she asks, "Any news about the others? I heard several were injured, not just Roa."
"It's what I heard," Reyce answers the wingleader mildly. As for Issa, he lets his gaze be held, for a moment, although its with his chin raised so he can scratch some stubble under there, too. "She mentioned another rider, but I don't know him. Not much information, just that they're both doing fine. Something about shelves, I think." And the moment is gone, as Reyce drops his chin but looks away again with an unhelpful shrug.
E'sere nods slowly, frown returning at Reyce's words. "I see. I had heard as much myself, but. Morelenth and I haven't been able to find out much ourselves--I suspect the people to ask are the guards, but I don't have many... sources among them," admits the rider.
Issa turns to E'sere when Reyce breaks eye contact, drumming the fingers of both hands now on the chair back in front of her. "Guards. Mm, yes, I suppose so." Her mind races through a catalogue of faces as her eyes drift downward to the table, gaze lost in the grain of the wood while her hand sightlessly picks up her mug and manages to bring it to her lips. "I'm afraid I don't either. The one I happen to have met once... he's young, and not likely to know much."
Reyce looks between both of them, squinting curiously. "What, is Roa's dragon not talking or something?" He flips his hand over in a kind of small, preemptive apology for his not knowing how these dragon things work.
E'sere nods once to Issa, though he's concentrating on cutting his meat, always mannerfully. "I've met a few of them on occasion, but not enough to feel comfortable calling in favors," he admits. And, to Reyce: "I'd rather speak to her in purpose, in that case--I've always believed things go better in purpose, rather than relying on the dragons to do all my dirty work for me." A shrug.
"And Oshisyth wouldn't dream of speaking to a queen, even one she knows, if it wasn't important," Issa replies for herself, "And apparently, it's not important." The greenrider stirs, taking up the hides she's folded into a manageable packet before unwinding her legs and standing. "It's to bed with me, boys. Or at least more studying while the klah keeps me up," she says in way of explanation and farewell. "Oh, E'sere. Before I forget..." Issa furnishes a neatly creased hide from a pocket in her jacket, and hands it off to the bronzerider before moving much further. "Wingleader wrote to you. Saw him write it, and it looks like we may be delayed somewhat." A shrug, and she leaves him with the burden of the letter and whatever explanations may be needed for the mysteriousness. "Contact Oshisyth if you need me," she instructs finally, as usual, and then finds he way out into the cold of the bowl.
Reyce presses his lips together as E'sere explains his reasons - accepting them, apparently, if not quite agreeing. "Sure," he replies mildly. Issa's words, because they quickly become something that seems like none of his business, he allows to flow right past him, though he does nod farewell when she excuses herself for the night. And then sips from his klah, leaving the choice of conversation up to the wingleader.
"Thank you, Issa," E'sere says, accepting the letter and sliding it in the pocket of his own jacket in turn. "I will. Good night," are his parting words to her. Then, turning back to his meal for a few seconds, he eats in silence, finishing his own meal. Cleaning up the mess, he notes to Reyce, "I should be on my way as well. I've a few things to do myself before I turn in for the night. Good night."
Reyce glances up from his drink with a short nod. "Good night," he says. As for himself, he has no intention of leaving - only of gathering up his winter clothes and his klah mug for a move closer to the hearth. Its warmth will be denied him no longer.