Lost and Found
Location: Guest Weyr
Time: Early Evening 28, Month 6, Turn 2 (HRW Time)
Players: Roa, Tavaly, Tialith and Immath
Scene: Tavaly asks Roa about certain recent events. It goes much better than one might expect.
Out of the eerie miasma of quiet, a well-known green bird with ever-dissolving wings flickers into the gold's thoughts. Is yours awake? That green bird tilts its head to the side, curious.
The gold's thoughts are, as ever, warm and weighty. Something that settles over and around. Permeates. There is a gentle tension to the pressure though. The strain of her rider's anxieties and a lost queen. Of course. She sees to the injured ones. She will be finished soon.
The green bird cocks its head in the other direction, more of the feathers glistening off and into nonexistence. Mine waits, then. We are in the ground cave where Uneth's sleeps. A virtual map up the short steps to the guest weyr.
There is a little while of quiet where the link remains open but unused. And then, after perhaps fifteen minutes, She comes.
*
Roa arrives in the Guest Weyr.
*
The temporary dynamite weyr seems to be a far more relaxing setting than the infirmary only several steps away. The atmosphere is lighter, the guarded calm is sufficient. A small desk is set near where T'zen lay sleeping on a bed. Not a cot, but a big ol' bed strewn with various blankets that, surely, were brought down from his own weyr. He sleeps soundly. As does the blue upon the big couch curled with the green who keeps one eye open and spinning as Tav continues to scribble on a large hide. The edges dangle off either side of the desk, and the way she interacts with the thing leaves it obvious what mood she's in: not pleasant. As Tialith's warning goes out, however, Tav pushes her chair back carefully, so the wood does not scrape and make horrid noises, and stands, turning toward the entrance. Deep breath.
When the Telgari arrives, its in her usual quiet way, with a soft rap-rap on the doorway. She looks a bit better than she has. Or, at least, those circles under her eyes are less pronounced, easing from purple shadows to grey. There is, however, a wariness as Roa steps into the guest weyr. A glance to T'zen, another to the coiled dragons, and then, finally, she looks to Tavaly. "How are you doing?" is the opening statement offered.
"Better than you are, by the look of it." Tav says frankly, gesturing inward. "I had klah and tea and some tummy-fillers brought up before Immath hailed Tialith. Come. There's a space by the hearth that we can talk. No worrying about waking him up, luckily. He sleeps like a.. log." Dead man, is what she had been about to say. However, certain events have to be given reverence. "I first want you to know that, as always, I consider you a great friend and ally. And I must stress to you that if you but reach out, the same will be offered to you from my quarter. Know that?"
As Tavaly begins to speak, a little bit of the tension carried in Roa's shoulders relaxes. Just a little bit. And she murmurs a soft, "thank you," at the offer of tea and klah and things to nibble. It is only a mug and some tea that is chosen before the little weyrwoman finds a spot to settle and seats herself. She nods slowly to the greenrider's words. "Thank you, Tavaly," is murmured and then blue eyes lift, and so do eyebrows. She's waiting for it. The Question.
It's that waiting that earns the Telgari a smile. The sideways, knowing kind. "You know why I wanted to talk to you, don't you?" She asks, no malice, just resigned curiosity. The smile fades as she seats herself, nose disappearing into the mug as she takes a long sip. "I know you better than to ask where, or how. So I will ask this instead. Is he safe and is he at least happy?" She looks over the mug, letting it fall into her hands and at the cross of her indian-style legs. "I have decided that those will be, for now, enough for me. You have too much worry on you for me to add anger to it."
"It's not a very hard thing to guess," says Roa gently in response to Tavaly's 'why you're here', her gaze dipping down to her mug. She just watches the colored water as Tavaly speaks and then there is a lull. As Roa gathers her thoughts and considers those questions. "He is as safe as he possibly can be," is the first answer. And then a small shake of her head. "The people he loves are here, and he isn't. No, he's not happy," is the second. She looks up then and asks, "Do you have reason, then, to be angry at me?"
