Afterwards
It is a summer evening of day 22, month 6, turn 23 of Interval 10.
Flight Cave, Fort Weyr
This small, ground-level cavern has one use and one use only: it's for flights. The headwoman's staff keeps the place neat and tidy, but otherwise, the space is very clearly set up for its sole purpose. The bedframe is a double, sturdy, but has seen better days, with plenty of nicks and scratches in the wood. The linens are plain, undyed, cheap fiber, easy to wash, easy to replace.
Several chairs, all of the repaired, second-hand variety stand against the walls and a table holds a pitcher of water and a selection of chipped mugs as well as a seasonal fruit and a couple of bowls of nuts. The glows in here are usually a bit dim, older ones that have been changed out of more trafficked areas of the Weyr but not completely depleted yet. A small hearth also provides heat in the colder months, with logs and coal both kept supplied for use at any time.
Obvious exits:
Out
When Chielyth and Antanth return to the Weyr they're greeted not with cries of joy or fury but by silence: within the flight cave all is quiet. It's not until meal time is well advanced that Kai rouses from his sprawl with no previous signs of waking until, with a jerk, he startles alert. It takes him a few seconds only to scan the room--for invaders?--before he thinks to look at the bed; he scrubs his face into his hands and squints out at the bowl where green and blue entwine.
Save for Shiala's own soft snores, yes, all is quiet when Antanth extends a wing to Chielyth out in the bowl. His bluerider is sprawled lengthwise (Kai's own body permitting) across the bed, one bare leg dangle and toes grazing the floor, and when that waking twitch comes those toes curl right up. The movement transforms into an indolent stretch and Shiala tips her face to peek under long lashes at Kai. "You," she murmurs -- accusing? satisfied?
Chielyth's more than happy to curl up under the offered wing and do some dozing of her own, drifting off with a sparkle of sunlight that has nothing to do with her earlier pique. "Hey," her rider offers to his, eyes darting away from that sprawl like startled fish whenever they happen to drift over. "I, um," he adds, and pushes back against the headboard to sit up properly before tugging at the linens for some semblance of modesty.
Nuzzling her cheek into the pillow, hair scrunched up against the back of her head, Shiala buries herself deeper into the bedding until it's just one hazel eye fixed on Kai in a pile of blankets. There's a smile in her voice and her look when she mumbles into the pillow, "You what?" Without waiting on a reply, she continues with a raspy laugh and another curling of toes (this time against Kai's leg if she can reach it), "Your green. Beautiful flier. /Fast/."
"Uh," Kai says this time, and isn't that rickety chair just fascinating? So much so that when those toes curl against one calf he startles again, his own wide hazel eyes seeking out hers. "Uh," again, a swallow, and, "Thanks." Color touches the lines of his jaw, darkening further what needs to be shaved, and isn't rubbed off no matter how he tries. But that chair sure is interesting! "It's, uh, Chielyth. 'Nd I'm, um. K- B'kaiv."
Shiala disappears into the mess of sheets, a squirming blob when the muffled reply comes: "Pretty name for a pretty green." When she reappears, it's with bright eyes under wild hair and she wriggles her shoulders until, there, she's comfortable and not even hogging all the sheets or anything. "With an eff or a vee? Kaifff, Kaiiivuh." Rolling the name around in her mouth, she does eventually offer with a sidelong look, "Shiala. With an ess. You got somewhere to be right now, handsome greenrider?"
While he might be curious about what she's doing under there, while she wiggles Kai claims sheets until, there, he's no longer offering a free show to anyone who might wander in and his legs, at least, are no longer sprawled over the bed but tidily tucked together. "Huh?" he asks again. After a few seconds, though, he seems to get it. "Uh, vee. K-A-I-V, ma'am. I mean. Shiala. And I, um...." He sends another look outside, but Chielyth's no help. "--You got any idea what time it is?"
The bluerider might seem a hint disappointed when her opportunity for ogling Kai is whisked away under sheets, but she settles for a brief survey skimming from head to toe and ending with an 'it'll do' nod. For his question, Shiala shrugs a leisurely shrug but obligingly half-lids her eyes; Antanth grumbles and Shiala chirps, "Dinner-ish. You mind if he pesters her, the next few days? I can tell him not to, if you prefer. He's harmless." This said, with a lowering of lashes and a smile Kai's way that might suggest otherwise of Antanth's rider.
