So much at once
Reyce and Arali run into each other in the orchard again, this time under better circumstances. They relate to each other, har har.
4-26-2008 (Arali, Reyce):
It's edging on autumn, and on evening at this hour. Rukbat still slowly sets in the distance, orange light dappling the orchard clearing through green leaves. Arali's at a bench reading a hide, tilting it to catch the remaining spots of light.
Reyce was at dinner not long ago, but his appetite has not apparently been sated, because as he comes walking down the orchard path, he reaches up to snag a redfruit from the nearest tree. He cups the thing absently in his left hand, his right attempting to keep a scroll open so he can skim over a diagram as he walks. He's so engrossed in the thing that, although his feet take him automatically towards a bench (and it happens to be Arali's), he doesn't notice the Bitran till he's just a few feet from her. He stops short. "Uh. Hey."
Arali is, for her part, caught up with reading until the scuff of feet against ground is close enough to hear. Even so, it's not until Reyce speaks that she stops and looks up. "Oh. Hello to you, too, Instructor." Pleasant, if generic, she smiles. There's plenty of room on the bench with only her slight frame taking up space, but she's situated right in the middle. A scoot to the right and there's a socially acceptable gap left open for him. "Looks like the Orchard is /our/ spot." The joke is light with a laugh as she starts to roll up the hide in her hands.
Reyce marks out the boundaries of that socially acceptable gap by putting his hide down in it, smoothing it quickly over the bench's surface so he doesn't have to roll it up. "Yeah, seems like." He takes a seat at the other end of the bench, inspecting his redfruit while he talks to her. "You here a lot, or something?" The redfruit looks fine, so he bites into it as he turns his attention back to Arali.
"Bitra doesn't have many trees," Arali sighs, looking around at the abundance here with an appreciative smile. "Well, not the Hold, that is. Just a bare, rocky courtyard and some cotholds. There's, y'know, trees on the outer land--but that's a ways off. Pindan doesn't let anything green grow too close by." The look slides back down, mildly curious at Reyce's flattened hide, while tucking the rolled one on her other side.
It looks like Reyce has been at work on some geometry problem far more complex than what he's recently introduced in class; the handwriting on the hide is definitely his own, but what all the lines and letters represent is hard to say. "Benden's got some green," Reyce answers, squinting up at a tree. "Not trees, though. Don't think the Weyrleader - old one, M'arik - would put up with that."
Arali can barely keep up with class, so whatever new language scribed on the hide is definitely beyond her. Her attention is quickly diverted. "Oh, Benden?" It's a trigger that starts a chain reaction on her angled features. Thoughtfully, thin brows furrow while she studies Reyce. They arch back up and a finger lifts to tap her temple; all within the span of seconds. "I'm so stupid sometimes, I remember now. Mother mentioned I had relations at the Caucus, but I had forgotten your name until you said Benden."
Reyce blinks at her, his own brow furrowing as she finally makes the connection between him and Benden. "Yeah," he murmurs. "I knew about that. Figured you did, too, or would have said something earlier." There's a beat, and then the faint frown from a moment earlier is dispelled with a low huff of laughter. "Last time it was, you forgot I had a kid, this time it's being from Benden. Not doing such a good job being a relation. Mean, I'm not."
"Yeah, I'm doing a great job myself. I mean--mother must have told me your name, but she told me so, so many names. I can only remember so much at once," Arali makes her excuses with a little laugh and shrug, smiling. "I wasn't trying to snub you... I guess I couldn't fault you for thinking so, all things considered." A hand gestures vaguely to sweep those details under the proverbial rug. "So, sorry."
"All right," Reyce answers, accepting her apology blithely, and without too much concern. He takes a small bite of his redfruit, enough to give him a taste without delaying the conversation unduly. His eyes roll up while he casts about for some way to continue. "Issa was the one told me you were here, said she'd run into you at the port. We both learn we're supposed to have relatives here in a roundabout way like that, then it's not really... I wouldn't expect you to know who I was," he summarizes instead. "So doesn't matter. Didn't think I was snubbed."
Arali's smile brightens, "Oh good. Now, I do remember meeting Issa, it was my first day here--I didn't realize she was that greenrider, of course. And I don't think I've seen her since," she pauses to consider that, continuing, "But it was a pleasant meeting, she helped me get an edge on the trader." Fingers brush over the green sateen fabric of her blouse, "I bought this fabric at a considerable discount."
"Issa's around," Reyce assures her, staring at his redfruit when he does. A little movement touches his lips, but before it can really take shape, he bites the redfruit to keep his mouth occupied. Meanwhile, he glances at her blouse. "And she's good at that kind of thing, dealing with traders. Done pretty good since we came here."
Arali keeps her squint, staring at a random spot while she clearly plays the scene back inside of her head. "Yeah, didn't she get a pen?" Ah, that fickle memory works if the girl tries hard enough. "I have one of those, but I only use it for final assignments."