"According to the irrational girl who lives here," And Tav taps her head once. Twice. "I should have several. According to the rational girl who currently sits at the reigns, no. I really don't. There are far worse things that could have happened to him and, even though I hadn't the chance to say goodbye, or that I don't know if or when I'll ever see him again, I am grateful for what has happened." She takes a deep breath, now unable to meet the little goldrider's gaze. "I am trying to find him, though. At least to know. I won't ask your help, or hints. This is one of those things I need to discover on my own, really." A pause. "I wish, though, that you had included me. I don't know in what way I would have been able, but I would have liked to help. In any way." And here the shoulders droop, slightly. "Still want to, if there's some place for me in this grand scheme."
The mug is slowly turned. Slowly slowly. How odd, isn't it, that a seven ago it was Roa trying to convince Tavaly to speak to Jensen, and now it's a bit the other way? The Telgari's lips thin. "I am sorry for that," she says quietly. "that you didn't get to speak with him and that you couldn't be included. I *am* sorry." Slowly the cup is lifted and she drinks a small sip. "I...if there's any way you *can* help, I'll let you know. But, please understand," her gaze lifts and drifts. Over to the pair of dragons. To Immath. "It is hard to keep secrets in a weyr."
"Not when it comes to my family. And who, aside from Tialith and another Caucus gold who has never spoken to her, would be able to extract it from Immath?" She offers, a small smile touching her lips. "No. I don't want you to apologize, Roa. You've done quite enough of that. I want you, in this moment, to accept my gratitude at removing him from more horrible ends," Death. Crom mines. Dishonorable discharge. "-and to know that I am available to help." She stands, crossing over to the desk and pulling that great hide over. It is promptly dropped to the floor. A map. A gigantic map with several places obscured by hurried, frustrated 'X' marks. "Every morning, before light hits this side of our rotating orbit, I disappear from here. Roa, if I find him.. will I be able to speak with him?"
"You're not going to find him," is Roa soft and flattened assessment. "And I think your energies could be better expended in the mornings besides doing..." her hand lifts and gestures to the map. "He can't come back until his name is cleared. Would you..instead of this, help me with *that* instead? That, I could use your assistance with." There is a small pause. "It may not be possible, but, if you should like to send him a letter, I'll see if it could be delivered."
And there, her most recent and terrible fears confirmed. The girl hangs her head a moment, staring long and hard at that map. "I would like that. To write him." Tav says, then glancing at her hands as they hold themselves around the mug, steam still spiraling up toward the underside of her chin. "And as for clearing his name, that I would like even more. I got a letter from my mother, after the news went out about Jen. I haven't read it yet, but.. I know what it says. At least, I'm pretty sure. I won't read it. I want to be able to write her without reading it and tell her that all of this is a farce." She looks up. "Jen couldn't have killed Luren. I know that. You know that. What can we do to make sure everyone knows that?"
A breath is drawn in as Roa sits up. Leans forward. "We find who did," she says. "Whoever killed Luren is the same person that stabbed Jensen. That attacked you and me and Issa and T'zen and Penny and Ginella. Possibly others. Possibly...I don't know. I don't know about Yevide. That one seems different. We start with what we know and work outwards. I want you to write down everything you can think of about what happened when you were hurt. Everything. Every detail. Make T'zen do the same. I'll do it too. and then we find the others and make them do it. And we look over what we have. And we look for a common link."
"Another idea might be to line up every woman in the weyr and have her checked for wounds that look like they were made by a knife. No stone unturned, and all." And now starts the calculating. But first, the sister has to ask. "When do you think you will be seeing him again?" One eye comes up and peers at Roa, almost timidly.
"Possibly," Roa agrees with a small smirk, "Though I expect whoever it is may notice if we're pulling up shirts left and right. She may leave or wriggle out of it. We'll learn more if she doesn't realize that we're looking. But...if you know of any lads who tend to get their hands under girls' shirts fairly often, you might ask them to pass on the word, should they find any scars." a tiny snicker, "Perhaps you could convince R'vain to begin seducing lower cavern girls. For justice." But then the smile fades and her head lowers. When is she going to see Jensen again. "When he comes home, Tav," she whispers. "When he's home."