"Dinner," the greenrider repeats uncertainly, followed quickly by, "Shells." He scrubs at his face again, gives Shiala a headshake when he's finished and looks quickly back at his knees. "Nah. She ain't gonna remember, in a few days, but she'll go flying with him whenever." Another twitch of sheets does little but call attention to his fidgeting. "So I, uh. Should get something t' eat, or something."
"S'wrong with dinner?" Shiala stirs once again, a rearranging of limbs so conveniently draped that if one happens to land across Kai, oops, that's her bad! "-- flying. Good. Maybe she can teach him some tricks, hmm?" Lazily murmured, head slipping sideways so all she has to do is look up at him from under stray bits of hair. "But. Old dog, new tricks, you know how that goes." Puffing out her cheeks, crestfallen in the wrinkle of her nose and the frown at her lips, Shiala sighs, "/Suppose/ so." Eating is /such/ a burden.
B'kaiv doesn't scream like a girl and flee when that hand oh-so-accidentally lands in his lap, but tensing and going still isn't exactly an invitation either. "Yeah," he says about flying, and, "Sure," and oh what a sad thing, it's time for him to hastily scoot out from under the sheets and go looking for his clothes where could they be. He keeps his back to the bed as much as possible in his quest, even if that leads to some awkward shuffling. More firmly, "Yeah, so, it were really, um. Nice t' meet you ma'-- Shiala, you and your blue and all."
Escape made successful without even any interference run by Shiala, the bluerider flops back into the bed and even tugs the blanket up over her chest; her smile for Kai is the most genuine yet, with wrinkles appearing just around the edges of her eyes. "Didn't mean to scare you off, greenrider. Wrong bits? The pleasure was mine, either way." She'll just lay here for a bit longer, lazy and content with the sheet just brushing the line of her chin, peeking every so often at Kai if he stays long enough to let her.
B'kaiv says, "What? No! Uh, no." This shirt's his and he slips into it, now dressed enough to turn even if it's /really important/ that he concentrate on buttoning the thing rather than look at his once-bedmate. "I just - I ain't - I ain't got much sleep th' last couple days. And I got t'... there's this...." Neither path is the one he wants to take, if the thinned lips are any indication; he scowls at the floor and shakes his head. "Shells. I just - I don't like flights. Afterwards."
"Considering the alternatives," Shiala points out with a flash of amusement in her glance out toward the bowl, toward her blue, "Pretty sure you lucked out. Me havin' the right bits and all." After a pause, then, she murmurs quieter while idly flattening the sheets under her fingertips, "Take a moment and a few deep breaths, B'kaiv, then go have a nice dinner -- a couple beers -- play some dice. Get to bed early. And you'll be all right, hmm?" A slow smile without doesn't look directly at him, but Shiala flicks hazel eyes from Kai's feet to his jaw. "And shave." Then she burrows herself again into the bed, falling still and quiet and pink at the cheeks if he can catch sight of it.
'Deep breaths' she says and the younger man obeys after a jerky nod. Deep breaths, right. Closed eyes help even more (that way he can't see her looking at him?) and after a minute or so the greenrider nods again, more centered now. "That's - that's real good advice. Think I'm gonna." He's also gonna finish fetching his clothes and hers, though hers is set on the foot of the bed. Her last quip brings a rueful, crooked smile; after a second he snorts, amused, and pulls on his boots. "Yeah. See you around, Shiala. I ain't gonna take her from him, least for a while." It's a good thing the ground weyr is just that, as Kai heads out across the bowl.
Shiala's "You better!" drifts out from under a heap of blankets, but otherwise it's silence from the older woman. Eventually Shiala does squirm out from under the bedding and fetch, with a smile, those clothes so thoughtfully laid out for her. Antanth dutifully lifts his head to see B'kaiv go: the bluerider hums quietly and tunelessly to herself as she dresses, and as she buttons up her blouse she leans out the doorway to watch for herself Kai's path nearing the barracks. Then she too slips out to fetch her dinner, have a beer, and Faranth knows, brush her hair.
She weren't so bad, I guess. Better'n that other time. Hope she's all right, but she would've said something if she ain't, wouldn't she? Shells, Chielyth sure is happy. Glad she ain't mad no more.