By way of answer, Reyce reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pen: the same one Issa was looking at. He clicks the mechanism on the back, making the inked tip appear. "Got this one, probably. Never had one before but it's useful, work on a lot of things where I don't have an inkwell handy all the time, and a quill doesn't work as good." He taps the pen gently down on that hide he laid out on the bench, evidently an example of something he's used it for.
"That's the one," Arali nods, a finger wags at the pen in confirmation. "I like how nice and fluid my handwriting looks with one. It always looks scratchy with a quill." The hide is given another chance, she leans a little closer to make out the glyphs in what little hazy light is left. "It doesn't seem to be helping yours, though."
Reyce snorts, unclicking the pen and putting it back in his pocket. "Don't have good handwriting to start with, then a pen's not going to change it," he states, with an easy shrug. His redfruit-carrying hand comes down to the page, his pinky freeing itself to point out some of the letters, making them easier to focus on despite the lack of good lighting. "I can read it okay, is what matters."
Arali will have crow's feet in a fortnight if she keeps squinting like this. "I suppose so," she murmurs. "Stars above, I can't even pretend to understand this." The hide is given up on, again. "But it must be nice, to have a mind that can wrap around that kind of complex thing. I bet it feels good to do that." The squint has relaxed and she speaks frankly as she looks at Reyce with a small smile.
"You could," Reyce tells her simply, giving the letters on the hide a final tap with his pinky before drawing his hand away. "But haven't been taught to. Same as something like music, page of notes doesn't mean anything unless you can read it. This is just symbols." Eyes moving off the diagram now, he returns her look with a shrug. "Would admit that, yeah," he replies. "That it feels good, doing it."
Arali reconsiders the hide one last time, though without the leaning and peering. Just a quick drop of her gaze to the page for comparison's sake. "Symbols... I /can/ read music, a little. Hunh." That squint threatens again, but this time for the set of the sun. "I missed dinner, I guess, but I should try to sneak a little something before bed."
"They've got any leftovers, the dinner was good," Reyce informs her, following her glance towards the sun. "And can always take a redfruit with you, in case." Not that the vintners would appreciate that, but who's going to tell them? Not Reyce, who takes a bite of his own, stolen redfruit after he says this. "Going to stay here," he says, shoving his food to one side of his mouth so he can speak (semi) politely. "See you."
Arali wrinkles her nose as she stands, for the redfruit itself rather than Reyce's manner of eating it. "Sweet things make you fat," she states with all the wisdom of the vainly ignorant. Her rolled hide is rescued and lofted for the wave. "Try to enjoy our spot without me," lilts over a shoulder as she leaves.
4-26-2008 (Arali, Reyce):
It's edging on autumn, and on evening at this hour. Rukbat still slowly sets in the distance, orange light dappling the orchard clearing through green leaves. Arali's at a bench reading a hide, tilting it to catch the remaining spots of light.
Reyce was at dinner not long ago, but his appetite has not apparently been sated, because as he comes walking down the orchard path, he reaches up to snag a redfruit from the nearest tree. He cups the thing absently in his left hand, his right attempting to keep a scroll open so he can skim over a diagram as he walks. He's so engrossed in the thing that, although his feet take him automatically towards a bench (and it happens to be Arali's), he doesn't notice the Bitran till he's just a few feet from her. He stops short. "Uh. Hey."
Arali is, for her part, caught up with reading until the scuff of feet against ground is close enough to hear. Even so, it's not until Reyce speaks that she stops and looks up. "Oh. Hello to you, too, Instructor." Pleasant, if generic, she smiles. There's plenty of room on the bench with only her slight frame taking up space, but she's situated right in the middle. A scoot to the right and there's a socially acceptable gap left open for him. "Looks like the Orchard is /our/ spot." The joke is light with a laugh as she starts to roll up the hide in her hands.
Reyce marks out the boundaries of that socially acceptable gap by putting his hide down in it, smoothing it quickly over the bench's surface so he doesn't have to roll it up. "Yeah, seems like." He takes a seat at the other end of the bench, inspecting his redfruit while he talks to her. "You here a lot, or something?" The redfruit looks fine, so he bites into it as he turns his attention back to Arali.
"Bitra doesn't have many trees," Arali sighs, looking around at the abundance here with an appreciative smile. "Well, not the Hold, that is. Just a bare, rocky courtyard and some cotholds. There's, y'know, trees on the outer land--but that's a ways off. Pindan doesn't let anything green grow too close by." The look slides back down, mildly curious at Reyce's flattened hide, while tucking the rolled one on her other side.
It looks like Reyce has been at work on some geometry problem far more complex than what he's recently introduced in class; the handwriting on the hide is definitely his own, but what all the lines and letters represent is hard to say. "Benden's got some green," Reyce answers, squinting up at a tree. "Not trees, though. Don't think the Weyrleader - old one, M'arik - would put up with that."