"I doubt R'vain needs a nudge." Comes Tav's reply, and the smirk appearing a true one. "Binny might help, if I bug him. Or, scorch it, even Dara." A short laugh. She leans back, then one eye still trained on the goldrider. When he comes home. There's always that. "Until he does, then. And until I can sit down long enough and write well enough.." She stands, stepping over to a satchel that's placed behind Uneth's rump. She rummages, returning with a most ragged object and holds it out. One ear is still half-sewn on, and one eye is missing. A stuffy-rabbit. "See if you can't find a way to get this to him?" She asks. Half asks. "If you can't, I'll understand. But if you can, I would give him this more than a letter."
Roa's brows arch up as Dara is added to the list of potential cop-a-feelers but, well...she doesn't say anything. Instead she watches Tavaly fish about for and bring out..oh. "I'm not sure I can," says Roa softly. "I'm not sure if anything can be sent. But if I can, I will Tavaly. Promise." She holds her hands out for the mangled beastie, accepting it gently.
"I know. No pressure on you to, I want you t'know, but if the moment comes and y'can, well.. All the same." she shrugs a shoulder and sits, again. "Things are changing. All things that happen now effect us all. Think we're ready, Row-boat?" Tav looks over at the goldrider, a curious light in eyes that sit above neutrally straight lips.
Row-boat? The Telgari's lips quirk upwards just a smidge at this nickname as the stuffed animal is set on her lap for the moment. "I think we are." The mug is lifted and held out, the first half of toast.
"Then let us come out of change victorious." The second half of the toast, raised in salute, then sipped. The embers crackle in the hearth, and Tav is lost to thoughts for a spell. "We will bring him home." She says, finally, pale eyes regaining some of their former mischief. Then, a sideglance. "Love my brother, do you?"
*Clink.* The mug is drawn down and this time Roa takes a large gulp, drinking in the promise as much as the tea, At the query, Roa cants her head to the side. "I do," she agrees carefully, "but not in the way you mean. He's...well. He's my best friend, I suppose. Never had one of those before." Her gaze lowers, fingers touching the side of the mug. "I'm not in love with him, however." And perhaps unawares, the inflection is on the wrong word. 'him'.
"You assume I mean 'in love'. That's a bad habit. Assuming, that is." Tav points out, wagging a finger at the girl. "You don't need to be 'in love' with him for this to work. The fact is, you love him, as I do also. That's why this will work. You cannot hope to win a battle if love is not involved. Else, the victory is hollow and the reasons for fighting are skewed. Tainted. What counts, what matters. We love the man we're fighting for, and that's our most valuable asset." Another sip of the klah. "I don't believe in politics."
"Men," is the small correction made to Tavaly's statement. "Ashwin's with him as well. Another good friend." What gives hickies. "You don't believe in politics?" Roa asks, a tiny smile appearing and vanishing again. "What are your beliefs then, Tavaly?"
"Aah, Ashwin." A small smile. No, wait, that's a shark's grin. "I like him." Split second assessment. "Yea. He can come, too." Sip. Kidding around now? Good sign. "What I don't believe in." She holds up a finger. "Men and women bowing, scraping, and puckering their lips for the arse of a man or woman just so they can get what they want. What I do believe in." Hammurabi's code! "Is all people working together so that all goals can be attained without stiffing one another. That is not politics. That is natural survival, in its most base definition. No monetary focus, no withholding from he or she who works hard to achieve what another gets through deceit. Let me amend my statement: I don't believe in what politics have become."
Oh my but there is a lot of listening. At the first, the chiding, a small smirk and a murmured, "I shall endeavor to send word, then, that the Lieutenant might come back home as well. I suspect he might even emote a bit of pleasure. Blink more quickly or somesuch." And then, suddenly, it's Roa that's clearing her throat and blinking and tea is sipped as Tavaly talks. Her mug lowers down to her lap as the greenrider quiets again. "Ever studied much history?" is the somewhat random question asked next.
"Were I allowed to sit at Caucus and learn history along with all of you, I would have loved to study history beyond the sagas sung at gathers and during dinner. As it is, I haven't had much luck being formally instructed on the past." There's quite a bit of envy there. Surprising, considering that Tav is usually the last person one would expect to yearn for the life of a scholar. "Why do you ask?" She questions, head tilting to the side.
