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Post by reqqy on Jul 26, 2008 19:34:18 GMT -5
When Ka'rys stated that he wasn't asking S'rei to lie - directly - to Shmee, the wingsecond merely nodded. He hadn't been sure, and that was the truth. Ka'rys seemed to like to tiptoe around the issue, instead of just directly coming out and saying something. That behavior would have made significantly more sense if anyone else was around. No one was. Why the Weyrleader felt the need to couch his words in vague obscurity was entirely beyond S'rei. But then, the slightly (though by appearances he would have sworn he had a good four to five turns on Ka'rys) older bronzerider was not known for subtlety. He didn't really manage that very well. Maybe it was an offshoot of the fact that he was an auburn-haired giant of a man bonded to a bronze dragon, but he'd never been particularly good at concealing what it was he was up to. Sometimes, he could understand a subtle turn of phrase - in fact, he often could - but he prefered things to be direct. And there was no denying that it could be helpful to have people believing that he needed to be hit between the eyes to understand something. Firstly, that promoted the sort of direct communication he favored, and other people's underestimation of his intellect could be quite...useful.
Of course, there was a difference between being hit between the eyes, and being clobbered over the head repeatedly with a blunt object. "I am not asking you to outright lie to your weyrmate," would have been more than sufficient. Despite the tangent the wingsecond had gone on, it must have been fairly clear that he understood Ka'rys wanted to keep the information secret if at all possible. S'rei found his patience quickly wearing thin around the edges. A small stab erupted behind his left eye, localized but pointed. He'd really like to just cut the Weyrleader off midsentence. There were a lot of superfluous words going into this drawn-out explantion, for one thing - which was actually pretty unusual for Ka'rys, by what he'd observed thus far. Secondly, though, it was implying that he didn't understand his own language.
Thus it was that when the Weyrleader finally wound down, S'rei couldn't quite conceal the glare. "Understood, Weyrleader," he responded curtly, secretly afraid that anything more than that would set Ka'rys off again.
A brow rose in silent response to the other man's platitude. Yes. Fortunate that he was back. Not at all for Ka'rys, but...heh. That was really beyond S'rei's control, anyway. He couldn't force Shmee to like or at least tolerate the new Weyrleader. Nor could he force other people to act like it was Ka'rys leading the weyr - even though he was, inasmuch as Shmee allowed any Weyrleader to lead the weyr. The wingsecond was honestly doing his abject best to stay within the realm of the rank he now held and do nothing to rock the boat. Nor did he truly envy Ka'rys, as just the responsibilities of a wing and an infant daughter were working the man to near-exhaustion. One could argue, however, that whenever Shmee was involved weariness would set it. That thought brought a quirky grin to his lips.
A grin that turned wry at the Weyrleader's praise. "Oh, I can't claim that one. It was actually something one of the harpers said." At the time, she hadn't known the truth about him and Salenth, but after finding S'rei poring over the starmaps night after night, and realizing that he was transposing them forward turns, things had ended up coming into the light. If she hadn't helped it likely would have taken him another full turn to finish all that work. The bronzerider didn't acknowledge the headache Ka'rys seemed to be building. Not directly, anyway. Instead, he rose, stretching out the muscles that had begun to cramp. "Shmee will have my head if I'm too much later. Is there anything else, Weyrleader?"
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Post by glamourie on Aug 4, 2008 1:00:15 GMT -5
Titles, titles. And a glare; oh lovely, he'd offended him. Ka'rys tilted his head to the side, but otherwise did not reply. He kept his face perfectly blank, but his mind was reeling with a hint of amusement; part of him wondered whether or not it bothered S'rei to use that title for someone else, but he doubted it. Another part of him was tempted to comment that it wasn't a fair title since everyone in the Weyr thought S'rei was the Weyrleader anyway, and if he could have gotten away with it, he would have given the title back. Ka'rys was a creature of shadow and the background. He really did not like being called to the forefront, or having people's attention focused on him in any way. He never had. Even as a child, he'd liked being ignored. Part of that was really quite simple though -- smallest child of his age bracket meant he was bullied, which meant he had to make a point to lay low, keep from being noticed, and make it clear he would not put up with anyone. In adulthood, his lack of ambition for the limelight hadn't changed. Much of that was probably fueled by training in Fort, though, where Ciceroth chasing was not an option. Hard to have ambitions when he knew he'd never be Weyrleader there... and he'd never wanted it at Selenitas, either.