Arali can barely keep up with class, so whatever new language scribed on the hide is definitely beyond her. Her attention is quickly diverted. "Oh, Benden?" It's a trigger that starts a chain reaction on her angled features. Thoughtfully, thin brows furrow while she studies Reyce. They arch back up and a finger lifts to tap her temple; all within the span of seconds. "I'm so stupid sometimes, I remember now. Mother mentioned I had relations at the Caucus, but I had forgotten your name until you said Benden."
Reyce blinks at her, his own brow furrowing as she finally makes the connection between him and Benden. "Yeah," he murmurs. "I knew about that. Figured you did, too, or would have said something earlier." There's a beat, and then the faint frown from a moment earlier is dispelled with a low huff of laughter. "Last time it was, you forgot I had a kid, this time it's being from Benden. Not doing such a good job being a relation. Mean, I'm not."
"Yeah, I'm doing a great job myself. I mean--mother must have told me your name, but she told me so, so many names. I can only remember so much at once," Arali makes her excuses with a little laugh and shrug, smiling. "I wasn't trying to snub you... I guess I couldn't fault you for thinking so, all things considered." A hand gestures vaguely to sweep those details under the proverbial rug. "So, sorry."
"All right," Reyce answers, accepting her apology blithely, and without too much concern. He takes a small bite of his redfruit, enough to give him a taste without delaying the conversation unduly. His eyes roll up while he casts about for some way to continue. "Issa was the one told me you were here, said she'd run into you at the port. We both learn we're supposed to have relatives here in a roundabout way like that, then it's not really... I wouldn't expect you to know who I was," he summarizes instead. "So doesn't matter. Didn't think I was snubbed."
Arali's smile brightens, "Oh good. Now, I do remember meeting Issa, it was my first day here--I didn't realize she was that greenrider, of course. And I don't think I've seen her since," she pauses to consider that, continuing, "But it was a pleasant meeting, she helped me get an edge on the trader." Fingers brush over the green sateen fabric of her blouse, "I bought this fabric at a considerable discount."
"Issa's around," Reyce assures her, staring at his redfruit when he does. A little movement touches his lips, but before it can really take shape, he bites the redfruit to keep his mouth occupied. Meanwhile, he glances at her blouse. "And she's good at that kind of thing, dealing with traders. Done pretty good since we came here."
Arali keeps her squint, staring at a random spot while she clearly plays the scene back inside of her head. "Yeah, didn't she get a pen?" Ah, that fickle memory works if the girl tries hard enough. "I have one of those, but I only use it for final assignments."
By way of answer, Reyce reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pen: the same one Issa was looking at. He clicks the mechanism on the back, making the inked tip appear. "Got this one, probably. Never had one before but it's useful, work on a lot of things where I don't have an inkwell handy all the time, and a quill doesn't work as good." He taps the pen gently down on that hide he laid out on the bench, evidently an example of something he's used it for.
"That's the one," Arali nods, a finger wags at the pen in confirmation. "I like how nice and fluid my handwriting looks with one. It always looks scratchy with a quill." The hide is given another chance, she leans a little closer to make out the glyphs in what little hazy light is left. "It doesn't seem to be helping yours, though."
Reyce snorts, unclicking the pen and putting it back in his pocket. "Don't have good handwriting to start with, then a pen's not going to change it," he states, with an easy shrug. His redfruit-carrying hand comes down to the page, his pinky freeing itself to point out some of the letters, making them easier to focus on despite the lack of good lighting. "I can read it okay, is what matters."
Arali will have crow's feet in a fortnight if she keeps squinting like this. "I suppose so," she murmurs. "Stars above, I can't even pretend to understand this." The hide is given up on, again. "But it must be nice, to have a mind that can wrap around that kind of complex thing. I bet it feels good to do that." The squint has relaxed and she speaks frankly as she looks at Reyce with a small smile.
"You could," Reyce tells her simply, giving the letters on the hide a final tap with his pinky before drawing his hand away. "But haven't been taught to. Same as something like music, page of notes doesn't mean anything unless you can read it. This is just symbols." Eyes moving off the diagram now, he returns her look with a shrug. "Would admit that, yeah," he replies. "That it feels good, doing it."
Arali reconsiders the hide one last time, though without the leaning and peering. Just a quick drop of her gaze to the page for comparison's sake. "Symbols... I /can/ read music, a little. Hunh." That squint threatens again, but this time for the set of the sun. "I missed dinner, I guess, but I should try to sneak a little something before bed."
"They've got any leftovers, the dinner was good," Reyce informs her, following her glance towards the sun. "And can always take a redfruit with you, in case." Not that the vintners would appreciate that, but who's going to tell them? Not Reyce, who takes a bite of his own, stolen redfruit after he says this. "Going to stay here," he says, shoving his food to one side of his mouth so he can speak (semi) politely. "See you."
Arali wrinkles her nose as she stands, for the redfruit itself rather than Reyce's manner of eating it. "Sweet things make you fat," she states with all the wisdom of the vainly ignorant. Her rolled hide is rescued and lofted for the wave. "Try to enjoy our spot without me," lilts over a shoulder as she leaves.