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3/8/2002
Logfile from Elehu

Living Caverns (#392)
The rough-hewn majesty of this cavern far outpaces any delight in the multitudes of curves that form its enclosure. The glabrous grey granite is shot through with translucent obsidian, lending subtly-veined sparkle to the walls and the foot-trodden smoothness of the floor that shows centuries-old placements of the scarred trestle tables; carven hollows give homes for the glow baskets and the coat-pegs that line the walls. No mosaics, no painting, no tiles: just a few well-done tapestries mark the pathway that lead to the kitchen to the north and the inner caverns to the west, and frame the nighthearth's stew and snacks, while a heavier strip of oiled canvas shields the unwary from the wind in the bowl.
Scattered about in various perches and niches are fifty-three firelizards.
You see OOC NOTICE (look sign), White Clay Egg Pot, Thief, Bandit, and Vtol here.
Lhana, Jesha, Khena, and Sikkyen are here.
Obvious exits:
Bowl --- Kitchens --- Inner Caverns --- Crafting Area

Sikkyen stares lightly at Lhana, and pops out a belt knife. Starting on the first saddle - a heavy, worn thing of the darkest brown possible - he cuts a sliver from the base of the cantle, scrapes it over the edge, and works it over the seat, continuing in the cut to fully around the possible 'hide. Scrounging around, he takes an especially leathal-looking tool out; a flat disc, sharpened to a maniac edge on one half, the other guarded with some sort of wood.. and begins to scrape up the 'hide, pulling up the glue from the wooden tree as he does. Brow a'knitted, he works on this happily. "You're.. mending.. clothes, Lhana?" is finally queried. Waitaminute. /Lhana/? Mending.. clothes?! Good Faranth..

"I could get you to, say, clean the latrines," Khena idly notes, glancing from one Candidate to another, "or my weyr.. Since I won't have time for that for a while.." Tilting her head, she gives the appearance that the choice is up to the Candidates themselves. Waiting, the brownrider's eyes continually move from one to the other with only the interruption of looking down at her baby. "Well...?"

Jesha goes home.

Lhana turns to Sikkyen at his question and nods solemnly. "Yes." And not very well, it seems, as she ineptly jabs her needle through one side of the blouse and out the other, then pulls it back. Apparently unaware that she just sewed the front of the blouse to the back, she stops, needle poised for re-entry. "I think I'm getting the hang of this," she declares brightly, and then turns to blink at Khena. The...latrines? "Well, um. We could get to work on your weyr just as soon as we're done with these," she suggests, leaving a bit of an emphasis on the word 'we'. She's not about to suggest going up to Khena's weyr alone, after all.

Sikkyen peers upwards at Khena, and gives her an idle look. "The headwoman and her assistants assigns us chores," he happily chirps. "If one of them gives me the okay to get out of scrounging tack, I'd be happy to oblige you in any way I can." Ooh. That sounded /wrong/... Innocence. "Plus, we've gotta keep an eye out on the Pidge." A pointed look to Pyrene's baby, before he shrugs. "I /like/ cleaning out weyrs, myself, but I might be a bit on the odd side." Shrug. Beam. Innocence. "So, I suppose we can help -- if you get us out of /these/ chores?" Heh heh. "Unless, of course, you want to wait for us to finish." Shrug.

Elehu walks in slowly from the inner caverns looking a tad bit sleepy still. Not that this is stopping her, however. She enters just soon enough to hear Khena's proposal to the candidates, which causes an odd look on the healer's face, but she won't comment just yet. "Mornin'," she mumbles to a young baker apprentice as she tries to find a few rolls left over from breakfast. Pouring a mug of milk, she turns to give Sikkyen a cool glance. "Pidgery," she corrects lightly before finding herself a seat.

Eyes narrowing at first Lhana, then Sikkyen, Khena pierces them both with an icy look. "Sikkyen, isn't it...?" she asks the boy, her voice cold and hard, ".. Just /how/ long have you been here..? Don't you /know/ that any rider can assign you chores as easily as the headwoman?" The bundle in her arms become more active, moving in its orange blanket and whimpering noises emerges from the cloth. Getting up, she takes a few steps toward the Candidates, glaring at them, "Either you go find that crib, or I /will/ have you clean the latrines," she tells them, forgetting all about her suggestion for them to clean her weyr instead. "Of course, you /can/ finish these chores first...." is added in a more calm voice. Recognicing the Healer's voice, the rider turns to Elehu, beaming a smile at her, "y'know... She's not nearly as noisy as I'd thought."