Not that he had anything besides a pretty title and some knots. Shmee saw to that. Some part of Ka'rys wondered if she realized how badly she crippled the Weyr by being so controlling. Although, he didn't help matters. Ka'rys was at a loss on some levels. Truthfully, if he wanted to do things right, he'd have sat S'rei down, asked how he handled things, and only changed minor things, gradually, over time. That way the change wasn't shocking to the Weyr and kept things organized. Constant changes in leadership and style created a weakness he disapproved of. But Ka'rys was sure he wouldn't be keeping the title, so he wasn't of the opinion that changing anything would be any good.
"Harpers and their cleverness," Ka'rys murmured, shrugging one shoulder. False modesty was an unbecoming trait. Harper may have given him the idea; S'rei had pulled it off. Therefore, it was to his credit. Credit where it was due, so to speak. Not that it mattered, truly.
S'rei's next statement, however, brought a faint smile to Ka'rys's face. He couldn't help it; the fact that Shmee was as controlling to others wasn't lost on him and he was very, very pleased to know he wasn't the only one who suffered for her childish behavior. The fact that she had been allowed to Impress a queen was an embarrassment. It was his opinion that as soon as a competent queenrider came to Selenitas, Shmee should have been packed off and sent away. Then again, Ka'rys was sure that the Weyr would argue any queen was useful. Even one whose rider was on the verge of madness from her blatant and undeniable stupidity. Maybe someone could just shake sense into her. Some part of him was tempted to try. Only tempted. He never actually would.
"Actually, yes -- one other thing." Ka'rys glanced back at Ciceroth, who snorted at him before nudging the ground with his snout. The brassy-hued bronze looked, for all of Pern, as though he was about to fall asleep. Maybe he was. Ka'rys frowned. No help from him, evidently. That was unfortunate, too, because what he wanted to say, he wasn't sure how to bring up. "... You are from the north; you were trained at both Fort and Benden. Why did you never organize defense classes for the Weyrlings and Candidates, as part of standard training? From a strategic standpoint, it makes little sense. It must have occurred to you - so why was it not followed through?" Tactless though the statement was, it was actually a compliment; Ka'rys was fairly sure S'rei was intelligent enough to come up with the idea. It wasn't exactly a product of genius. There had to be a reason...?
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Post by reqqy on Aug 5, 2008 16:14:09 GMT -5
Quirky little smile Ka'rys had there. S'rei shrugged it off. The whole Weyr knew he was whipped, so he didn't bother to try to contradict that. The bronzerider simply wasn't used to having to take a firm tact with a woman. All the ones he knew - and typically was attracted to, truth be told - were pretty well-grounded and generally less emotional than he was. No, S'rei didn't often act on his emotions, but he had a notorious temper. Another thing he couldn't deny. So it was strange to find himself as the anchor in a relationship. There were only three possible ways that things went with Shmee. She could do the rational thing without his input. Extremely rare. She got her own way, which he may or may not have influenced, while S'rei took the submissive posture. This was the most common way things went. Then there was what seemed to be happening lately - S'rei got mad, blew up at Shmee, and the two were barely on speaking terms. To say he was discontent would be an understatement.
In fact, the only real reason he wanted to be back at the weyr before it got dark was the very real possibility that Shmee would jump to the conclusion that he'd jumped in the furs with someone else and start her whining again.
The wingsecond paused as his Weyrleader stated there was more. Really? Great. S'rei cast a glance at Salenth, to see what the bronze made of it, but the dragon was staring blankly at some point in space. The man touched his bonded's mind lightly. Salenth turned his head, obviously coming out of a daze. What? You were completely spacing out. The bronze snorted and turned away again, apparently unimpressed by S'rei's explanation. Well, it seemed that Salenth was completely uninterested in regard to this conversation. The bronzerider mentally shrugged. No, it really wasn't all that interesting any more, truth be told. Couldn't really blame the beast.
A brow rose mildly at Ka'rys's first assertion. From the north? Shells, no. Born and raised in Selenitas, though he could see how Ka'rys might be a tad confused, and there was a very real part of the man's personality that was distinctly Northern. Roughly half of S'rei's life had been spent within Northern Weyrs. He liked to think that he'd adopted a lot of the better ideas from both worlds, though that wasn't expressly true. It was very, very difficult to take any Northern ideas and force them down the throats of these soft Southern riders. Shmee was the main problem. Nothing could be done without her consent, and she was more interested in spies and assassins than actually preparing themselves for the inevitable eventuality that they could no longer pretend they weren't involved in the northern conflict.