There's no immediate answer forthcoming, and really, what can one expect? Roa's been nearly honest for a while now. It's about time she slip back into veiled words and smokescreens. "Would you...if I brought you something, a book, would you read it?"
"Yes." Is the immediate answer. Of the many things Tav learned as a child, reading ways, potentially, the first. "I would read what you would bring to me." She says with a serious tone. "I would read it very well."
"Good. Then I will. And we can discuss it after." Roa peers down at her mug before lifting it and polishing off the drink. "Oh. Shells How are we going to keep T'zen's trap shut about all of this?"
"We don't tell him." Comes Tav's honest reply. And there is a great deal of sadness in the truth of it. "I love him dearly, but that mouth of his has a habit of flying open at a most inconvenient times." She leans back in the chair and thinks. "I trust him. Just not his mouth. Besides." And here she lifts her head to look over to where the bluerider sleeps. "He has more personal worries right now. Like getting back in the straps and in the sky. I say let that be his greatest concern right now."
Roa turns her head to watch the sleeping T'zen. "How will you explain demanding him to recount the event?" But then she shakes her head. "No. You're resourceful, I know you'll find a way." The goldrider peers down, at the toy in her lap. "Does he have a name?"
"The fact that you ask me to recount the event comes in on the coattails of my own desire. Soon. I'm not sure it will be just yet, simply because he has so much of his own to think about. But I want to know what he knows to the perfect detail. I know most of it, but I want to be sure." A glance, then, to the thing in Roa's hands. "His name is Geedles. Jen gave him to me when I was small."
"Well, hullo Geedles," Roa murmurs to the toy. The empty mug is set down and she lifts the toy to turn it gently. Examine his broken bits and his fixed bits. "I would say sooner is better than later, if you want clarity. The longer you wait, the less he'll recall, and we need as much as we can get."
Don't call attention to it! Don't call attention--aw, crap. Tav's features deteriorate again, watching as Geedles is turned about and displayed in someone else's hands. "See that set of stitches, there? S'after Jen rescued it from the farmdog Pa had brought in. I think I was maybe six or seven Turns. Ma stitched him better after dinner, and Jen kept me busy by telling me stories." Ghosts dance-a-dandalo in front of her eyes as the firelit, and hazy scene jogs across her memory. "Good times." Then refocus. "I will. Perhaps tonight. Uneth can help, too, as he was out there when T'zen came in with me. If, that is, he remembers that far back."
The toy's drawn back down and Roa smiles faintly. "Protector of all helpless creatures. Stuffed or otherwise," Roa muses. "I guess that's something that never changed." She glances over at T'zen again and only shakes her head with a smirk. "Poor man. Discretion is just lost on him." She exhales slowly. "I'd better go. Class. I'll get that book to you as soon as I'm able. It make take a little while, I'm not sure they have a copy here."
Rising, Tav offers Roa her hand to take for help up. "It translates." Is what she says in response to the 'never changed' string. "Love is a language. We all speak it a little differently. For Jen, I believe, to love is to protect. To protect is to allow love to endure." On talk of class, Tav grins. "IF you can, more's the joy, if you can't, I won't weep. Promise. Go, then. Learn. Prepare for better days through better knowledge, eh? Thank you for coming to see me. I would very much like to speak with you again soon."
Roa rises, giving Tavaly's hand a small squeeze. She nods. "I think you have it exactly. And when you *do* see Jen again," her eyes narrow a bit, "You'd shelling better smooth things out between the two of you. You have enough stubborn to flood a Weyr between you, but enough is enough." Geedles is tucked carefully under one arm. "We'll talk again soon." And then, as if responding to something said, though not by the greenrider, "We *are* going to do this, Tavaly. They *are* coming home."
"I dare this life to stop us." Tav says in response to the affirmation delivered by the goldrider. "There is nothing in our way." A hardening of the features. Pure grit. Kind of reminiscent of Jen on a mission, almost. "Let's make it happen, shall we?"
"Let's. I'll speak with you soon." Roa smiles once and then turns to head back outside. So it begins.
*
Tav crosses to the map, whose artist took great pains to scrawl mountains, valleys, hills and trees upon the surface. Lifting it, the great hide is crumpled between both hands and set upon the embers who feats, immediately, upon the offering.