Fuzz arrives from deeper in the Weyr.

Sikkyen eyes Elehu for a moment, before shaking his head. Women. "Well, everyone else wants to call him stuff far worse. Shards, Lors made him /cry/, and all the other candidates don't like the poor baby..." And all of this is said while he's still skinning the saddle. "Sikkyen, yes, ma'am," is politely said. Her entire show of hard emotions is watched with only a half-puzzled look, and he shakes his head. "My chores first come from the headwoman. I finish those, /then/ I can do whatever you riders bid me to do." His eyes are steady upon her form; "That's what I was told." He shrugs lightly, glances at Lhana, and begins the tedious work of scraping the excess, hardened glue off the wooden tree. Luckily, it isn't broken -- could be used for another saddle. Hmm. These thoughts overcome his brain once more, and he bends his head to the task.

Lhana looks down at Pidgery curiously, having somehow forgotten that the little one was still there. "Yeah, we have to watch Pidge," she chirps brightly, ignoring Elehu's correction of the name. Maybe this mending thing isn't so bad after all. In fact, she's rather starting to like it, as she sends messy stitches haphazardly this way and that over one of the holes in the big, ugly blouse, occasionally going through both sides of the shirt, other times just going through the one layer like she's supposed to. As Khena rather looms over, in Lhana's mind, the hair-candie shrinks back, fighting back an answering glare lest she be sent to do the latrines. Instead, she just pastes a saccarine smile on her face and says, "Of course, Khena. Just as soon as I'm done with - Ouch!" And the needle somehow manages to stab her poor little index finger while she's not looking. Dropping her sewing, Lhana stares at the spot, giving out a little whine. "Owwieeeee!" A tiny little spot of blood appears, and the whine continues. "It's bleeeeding!!"

Sikkyen goes home.

Elehu begins tearing apart her one last salvageable sweetroll, which looks like some poor apprentice's first attempt at the pastry making business. Lhana's whining is pleasantly ignored just as much as her own correction had been. "Well, she's only a couple days old," is her simple reply to Khena's last comment before the healer fully delves into her very late and rather pathetic breakfast.

Khena sighs, her eyes rolling back at the impossible logic of Sikkyen. As Kieryn's noises contunies to get increasingly louder the boy should be thankful that the rider doesn't have time to deal with him at the moment. Instead she ignores him in order to tend to the baby, rocking her gently in her arms, while muttering comforting words. Idly nodding at Elehu's comment, the brownrider moves toward the inner weyr. "I'd better go somewhere more quiet..."

Khena steps into the shadows that lead back into the Weyr.

Reiko saunters in from the Central Bowl.

Lhana pops the lightly bleeding finger into her mouth impulsively, then pulls it out, looking a tad disgusted. Why would sucking on it do her any good, after all. But since Elehu doesn't seem to want to help it feel better, she just grumbles something inarticulate under her breath, picks up her horrid mending, and gets back to work. A last, diagonal stripe is made with the thread, and she...stops. "Um," she says, looking up at the healer-type. "What do I do now the I want to sew on a different hole?" After all, this one is closed up - albeit with ugly, criss-crossed stitching that has the front bound to the back so no one can actually wear it anymore, anyway.

"You just tie off that stitch, cut the string, and start in a new place," Elehu offers in a mild tone, still staring rather blandly at her breakfast which is slowly disappearing bit by bit. She does scoot a little closer, if only to peek over at Pidgery, poking at his clothes a bit.

Reiko stamps in from the Bowl, pink-cheeked and windblown, brushing bits of snow from the shoulders of her jacket. Emerald gaze flickers about the cavern with a sort of detached almost-interest, then she stalks across the cavern to the hearth for a mug of klah. "Morning," she greets pleasantly enough, turning to eye the candidate before a slightly warmer glance settles on the Healer. An eyebrow arches as she catches Elehu's advice, and she takes another look at the candidate. Shards, even Reiko hadn't needed to be told that when she started mending, and the bluerider has never been known to be particularly observant. Ahem. The infant gets a cursory glance -- enough to determine that she has no idea whose it is but that it seems content enough for the moment -- and then Reiko picks a stickybun off a nearby tray and settles herself near enough to Ele for civil conversation. It's been a while, after all. "How are things?" An innocent enough question, surely.

Elehu glances up at Reiko's greeting and gives her a slow nod and a returning "Morning," face going just a little blank for a moment before she turns back to her roll, fingers tearing at it just a bit more in a rather aimless fashion. "Have you seen Pidgery yet, Reiko? Gid's kid?" Which of course is just fun to say. "Lots of babies around lately. Khena decided to spawn last night," she adds, just another tick off a list of people. The healer then gives Lhana another look, a bit softer this time. Not the girl's fault she has that knot, is it?