At Ka'rys's question, S'rei sighed, feeling that headache begin to worsen. "I can't change everything at once, Weyrleader." He glanced downward, where some of the riders' weyrs could just be made out in the fading light. "It was difficult enough training the riders we already had in limited combat. And Shmee's got this ridiculous idea that we shouldn't corrupt the children with violence. She'd much rather send them into the North as spies, where they'll end up very much dead after the weyrs pump them for any information. It's something I was working on, but...One step at a time." Nodding to Ka'rys, he took a step toward Salenth. "You're not going to get very far on that one, Weyrleader, and I wouldn't suggest going behind her back. Not that it wouldn't be amusing."
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Post by glamourie on Aug 5, 2008 20:59:22 GMT -5
Had he implied that S'rei should change everything at once? Hmm. Maybe Ka'rys's ideas of what were necessity varied so heavily from S'rei's that it was worlds apart. One of the first and most important things in his eyes was to have the Weyr be educated in defense. Did he propose an offensive task force? No, of course not. There was no reason for Selenitas to have an attack squad when their goal was to stay out of the war. But likewise: Selenitas needed to be able to defend themselves. Defensive training was a necessity in the sense that it was the only way to avoid huge amounts of death. Whether anyone recognized it other than him or not, the war was at their doorstep. The attack on the Weyrlings and the attempted execution of the Weyrwomen proved that Selenitas could not happily ignore the squabbles in the north. The south relied on them for example and protection. It wasn't just the Weyr that suffered from negligence to defense. If Selenitas - the Weyr - didn't show they were willing to fight tooth and claw, the Holds would suffer, too. They followed the example of the Weyr; they needed to see that Selenitas was not going to stand and let themselves be attacked, and neither should they. It should've been the first thing changed - the first. Surely S'rei saw that too, in light of everything?
The rest of S'rei's explanation, though, made Ka'rys visibly cringe. Visibly. He brought one hand to his temples and rubbed, gently, as though to soothe away the beginning of a headache. Spies and assassins, was Shmee out of her mind--? Evidently so. There was no way that Selenitas could train assassins or spies within a short period of time - none. Spies took Turns and Turns of training to be decent and Weyrlings were totally out of the question. Ka'rys was an expert on that subject. Assassins... simply put were worthless to Selenitas. Worthless...
"My name is Ka'rys," he corrected absently. "Don't use the title, please." He didn't like hearing it. True enough it amused him, but that didn't mean he liked hearing it continuously. If he thought he would be keeping it maybe that would change but as it was, he was sure it would be S'rei's title again soon enough. So why expect to hear it? He wasn't emotionally attached to the word. He'd prefer bronzerider; that one would be his until he died. If anything happened to Ciceroth, he wouldn't survive it anyway. He was fairly sure though that the usage of the title was a distancing technique. Or, well, if it had been him, it would've been. Ka'rys used titles explicitly to distance himself from other people and to create an air of professionalism in other conversations. He hated it when the same tactic was turned against him. He decided to tuck that thought away for some other occasion. Not the time for it.
Funny, though, that S'rei suspected he'd go behind Shmee's back if he didn't get his way. Had he said something to imply he'd do exactly that? Well, he would. It didn't take a leap of genius to guess that Ka'rys was not above going over, above and around Shmee to get something he felt was a necessity done. He'd ask her first though. S'rei was probably right -- asking her would be like slamming his head repeatedly into one of the rocks at the side of the river, but he'd ask. He was trying to be cooperative, there was just only a limited amount of what he'd put up with. Talking to Shmee was always a last resort, but sometimes, it was a necessary evil. So too was the inevitable headache and desire to drown that followed. She didn't upset him in the sense of hurt feelings. She simply made him doubt the potential of living beings. His faith in humanity always took a nice dump after talking to her. Fancy that.
"Fair enough." He didn't explain what he planned to do. The less he told S'rei, the less he'd have to lie. "I would appreciate it if you could let me know after you've spoken to her of the night watch, and I appreciate your time, Wingsecond..."
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