Flight Cave, Fort Weyr
This small, ground-level cavern has one use and one use only: it's for flights. The headwoman's staff keeps the place neat and tidy, but otherwise, the space is very clearly set up for its sole purpose. The bedframe is a double, sturdy, but has seen better days, with plenty of nicks and scratches in the wood. The linens are plain, undyed, cheap fiber, easy to wash, easy to replace.
Several chairs, all of the repaired, second-hand variety stand against the walls and a table holds a pitcher of water and a selection of chipped mugs as well as a seasonal fruit and a couple of bowls of nuts. The glows in here are usually a bit dim, older ones that have been changed out of more trafficked areas of the Weyr but not completely depleted yet. A small hearth also provides heat in the colder months, with logs and coal both kept supplied for use at any time.
Obvious exits:
Out
When Chielyth and Antanth return to the Weyr they're greeted not with cries of joy or fury but by silence: within the flight cave all is quiet. It's not until meal time is well advanced that Kai rouses from his sprawl with no previous signs of waking until, with a jerk, he startles alert. It takes him a few seconds only to scan the room--for invaders?--before he thinks to look at the bed; he scrubs his face into his hands and squints out at the bowl where green and blue entwine.
Save for Shiala's own soft snores, yes, all is quiet when Antanth extends a wing to Chielyth out in the bowl. His bluerider is sprawled lengthwise (Kai's own body permitting) across the bed, one bare leg dangle and toes grazing the floor, and when that waking twitch comes those toes curl right up. The movement transforms into an indolent stretch and Shiala tips her face to peek under long lashes at Kai. "You," she murmurs -- accusing? satisfied?
Chielyth's more than happy to curl up under the offered wing and do some dozing of her own, drifting off with a sparkle of sunlight that has nothing to do with her earlier pique. "Hey," her rider offers to his, eyes darting away from that sprawl like startled fish whenever they happen to drift over. "I, um," he adds, and pushes back against the headboard to sit up properly before tugging at the linens for some semblance of modesty.
Nuzzling her cheek into the pillow, hair scrunched up against the back of her head, Shiala buries herself deeper into the bedding until it's just one hazel eye fixed on Kai in a pile of blankets. There's a smile in her voice and her look when she mumbles into the pillow, "You what?" Without waiting on a reply, she continues with a raspy laugh and another curling of toes (this time against Kai's leg if she can reach it), "Your green. Beautiful flier. /Fast/."
"Uh," Kai says this time, and isn't that rickety chair just fascinating? So much so that when those toes curl against one calf he startles again, his own wide hazel eyes seeking out hers. "Uh," again, a swallow, and, "Thanks." Color touches the lines of his jaw, darkening further what needs to be shaved, and isn't rubbed off no matter how he tries. But that chair sure is interesting! "It's, uh, Chielyth. 'Nd I'm, um. K- B'kaiv."
Shiala disappears into the mess of sheets, a squirming blob when the muffled reply comes: "Pretty name for a pretty green." When she reappears, it's with bright eyes under wild hair and she wriggles her shoulders until, there, she's comfortable and not even hogging all the sheets or anything. "With an eff or a vee? Kaifff, Kaiiivuh." Rolling the name around in her mouth, she does eventually offer with a sidelong look, "Shiala. With an ess. You got somewhere to be right now, handsome greenrider?"
While he might be curious about what she's doing under there, while she wiggles Kai claims sheets until, there, he's no longer offering a free show to anyone who might wander in and his legs, at least, are no longer sprawled over the bed but tidily tucked together. "Huh?" he asks again. After a few seconds, though, he seems to get it. "Uh, vee. K-A-I-V, ma'am. I mean. Shiala. And I, um...." He sends another look outside, but Chielyth's no help. "--You got any idea what time it is?"
The bluerider might seem a hint disappointed when her opportunity for ogling Kai is whisked away under sheets, but she settles for a brief survey skimming from head to toe and ending with an 'it'll do' nod. For his question, Shiala shrugs a leisurely shrug but obligingly half-lids her eyes; Antanth grumbles and Shiala chirps, "Dinner-ish. You mind if he pesters her, the next few days? I can tell him not to, if you prefer. He's harmless." This said, with a lowering of lashes and a smile Kai's way that might suggest otherwise of Antanth's rider.