Reiko takes another look at the infant. "Oh... Ilare's or Pyrene's?" A reasonable question surely, since neither rider is about to claim maternity. Amazing, actually, that Reiko paid enough attention to remember that little bit of information. But she doesn't pursue the question, as one eyebrow completely disappears behind her thick fringe of bangs at the next item of news. "There's something I never would have expected," she said mildly. Not the birth, of course, since the entire Weyr knew the brownrider was pregnant. No, her disbelief goes a good bit further back than just today's news. "What was it?"

"It's Pyrene's," Elehu answers quietly, tucking the blanket back around the little boy's feet where he'd kicked it off. She just sits studying the infant for a moment, an odd little smile on her face before she glances up at Reiko again. "It was a girl. I don't remember a name," she adds, in case the rider was interested. The healer needs to fight back a bit of a yawn then continues with a bit of a shrug, "Happened late the other night. Oh... just after Lhana here was asked to stand," she adds, giving the candidate another quick look.

Reiko just shakes her head, picking at her stickybun with greater care than the task actually warrants, her klah mug unheeded on the table before her. At the mention of the candidate's name, Reiko glances up to give her a casually appraising once-over and a polite nod before her gaze returns to Elehu. "You look tired," she observes in a rare moment of acuity, forgetting the subject of spawn quite completely.

Lhana looks down at the thread, considers it for a moment, and then smiles over at Elehu. "Thanks." Then goes back to eyeing it. How exactly to go about tying it off and all that, she isn't quite sure, so she just shrugs and pulls the long, long thread over across the back side of the blouse to the next hole. It doesn't make that much difference if she doesn't tie it off, does it? Obviously, Lhana knows absolutely /nothing/ about mending, and therefore is delightfully oblivious to the fact that nobody is ever going to be able to wear this blouse again now that she's gotten to it. At mention of Khena's birth in relation to her being asked to Stand, Lhana nods. "Yeah. I just hope it wasn't the stress from asking me to stand that made her go into labor." The candidate grimaces. Another reason for the brownrider to hate her.

Elehu sighs a little as she abandons the sweetroll and takes her mug in both hands, idly swirling the contents around slowly. Quite fascinating, really. "Well... I had to deliver a baby the night before. And I had well over half a day's shift yesterday, so... yes. A bit tired," she mumbles, leaning back while rubbing at her neck in a distracted manner. Lhana gets a surprised look before Ele shakes her head quickly. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about it. Really, it was just time. And you've seen the kid, she's fine."

Reiko stops picking at her breakfast, abandoning the remains of the stickybun and wiping her hands clean. "Where was Kariel?" she asks, looking and sounding rather cross. And then she gets to her feet and moves to stand behind Ele's chair, gently brushing the healer's hair aside to massage her shoulders with a familiarity that belies the fact that the two haven't really seen much of each other lately. "You work much too hard," she adds firmly, pausing to eye Lhana's abortive attempts at mending. "And you," she adds randomly, looking at the candidate now, "might as well throw that thing out. Save someone the effort of fixing it."

Talomir arrives from deeper in the Weyr.

Criss-cross, zig-zag, Lhana draws the needle and thread across the next hole in a fairly haphazard manner. Front and back become sewn together as Lhana talks, hardly paying attention to what her hands are doing to the humungous, ugly blouse. "Well, I suppose you're right. It seemed to me that Mneoth was telling her as much even before they asked me to Stand." An involuntary little mini-scowl crosses her face at that - candidacy has turned out to be even /less/ fun than she'd heard it would be. Then, as Reiko comments on her mending, Lhana looks down at the mangled blouse, eyeing it critically before sighing defeatedly. "I suppose you're right." Disappointment colors her tone - she thought she was doing so /well/, too. She tosses it away, irate. "Well, the thing was so ugly they might as well have thrown it out to begin with." She crosses her arms crossly, glaring at the blouse now. Stupid thing. Grr.

Elehu shrugs a little at Reiko's first question. "Khena doesn't feel comfortable with Kariel," she comments, voice dry. Never mind that this little healer doesn't feel comfortable near anything thats squirming and coming out of someone. Thankfully, however, Ele doesn't continue on that thread of conversation as she's a bit distracted by Reiko's unexpected shoulder massage. "Thank you," she murmurs quietly, glancing at Lhana and smiling a little. "But what better thing can there be to practice on than an ugly blouse like that one?" she comments, trying to sound rational, though it's a rather weary sound. "You'll just be that much better when it comes to a robe."