This is the last time this map will be seen on Pern.
Time: Early Evening 28, Month 6, Turn 2 (HRW Time)
Players: Roa, Tavaly, Tialith and Immath
Scene: Tavaly asks Roa about certain recent events. It goes much better than one might expect.
Out of the eerie miasma of quiet, a well-known green bird with ever-dissolving wings flickers into the gold's thoughts. Is yours awake? That green bird tilts its head to the side, curious.
The gold's thoughts are, as ever, warm and weighty. Something that settles over and around. Permeates. There is a gentle tension to the pressure though. The strain of her rider's anxieties and a lost queen. Of course. She sees to the injured ones. She will be finished soon.
The green bird cocks its head in the other direction, more of the feathers glistening off and into nonexistence. Mine waits, then. We are in the ground cave where Uneth's sleeps. A virtual map up the short steps to the guest weyr.
There is a little while of quiet where the link remains open but unused. And then, after perhaps fifteen minutes, She comes.
*
Roa arrives in the Guest Weyr.
*
The temporary dynamite weyr seems to be a far more relaxing setting than the infirmary only several steps away. The atmosphere is lighter, the guarded calm is sufficient. A small desk is set near where T'zen lay sleeping on a bed. Not a cot, but a big ol' bed strewn with various blankets that, surely, were brought down from his own weyr. He sleeps soundly. As does the blue upon the big couch curled with the green who keeps one eye open and spinning as Tav continues to scribble on a large hide. The edges dangle off either side of the desk, and the way she interacts with the thing leaves it obvious what mood she's in: not pleasant. As Tialith's warning goes out, however, Tav pushes her chair back carefully, so the wood does not scrape and make horrid noises, and stands, turning toward the entrance. Deep breath.
When the Telgari arrives, its in her usual quiet way, with a soft rap-rap on the doorway. She looks a bit better than she has. Or, at least, those circles under her eyes are less pronounced, easing from purple shadows to grey. There is, however, a wariness as Roa steps into the guest weyr. A glance to T'zen, another to the coiled dragons, and then, finally, she looks to Tavaly. "How are you doing?" is the opening statement offered.
"Better than you are, by the look of it." Tav says frankly, gesturing inward. "I had klah and tea and some tummy-fillers brought up before Immath hailed Tialith. Come. There's a space by the hearth that we can talk. No worrying about waking him up, luckily. He sleeps like a.. log." Dead man, is what she had been about to say. However, certain events have to be given reverence. "I first want you to know that, as always, I consider you a great friend and ally. And I must stress to you that if you but reach out, the same will be offered to you from my quarter. Know that?"
As Tavaly begins to speak, a little bit of the tension carried in Roa's shoulders relaxes. Just a little bit. And she murmurs a soft, "thank you," at the offer of tea and klah and things to nibble. It is only a mug and some tea that is chosen before the little weyrwoman finds a spot to settle and seats herself. She nods slowly to the greenrider's words. "Thank you, Tavaly," is murmured and then blue eyes lift, and so do eyebrows. She's waiting for it. The Question.
It's that waiting that earns the Telgari a smile. The sideways, knowing kind. "You know why I wanted to talk to you, don't you?" She asks, no malice, just resigned curiosity. The smile fades as she seats herself, nose disappearing into the mug as she takes a long sip. "I know you better than to ask where, or how. So I will ask this instead. Is he safe and is he at least happy?" She looks over the mug, letting it fall into her hands and at the cross of her indian-style legs. "I have decided that those will be, for now, enough for me. You have too much worry on you for me to add anger to it."
"It's not a very hard thing to guess," says Roa gently in response to Tavaly's 'why you're here', her gaze dipping down to her mug. She just watches the colored water as Tavaly speaks and then there is a lull. As Roa gathers her thoughts and considers those questions. "He is as safe as he possibly can be," is the first answer. And then a small shake of her head. "The people he loves are here, and he isn't. No, he's not happy," is the second. She looks up then and asks, "Do you have reason, then, to be angry at me?"