"Dinner," the greenrider repeats uncertainly, followed quickly by, "Shells." He scrubs at his face again, gives Shiala a headshake when he's finished and looks quickly back at his knees. "Nah. She ain't gonna remember, in a few days, but she'll go flying with him whenever." Another twitch of sheets does little but call attention to his fidgeting. "So I, uh. Should get something t' eat, or something."
"S'wrong with dinner?" Shiala stirs once again, a rearranging of limbs so conveniently draped that if one happens to land across Kai, oops, that's her bad! "-- flying. Good. Maybe she can teach him some tricks, hmm?" Lazily murmured, head slipping sideways so all she has to do is look up at him from under stray bits of hair. "But. Old dog, new tricks, you know how that goes." Puffing out her cheeks, crestfallen in the wrinkle of her nose and the frown at her lips, Shiala sighs, "/Suppose/ so." Eating is /such/ a burden.
B'kaiv doesn't scream like a girl and flee when that hand oh-so-accidentally lands in his lap, but tensing and going still isn't exactly an invitation either. "Yeah," he says about flying, and, "Sure," and oh what a sad thing, it's time for him to hastily scoot out from under the sheets and go looking for his clothes where could they be. He keeps his back to the bed as much as possible in his quest, even if that leads to some awkward shuffling. More firmly, "Yeah, so, it were really, um. Nice t' meet you ma'-- Shiala, you and your blue and all."
Escape made successful without even any interference run by Shiala, the bluerider flops back into the bed and even tugs the blanket up over her chest; her smile for Kai is the most genuine yet, with wrinkles appearing just around the edges of her eyes. "Didn't mean to scare you off, greenrider. Wrong bits? The pleasure was mine, either way." She'll just lay here for a bit longer, lazy and content with the sheet just brushing the line of her chin, peeking every so often at Kai if he stays long enough to let her.
B'kaiv says, "What? No! Uh, no." This shirt's his and he slips into it, now dressed enough to turn even if it's /really important/ that he concentrate on buttoning the thing rather than look at his once-bedmate. "I just - I ain't - I ain't got much sleep th' last couple days. And I got t'... there's this...." Neither path is the one he wants to take, if the thinned lips are any indication; he scowls at the floor and shakes his head. "Shells. I just - I don't like flights. Afterwards."
"Considering the alternatives," Shiala points out with a flash of amusement in her glance out toward the bowl, toward her blue, "Pretty sure you lucked out. Me havin' the right bits and all." After a pause, then, she murmurs quieter while idly flattening the sheets under her fingertips, "Take a moment and a few deep breaths, B'kaiv, then go have a nice dinner -- a couple beers -- play some dice. Get to bed early. And you'll be all right, hmm?" A slow smile without doesn't look directly at him, but Shiala flicks hazel eyes from Kai's feet to his jaw. "And shave." Then she burrows herself again into the bed, falling still and quiet and pink at the cheeks if he can catch sight of it.
'Deep breaths' she says and the younger man obeys after a jerky nod. Deep breaths, right. Closed eyes help even more (that way he can't see her looking at him?) and after a minute or so the greenrider nods again, more centered now. "That's - that's real good advice. Think I'm gonna." He's also gonna finish fetching his clothes and hers, though hers is set on the foot of the bed. Her last quip brings a rueful, crooked smile; after a second he snorts, amused, and pulls on his boots. "Yeah. See you around, Shiala. I ain't gonna take her from him, least for a while." It's a good thing the ground weyr is just that, as Kai heads out across the bowl.
Shiala's "You better!" drifts out from under a heap of blankets, but otherwise it's silence from the older woman. Eventually Shiala does squirm out from under the bedding and fetch, with a smile, those clothes so thoughtfully laid out for her. Antanth dutifully lifts his head to see B'kaiv go: the bluerider hums quietly and tunelessly to herself as she dresses, and as she buttons up her blouse she leans out the doorway to watch for herself Kai's path nearing the barracks. Then she too slips out to fetch her dinner, have a beer, and Faranth knows, brush her hair.
She weren't so bad, I guess. Better'n that other time. Hope she's all right, but she would've said something if she ain't, wouldn't she? Shells, Chielyth sure is happy. Glad she ain't mad no more.