Talomir steps carefully into the romo and is halfway to the hearth before he sees Lhana. She doesn't look too happy, and Talomir, remembering their last meeting suddenly feels a bit nervous. He shoves his hands into his pockets, to try and seem casual, then strides with forced confidence over to the klah. He pours himself a cup of the steaming brew and takes a sip before turning around to see who else his the room. His gaze deftly avoids Lhana's and settles on the faces of Elehu and Reiko. "Hello" he says, "I'm Talomir, I just moved in!"

Reiko watches with thinly veiled amusement as Lhana abandons the blouse, unable to argue the garment's relative unattractiveness. "Maybe they won't miss it," she remarks mildly. "If it's any consolation, your work can only improve." Her tone is almost kind, truly meaning no offense. At Elehu's explanation, she frowns deeply. "Oh." She doesn't bother commenting further on her realization that Khena's new baby and Ele's sleepless night are directly related. Instead she schools her expression to something more neutral and continues her gentle massage. "Well, it's done with," she says, her tone considerably more brisk than her touch. "And you ought to have a vacation." Talomir's introduction distracts her momentarily, and she eyes the young man appraisingly. "Reiko. Blue Cerdith's rider."

Shadamehl blinks in from ::between::!

Lhana blinks, giving the blouse a second look. "Robe?" she echoes, her eyes wide with dismay. That's riiight. She /does/ have to make one of those, doesn't she? "Oh, no. I forgot about that." She bites her lip for just a moment before remembering the ugly things that does to one's lips and stops. "Maybe I should practice some more..." After all, she wouldn't want it to turn out like /that/, would she? As Talomir steps in and...avoids her, Lhana rolls her eyes. Not /this/ again. The mending basket is reached for, and she searches through it for something suitable for improving her totally inept sewing prowess. A pair of large, purple-brown-and-orange-striped boxers seem to fit the bill perfectly, and Lhana gives them a wince and a disgusted look. Pidgery is given a glance - yup, still asleep - and Lhana reaches for the blouse, gingerly holding it as she retrieves her sewing needle. "I can't imagine how anyone /could/ miss it. I did them a favor, when you really think about it." Then she pokes the boxer shorts lightly with her needle. "I don't suppose anyone will miss these, either." A perfect little experiment for Evil Seamstress Lhana, no?

Squaln arrives from deeper in the Weyr.

Elehu grins at Talomir and waves a little. "Elehu. One of the Healers here," she offers simply, adding a polite nod, just in case. "Done with," she echoes mildly, turning her head just a little, though turning all the way around to look at Reiko might have ended that lovely little massage. "Yes, quite done. I'm shardin' well not playing midwife just because she doesn't feel comfortable /talking/ to a man," she adds, muttering. There's a very good reason this particular healer deals primarily with toddlers and up. "And you don't really need to sew your own robe," she comments, switching topics with a feeling of relief. "There are tons in storage, they just need to be bleached and... mended." Ele gives Lhana's previous attempt a quick glance, but that's all.

Squaln dives into the caverns with such grace that he almost misses the entrance. Ahoy! He just finished his latrine duty for the day and is even.. hyper? Gasp! Having a cup of klah right about now would not help lower his energy in the least bit. So, the herder-candidate nonchalantly strides into the room and takes a seat amongst those here. Then the word 'robe' is heard. Oo. "Robes ya' say?" Good one Sqa. Oy.

Talomir hides a grin as he watches Lhana struggle with her sewing. After feeling out of place for the last few days, it's nice to see that not everyone here as is competent as he imagines. "Well met Reiko." he says to the rider, then turns to Elehu, "Well met as well." He hesitates for a moment, but decides in the end that he can't /not/ say something to Lhana. So, with the most non-chalant tone he can muster he says to her "And hello, again, to you Lhana. Congratulations on becoming a candidate." then with a quick nod to her sewing efforts, "looks like you've got your work cut out to you." Then, he sees Squaln enter "Hello there, I'm Talomir! I'm new..." How many times has Talomir said that in the last few days? He lost count quite some time ago.

Reiko scowls deeply. "Well, I suppose it wasn't /conversation/ that got her pregnant," she remarks a bit acidly, her hands slowing a bit on Ele's shoulders until she composes herself again. And for a long moment she's very quiet, not even commenting on the mending efforts... or Squaln's graceful entrance... or Talomir's continued conversation. Finally she shrugs, absently smoothing Elehu's hair. "I think I must be about due a break myself," she remarks quietly.