"According to the irrational girl who lives here," And Tav taps her head once. Twice. "I should have several. According to the rational girl who currently sits at the reigns, no. I really don't. There are far worse things that could have happened to him and, even though I hadn't the chance to say goodbye, or that I don't know if or when I'll ever see him again, I am grateful for what has happened." She takes a deep breath, now unable to meet the little goldrider's gaze. "I am trying to find him, though. At least to know. I won't ask your help, or hints. This is one of those things I need to discover on my own, really." A pause. "I wish, though, that you had included me. I don't know in what way I would have been able, but I would have liked to help. In any way." And here the shoulders droop, slightly. "Still want to, if there's some place for me in this grand scheme."
The mug is slowly turned. Slowly slowly. How odd, isn't it, that a seven ago it was Roa trying to convince Tavaly to speak to Jensen, and now it's a bit the other way? The Telgari's lips thin. "I am sorry for that," she says quietly. "that you didn't get to speak with him and that you couldn't be included. I *am* sorry." Slowly the cup is lifted and she drinks a small sip. "I...if there's any way you *can* help, I'll let you know. But, please understand," her gaze lifts and drifts. Over to the pair of dragons. To Immath. "It is hard to keep secrets in a weyr."
"Not when it comes to my family. And who, aside from Tialith and another Caucus gold who has never spoken to her, would be able to extract it from Immath?" She offers, a small smile touching her lips. "No. I don't want you to apologize, Roa. You've done quite enough of that. I want you, in this moment, to accept my gratitude at removing him from more horrible ends," Death. Crom mines. Dishonorable discharge. "-and to know that I am available to help." She stands, crossing over to the desk and pulling that great hide over. It is promptly dropped to the floor. A map. A gigantic map with several places obscured by hurried, frustrated 'X' marks. "Every morning, before light hits this side of our rotating orbit, I disappear from here. Roa, if I find him.. will I be able to speak with him?"
"You're not going to find him," is Roa soft and flattened assessment. "And I think your energies could be better expended in the mornings besides doing..." her hand lifts and gestures to the map. "He can't come back until his name is cleared. Would you..instead of this, help me with *that* instead? That, I could use your assistance with." There is a small pause. "It may not be possible, but, if you should like to send him a letter, I'll see if it could be delivered."
And there, her most recent and terrible fears confirmed. The girl hangs her head a moment, staring long and hard at that map. "I would like that. To write him." Tav says, then glancing at her hands as they hold themselves around the mug, steam still spiraling up toward the underside of her chin. "And as for clearing his name, that I would like even more. I got a letter from my mother, after the news went out about Jen. I haven't read it yet, but.. I know what it says. At least, I'm pretty sure. I won't read it. I want to be able to write her without reading it and tell her that all of this is a farce." She looks up. "Jen couldn't have killed Luren. I know that. You know that. What can we do to make sure everyone knows that?"
A breath is drawn in as Roa sits up. Leans forward. "We find who did," she says. "Whoever killed Luren is the same person that stabbed Jensen. That attacked you and me and Issa and T'zen and Penny and Ginella. Possibly others. Possibly...I don't know. I don't know about Yevide. That one seems different. We start with what we know and work outwards. I want you to write down everything you can think of about what happened when you were hurt. Everything. Every detail. Make T'zen do the same. I'll do it too. and then we find the others and make them do it. And we look over what we have. And we look for a common link."
"Another idea might be to line up every woman in the weyr and have her checked for wounds that look like they were made by a knife. No stone unturned, and all." And now starts the calculating. But first, the sister has to ask. "When do you think you will be seeing him again?" One eye comes up and peers at Roa, almost timidly.
"Possibly," Roa agrees with a small smirk, "Though I expect whoever it is may notice if we're pulling up shirts left and right. She may leave or wriggle out of it. We'll learn more if she doesn't realize that we're looking. But...if you know of any lads who tend to get their hands under girls' shirts fairly often, you might ask them to pass on the word, should they find any scars." a tiny snicker, "Perhaps you could convince R'vain to begin seducing lower cavern girls. For justice." But then the smile fades and her head lowers. When is she going to see Jensen again. "When he comes home, Tav," she whispers. "When he's home."