Lhana sighs, relieved. "Oh, that's good." She might have known that, too, if she ever payed any attention to candidates and the like. Sigh. These things always catch up with you sooner or later, don't they? The uglyuglyugly boxershorts are stabbed at with the needle, though this time a great deal more carefully. Slowly, with a look of utmost concentration on her face, she draws the thread through. "I can handle bleach..." Carefully now, pull the thread through the other side there... "I just need to learn how to mend." Obviously. Lhana glances up at her fellow Candie-type and gives him a wave. "S- Skwu-" She can't seem to grasp the name and, in exasperation, she gives up trying. "You. We have to mend all these clothes." The basket of clothes is indicated. "And watch...that." 'That' being Pidgery, of course. "Hello again." Talomir's name is forgotten, as well, so she opts not to use it. She nods emphatically to his comment about her workload. More than she's used to, at any rate.

Squaln suddenly beams at the new guy and gives a friendly wave. "Heyyy Talomir! Welcome to the Weyr." he greets. "Hope ya' like it here." And with that, Sqa taps his foot against the chair leg and leans back more. Ahh, relaxation.. for a split moment until someone beckons him off to kitchen duty of course. Meh heh. Hopefully all the locals haven't scared this new resident much -- shards, some people run away when they see Sqa coming. Well with the green tipped spiky hair and tongue ring, it'd be enough to make anyone run in the opposite direction. The appearance is just all part of him being /himself/. "Squaln." he finally says in reply to Lhana's query. "Geez, it's been a while since I've mended clothes.." Heh.

Elehu laughs softly at Talomir's enthusiasm and Squaln's observation. "Robe's she repeats, though her affirmation was likely not needed. Reiko's tone is rather hard to miss as the rider comments on Khena. Ele frowns a little and finally turns now, glancing up at Reiko with an almost worried look. "Are you all right?" she questions quietly, forgetting the others in the cavern for a moment.

Talomir takes a closer look at the newly arrived Squaln and does a bit of a double-take. And... what is that on his tongue? Talomir, shakes his head for a moment, but, he tells himself he expected things to be different when he moved away form his parents. "I love it here, so far." he says to Squaln, "Though I haven't decided what I'm going to do here What do you do here at the reaches?"

T'am sweeps in from the Central Bowl.

Reiko rolls one shoulder in a shrug. "I'm fine," she says evenly, any trace of animosity vanishing as if it had never existed. She brushes a bit of hair back from Ele's face and gently tucks it behind her ear. "Are you? All right?" She's not paying much attention to the others anymore, either.

T'am stomps the snow off his boots at the entrance, politely refraining from tracking puddles across the cavern for unfortunate drudges or candidate to clean up. Snagging a mug of klah- more for finger warming than drinking -he sinks into a seat near a small gathering of familiar faces, a smile going out to everyone in general before he settles back and kicks his feet up on the chair next to him.

Sinead steps gently in from the Central Bowl.

Lhana gives Squaln a little glare, after nodding gratefully at his supplying of a name for her which she probably ought to have known anyway. "Yes, well I've /never/ mended clothes," she points out, still glaring. If /she/ doesn't get out of mending, then there's no way /he's/ going to get out of it. Pidgery wakes up and begins to stir, making those little baby sounds that could turn into giggles or wails at the slightest provocation. Panic crosses the candie's face momentarily, and she indicates the baby. "It's waking up. Squaln, can you hold it?" She turns her face toward him in entreaty. Lhana's in no way qualified to comfort a child. Shards, she can't even use the correct pronouns for one.

Sinead makes her way in from outside, where else would she come from. "Hullo," is offered with a wave to the large mass of people present, hee, that's a lot of people. "How is everyone today?

Miria flounces, spring in her step, in from the Central Bowl.

Squaln snickers to himself after Talomir asks his question. What do the 'Reachians do? Eh heh heh. "Well, right now I'm a candidate, so my list of things to do is rather limited. But before that, I helped dye people's hair different colors." Like red, orange, purple, etc. Yep, Sqa's always been the odd type. "I also was a part time Herder apprentice too, before I got Searched." Smirk. A part time Herder and full time oddity? Riiight. He only wishes. T'am is waved at, too. Oo! He's an /expert/ on holding babies -- proven by the lurvely and ever-so-cute Zixane herself. Leaning over, the lad gently gathers Pidgery and holds him within his arms. Beam. Aww. Sinead and Miria are then nodded at too.