"I doubt R'vain needs a nudge." Comes Tav's reply, and the smirk appearing a true one. "Binny might help, if I bug him. Or, scorch it, even Dara." A short laugh. She leans back, then one eye still trained on the goldrider. When he comes home. There's always that. "Until he does, then. And until I can sit down long enough and write well enough.." She stands, stepping over to a satchel that's placed behind Uneth's rump. She rummages, returning with a most ragged object and holds it out. One ear is still half-sewn on, and one eye is missing. A stuffy-rabbit. "See if you can't find a way to get this to him?" She asks. Half asks. "If you can't, I'll understand. But if you can, I would give him this more than a letter."
Roa's brows arch up as Dara is added to the list of potential cop-a-feelers but, well...she doesn't say anything. Instead she watches Tavaly fish about for and bring out..oh. "I'm not sure I can," says Roa softly. "I'm not sure if anything can be sent. But if I can, I will Tavaly. Promise." She holds her hands out for the mangled beastie, accepting it gently.
"I know. No pressure on you to, I want you t'know, but if the moment comes and y'can, well.. All the same." she shrugs a shoulder and sits, again. "Things are changing. All things that happen now effect us all. Think we're ready, Row-boat?" Tav looks over at the goldrider, a curious light in eyes that sit above neutrally straight lips.
Row-boat? The Telgari's lips quirk upwards just a smidge at this nickname as the stuffed animal is set on her lap for the moment. "I think we are." The mug is lifted and held out, the first half of toast.
"Then let us come out of change victorious." The second half of the toast, raised in salute, then sipped. The embers crackle in the hearth, and Tav is lost to thoughts for a spell. "We will bring him home." She says, finally, pale eyes regaining some of their former mischief. Then, a sideglance. "Love my brother, do you?"
*Clink.* The mug is drawn down and this time Roa takes a large gulp, drinking in the promise as much as the tea, At the query, Roa cants her head to the side. "I do," she agrees carefully, "but not in the way you mean. He's...well. He's my best friend, I suppose. Never had one of those before." Her gaze lowers, fingers touching the side of the mug. "I'm not in love with him, however." And perhaps unawares, the inflection is on the wrong word. 'him'.
"You assume I mean 'in love'. That's a bad habit. Assuming, that is." Tav points out, wagging a finger at the girl. "You don't need to be 'in love' with him for this to work. The fact is, you love him, as I do also. That's why this will work. You cannot hope to win a battle if love is not involved. Else, the victory is hollow and the reasons for fighting are skewed. Tainted. What counts, what matters. We love the man we're fighting for, and that's our most valuable asset." Another sip of the klah. "I don't believe in politics."
"Men," is the small correction made to Tavaly's statement. "Ashwin's with him as well. Another good friend." What gives hickies. "You don't believe in politics?" Roa asks, a tiny smile appearing and vanishing again. "What are your beliefs then, Tavaly?"
"Aah, Ashwin." A small smile. No, wait, that's a shark's grin. "I like him." Split second assessment. "Yea. He can come, too." Sip. Kidding around now? Good sign. "What I don't believe in." She holds up a finger. "Men and women bowing, scraping, and puckering their lips for the arse of a man or woman just so they can get what they want. What I do believe in." Hammurabi's code! "Is all people working together so that all goals can be attained without stiffing one another. That is not politics. That is natural survival, in its most base definition. No monetary focus, no withholding from he or she who works hard to achieve what another gets through deceit. Let me amend my statement: I don't believe in what politics have become."
Oh my but there is a lot of listening. At the first, the chiding, a small smirk and a murmured, "I shall endeavor to send word, then, that the Lieutenant might come back home as well. I suspect he might even emote a bit of pleasure. Blink more quickly or somesuch." And then, suddenly, it's Roa that's clearing her throat and blinking and tea is sipped as Tavaly talks. Her mug lowers down to her lap as the greenrider quiets again. "Ever studied much history?" is the somewhat random question asked next.
"Were I allowed to sit at Caucus and learn history along with all of you, I would have loved to study history beyond the sagas sung at gathers and during dinner. As it is, I haven't had much luck being formally instructed on the past." There's quite a bit of envy there. Surprising, considering that Tav is usually the last person one would expect to yearn for the life of a scholar. "Why do you ask?" She questions, head tilting to the side.
There's no immediate answer forthcoming, and really, what can one expect? Roa's been nearly honest for a while now. It's about time she slip back into veiled words and smokescreens. "Would you...if I brought you something, a book, would you read it?"