Elehu's gaze doesn't leave Reiko for a long moment, but she finally takes a moment to glance at the growing crowd and slowly begins to stand. "Perhaps we could continue this elsewhere," she suggests quietly to the blue rider hesitantly. "It's just a bit noisy in here."

"Yo." Mirs is finally worn out from her klah-induced acts of insanity, and deigns to go for the klah, instead galumphing into the cavern and finding herself a nice comfy chair. "I need some... juice..." Amazingly, she doesn't say the 'k' word. Pern is gonna end! It's an omen! Nope- Miria's just out of it.

Talomir walks over to where Squalyn is holding Pidgery and bends down close, "Well you /are/ a cute little thing aren't you?" he coos "Aren't you?" With a grin he looks up to the candidate "What's the little one's name?" he asks. As he turns, he sees Elehu and Reiko preparing to leave and asks "Off so soon?" Meanwhile, he's noticed Miria entrance, and remembers her from an earlier meeting "Hello there Miria!"

Fyria arrives from deeper in the Weyr.

Sinead goes and gets herself some klah and finds herself a seat before sending a not Miria's way. "Juice? Oh good Faranth dear, what's gotten into you?" She enquire of the younger guard. A wave is sent towards Reiko and Elehu, having just caught the bit about finding a quieter place, and she'll admit, it'll be getting a bit noisy in here with the crowd and all.

T'am cracks a smile at Miria. "What? Only juice?" He can hardly believe his ears. His own mug of klah is carefully clutched, both hands wrapped around it to absorb the warth. Pidgery, the ever-present infant, is glanced at and promptly ignored.

Reiko finds a small smile as Elehu stands, glancing around with a vaguely surprised expression to notice so /many/ people gathered all of a sudden. "Sure," she says, nodding quickly and dropping her hands to her sides as she takes a step back. Talomir gets a distracted glance and a quick nod, then Reiko heads for the inner recesses of the Weyr.

Squaln holds the baby gently, yet with care. "Pidgery." he comments. Blue eyes blink at the 'lil sprout and he then grins. Good thing Sqa had some practice with holding and caring for babies.. or else he'd be in some predicament right now. There's a moment of silence before a cook bellows into the caverns for him.. alas kitchen duty calls. "Would someone care to take Pidge? I better get going before the cooks throw a cleaver at me.." The sad part is, it's been known to happen.

Reiko steps into the shadows that lead back into the Weyr.

Deeper, darker, narrower... passages kink and twist into the Weyr.
Inner Caverns (#7484)

Reiko slips up the narrow and spiralling stairs.

Narrow stone steps lead steeply upwards... but not too far.
Quiet Corners (#18973)
Thick woolen tapestries dull the noise from the rest of the caverns, turning this well-lit little room into a welcome escape. The stairs up place it against the bowl wall somewhere above the living caverns, carpeted against the winters chill or left as cool stone floor in summer. Some high and narrow windows can be opened to the world outside, or secured with their heavy metal-sided shutters and blue-threaded curtains.
Glowlight gleams, brightening the well-cushioned stone couches and lighting the weyr residents half-finished projects: knitting undone, sewing only started, leathers being worked soft, and even a hide of sketches or half-finished Thread-chart spread out across one of the tables.
Curled up amongst the baskets of wool are Samedi, Marp, and Shoobie.
Reiko is here.
Obvious exits:
Inner Stairs

Elehu slowly follows Reiko through the caverns and up the stairs to this little corner of the Weyr, her hand trailing gently along the railing as she just watches the rider for a long moment, a small smile on her face that contains just a hint of sadness, but it's so soft it could be anything. Or nothing at all. "So what's been bothering you?" she blurts out, a bit apologetic in tone at first, though her gaze doesn't shift from the blue rider. "And please don't say you're fine again, Reiko. If... if you're hurting or something, I just want to help, or listen, or... at least be here for you." She finally stops the quiet rush of words, coloring faintly in the end. But she doesn't look away.

Reiko stops a few steps into the room at Elehu's words, wrapping her arms around herself and turning slowly to face the healer. For a long moment she just looks, meeting Ele's gaze evenly, then she rolls a shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. "I don't know that I'd say bothering," she says at last, her usual twisted little halfsmile beginning to curve her lips. "I don't usually think about things that bother me." Her gaze drops at last. "Not for very long, at any rate." There are places for those things, after all. That's what walls are /for/.

Elehu leans up against the arm of the couch nearest her, the smile fading to a quiet, thoughtful look for a moment or two before she gives a bit of a nod. "Right. I keep forgetting," she murmurs softly, finally looking away to glance at a tiny bit of upholstery on the couch for her to poke at. "So what would you call it, if not bothering?" she finally asks, for once deciding to try prying just a bit more, her gaze falling again on the rider.

Reiko does notice the change in Elehu, and for a moment almost regrets... In any case, she's silent for a very long moment. "You don't understand," she says at last, her tone soft and almost defeated, not pleading at all. Of course there's no reason Ele should be expected to understand something Reiko's never tried to explain--never thought to explain. Suddenly she can't quite meet Ele's even gaze, for once. Because no more words seem to be forthcoming, to try to explain now. Maybe she can't.

Elehu suddenly focuses on Reiko more closely once more, worry filling her expression once more as she stands a little straighter. "Reiko, I didn't mean..." What exactly, Ele is unsure of, so she quickly frowns a little and shakes her head and takes a deep breath. "Shard it, Reiko, I just want to know you," she finally exclaims, quietly, but with more than just a little intensity. "I want to be your friend. I want to be there for you when I can, and you never let me in." Frustration is clear in her tone, in no way accusatory, but the effort of those few words takes most of what little energy the Healer had left as she slips over to sit in the couch, face schooled to a shaky calm as she stares at her hands in her lap. "The fact that I don't understand only makes it that much harder."

Reiko seems to draw in on herself, becoming almost visibly smaller, still standing where she stopped. "The people who know you best are the people who can hurt you most," she whispers, her gaze unfocused as if on something quite far away, and her tone as detached as if she were talking about a complete stranger. Blinking once, she refocuses her eyes on Elehu now, straightening her shoulders and gathering her scattered composure. Her gaze is direct and unblinking, defiant and wary all at once, but her voice remains hushed. "I don't ask for anything I'm not willing to give." Perhaps it's twisted logic, but it seems so reasonable to the bluerider.

Elehu quietly watches the changes in Reiko with keen interest, her dark eyes wide and searching, though she remains silent. The questions racing through her head are all but visible in that intent gaze, and still, not a word. As the rider finishes, however, Ele stands slowly and walks towards Reiko, one hand rising to gently brush along the other woman's arm as she steps close. "Reiko," she begins very softly, concern and something more in the gentle whisper, the tone perhaps speaking more than the healer could say. "I'm sorry. I can't fix anything that's happened. I wish I could. But... I can be here for you. And I would never hurt you if I can help it. It's just hard to tell sometimes," the healer adds, a worried frown again creasing her forehead. "I don't even know what it is you're giving, much less asking."

Reiko watches wordlessly as Elehu approaches, her eyes closing at the gentle touch on her arm. "I don't ask for much," she says quietly, tacitly admitting that she also gives very little. She lifts a very tentative hand to brush Ele's hair back from her face, long fingers lingering in the soft tresses as emerald gaze meets hazel brown. "It wouldn't really be fair," she whispers at last, letting her hand fall again. "I'm sorry it's not enough." Even Reiko can't help seeing this.

Elehu turns her head slightly to meet Reiko's touch, her eyes closing as she takes a slow breath. When she looks at Reiko again her eyes glimmer softly with emotions kept tightly reined , but aside from that, her face is carefully blank. "I never asked for fair," she finally comments, voice tight, quiet, lips curving into a gentle smile as she shakes her head a fraction. "This isn't your fault, Reiko. I never asked for more than I would give either, you know." A brief flash of pain crosses that bland look on her face, but is just as quickly reigned in again, her smile a little broader instead. "I guess I just needed to know where I fit in. Not that it makes any sense, I'm sure."

Reiko clearly isn't entirely sure what's not her fault, nor is she as easily placated as before by the smile and the platitudes. Too many people have given her too many things to think about, and it's becoming harder to avoid. "I think you're willing to give more," she observes quietly, not quite daring to touch again. "I do care about you." Her gaze drops again for a moment before returning to Ele's eyes, but it might be difficult to tell what emotions lie there, so practiced is the bluerider at burying them.

Elehu simply nods a little bit and takes a deep breath, barely keeping herself in check though she does smile a little, her hand on Reiko's shoulder tightening in a quick squeeze before she lets her hand fall slowly. "What I give, I choose to give," the healer says softly, standing a little straighter, "and I would neither expect nor ask any more than that from you, Reiko." The rider's last statement makes Elehu pause, a struggle of emotions dimly visible as she wraps her arms around herself tightly as she looks rather unsure of herself for the first time tonight. "I know you do, Reiko," she finally answers, voice very quiet. "I guess I just can't quite figure out what to make of that sometimes."