"Yes." Is the immediate answer. Of the many things Tav learned as a child, reading ways, potentially, the first. "I would read what you would bring to me." She says with a serious tone. "I would read it very well."
"Good. Then I will. And we can discuss it after." Roa peers down at her mug before lifting it and polishing off the drink. "Oh. Shells How are we going to keep T'zen's trap shut about all of this?"
"We don't tell him." Comes Tav's honest reply. And there is a great deal of sadness in the truth of it. "I love him dearly, but that mouth of his has a habit of flying open at a most inconvenient times." She leans back in the chair and thinks. "I trust him. Just not his mouth. Besides." And here she lifts her head to look over to where the bluerider sleeps. "He has more personal worries right now. Like getting back in the straps and in the sky. I say let that be his greatest concern right now."
Roa turns her head to watch the sleeping T'zen. "How will you explain demanding him to recount the event?" But then she shakes her head. "No. You're resourceful, I know you'll find a way." The goldrider peers down, at the toy in her lap. "Does he have a name?"
"The fact that you ask me to recount the event comes in on the coattails of my own desire. Soon. I'm not sure it will be just yet, simply because he has so much of his own to think about. But I want to know what he knows to the perfect detail. I know most of it, but I want to be sure." A glance, then, to the thing in Roa's hands. "His name is Geedles. Jen gave him to me when I was small."
"Well, hullo Geedles," Roa murmurs to the toy. The empty mug is set down and she lifts the toy to turn it gently. Examine his broken bits and his fixed bits. "I would say sooner is better than later, if you want clarity. The longer you wait, the less he'll recall, and we need as much as we can get."
Don't call attention to it! Don't call attention--aw, crap. Tav's features deteriorate again, watching as Geedles is turned about and displayed in someone else's hands. "See that set of stitches, there? S'after Jen rescued it from the farmdog Pa had brought in. I think I was maybe six or seven Turns. Ma stitched him better after dinner, and Jen kept me busy by telling me stories." Ghosts dance-a-dandalo in front of her eyes as the firelit, and hazy scene jogs across her memory. "Good times." Then refocus. "I will. Perhaps tonight. Uneth can help, too, as he was out there when T'zen came in with me. If, that is, he remembers that far back."
The toy's drawn back down and Roa smiles faintly. "Protector of all helpless creatures. Stuffed or otherwise," Roa muses. "I guess that's something that never changed." She glances over at T'zen again and only shakes her head with a smirk. "Poor man. Discretion is just lost on him." She exhales slowly. "I'd better go. Class. I'll get that book to you as soon as I'm able. It make take a little while, I'm not sure they have a copy here."
Rising, Tav offers Roa her hand to take for help up. "It translates." Is what she says in response to the 'never changed' string. "Love is a language. We all speak it a little differently. For Jen, I believe, to love is to protect. To protect is to allow love to endure." On talk of class, Tav grins. "IF you can, more's the joy, if you can't, I won't weep. Promise. Go, then. Learn. Prepare for better days through better knowledge, eh? Thank you for coming to see me. I would very much like to speak with you again soon."
Roa rises, giving Tavaly's hand a small squeeze. She nods. "I think you have it exactly. And when you *do* see Jen again," her eyes narrow a bit, "You'd shelling better smooth things out between the two of you. You have enough stubborn to flood a Weyr between you, but enough is enough." Geedles is tucked carefully under one arm. "We'll talk again soon." And then, as if responding to something said, though not by the greenrider, "We *are* going to do this, Tavaly. They *are* coming home."
"I dare this life to stop us." Tav says in response to the affirmation delivered by the goldrider. "There is nothing in our way." A hardening of the features. Pure grit. Kind of reminiscent of Jen on a mission, almost. "Let's make it happen, shall we?"
"Let's. I'll speak with you soon." Roa smiles once and then turns to head back outside. So it begins.
*
Tav crosses to the map, whose artist took great pains to scrawl mountains, valleys, hills and trees upon the surface. Lifting it, the great hide is crumpled between both hands and set upon the embers who feats, immediately, upon the offering.
This is the last time this map will be seen on Pern.