Reiko does reach for Elehu, the action born of instinct before she can think to suppress it. A gentle hand caresses the healer's cheek before coming to rest on her shoulder. "If that's true, why are you upset?" she asks gently. It seems on the surface to be the same philosophy that rules the bluerider's life. "Why do you need to make something of the fact that I care about you?" And written across her eyes is the unspoken question, impossible to hide now. Why isn't it enough?

Elehu again fights a battle of emotions she's slowly losing, a look of uncertainty and fear flashing across her features. "Because I'd hoped," the healer begins in a shaky whisper before licking her lips and taking a deep breath, mentally steeling herself for whatever it is she's struggling with. She shakes her head slowly, however, as that small defense begins to crumble. "I had hoped maybe someday I might be enough," she answers quietly, "instead of just someone you have time for now and then." And again, her tone is far from accusing, but accepting in a resigned sort of way.

An odd sort of transformation seems to come over the bluerider as she's faced with this unexpected revelation, and suddenly Reiko seems unsure of herself. And then the twisted little halfsmile returns with a small portion of her usual composure. "People really do that?" Her tone is at once rueful and vaguely cynical. Certainly nobody else has expressed a similar desire to her. Not that she's asked, of course. Far too much risk involved there. Still, she can't seem to stop her fingers from toying with the ends of Ele's hair, or her eye from wandering appreciatively to those golden streaks set off by the glows. "I don't know," she begins at last, her voice a gentle whisper. "I'm not sure if I have that to give." Pause. "I don't want to hurt you." Even now, when she's beginning to guess it might already be too late.

With a quiet little sigh, Elehu smiles a bit and nods. "Yes, some people do. But if that's not what you want..." And here the Healer trails off, a tiny frown marring the smile a little. "With all that's happened over the Turns, it's who you are that I've fallen for, Reiko," Ele admits, raising a hand to brush her fingertips gently across the rider's cheek. "Not who I wish you were." At Reiko's last two statements, however, Ele pauses, for a rather long moment. Frowning uncertainly she shakes her head. "I can wait," she ventures hesitantly, her eyes searching. "And if you can't... if you really can't, just tell me, Reiko," she adds, just above a whisper. "If nothing else, I want to be your friend. And if that's all I can be in your life... then that's what I'll be."

Reiko's fingers slip through Elehu's hair to caress the nape of her neck, drawing her gently closer. "Only one or the other?" she whispers, her breath warm on Ele's ear. Maybe Reiko can make this decision. But she's sure she can't make it tonight.

Elehu doesn't answer right away, instead reaching to embrace Reiko tightly for a long moment in a rather spontaneous motion. As she pulls back, her eyes glitter faintly on the brink of tears while she tries to reply but can't quite find the words. She takes a steadying breath and runs her fingers tenderly across the rider's forehead, brushing back the few stray locks of hair as she gives Reiko a tiny smile. "I don't know," Ele finally admits, her voice small while she blinks back a losing battle with feelings kept too long at bay.

Reiko holds Ele no less tightly, but doesn't resist when the Healer draws back at last, sobered by the odd sensation of losing something she hadn't realized she had. At last she nods--assent, if not understanding. A rueful half-smile curves her lips then, and her tone is half teasing, half hopeful as she softly suggests, "We could sleep on it?" And the gentle caress, the backs of her fingers skimming Ele's cheek to tangle in her hair, is more tender than tempting.

Elehu can't help but laugh softly before giving a little nod, a bit unwilling to let go just yet. "That sounds like an excellent idea right now," she replies, her arm lingering around Reiko's waist for another long moment, the healer's head tilting just a bit. "So, whenever we have another moment to talk... or whenever we wake up?" she offers, only a hint of doubt.

Reiko's smile warms by several degrees at Ele's words, which she's by now perfectly inclined to take as an invitation. "Whenever we wake up is fine," she purrs, just enough emphasis on the pronoun to make it clear that she'd very much like them to wake up in the same place.

Elehu simply nods once more and leans forward to place a tiny kiss on Reiko's cheek before stepping back a little, a warm smile on her face as her hand moves a bit to gently brush Reiko's. "In the morning, then," she finally replies in a quiet tone while taking a step towards the stairs.

Reiko catches Ele's hand with a light squeeze and walks with her to the stairs. "Sure," she whispers encouragingly. "We can talk in the morning." That's a promise she can keep.

[End of log]

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