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Post by glamourie on Jun 22, 2009 20:46:14 GMT -5
“Meira…? I brought some breakfast up from the main hall, if you’re interested…”
He’d brought a veritable feast, too. It’d been barely two seven days since the loss of Meisk and Zesa, and R’wign wasn’t sure how comfortable Meira was with going down to the Main Hall anymore. Since he’d woken up early (primarily because he wasn’t used to sleeping on the couch in his weyr, and had offered Meira the bed -- though she slept by Checkoth usually -- to be polite), he’d gone down and fed his fire lizards before the girl woke up. It wasn’t even dawn when he rose, and Checkoth too was fast asleep, his two tails independently twitching back and forth. But by the time he’d finished feeding all eight of his fire lizards and oiling the spoiled little monsters, the sun was rising over the horizon. He hadn’t even had time to feed himself before his fire lizards started scattering back to their daily routine - most of the fair kept themselves busy away from him, coming back only for meal times or when they desperately sought his direct attention. Their independence kept him sane.
Stumpy and Roxie immediately departed back to Meira, Hazard back to his mate and their clutch, and Collision disappeared between to sleep. Crash was gone in a flash to flirt with the nearest female creature (a crawler, no less, R’wign thought with embarrassment) which left R’wign with Grouch, Accident and Ellie. The youngest green was curled up in his hair, with only her face peeking out of the strands. Grouch, nearly full grown at last, was perched inside of R’wign’s shirt, his claws digging into the fabric. Ellie was on his shoulder opposite Accident, her gold hide glistening from being well cared-for. The three who remained were his near-constant companions, though Grouch usually did not sit on R’wign. He preferred to lay nearby and watch -- and judge. He and Accident got along very well, but her preferred place was in his hair at all times.
He’d fed Empress, and then R’wign collected the objects for his and Meira’s meal - since she would probably be awake by the time he got back to their shared weyr (which was odd to think about, since they were merely room mates, nothing more). He’d settled for several pieces of fresh fruit, freshly baked biscuits with cheese (which just smelled intoxicating), a skin of klah, some cooked chicken eggs, and a breakfast-style meatroll that smelled divine. All in all it was quite the spread for two people, but since he was sure that Monster would help them eat it all (he lived up to his name, critter!), they’d be fine. He carried everything up to the weyr on a tray and upon arriving, he set it down on the coffee table by his blanket-covered couch.
It occurred to him in that moment that he really had no idea what Meira liked to eat. But -- he was hoping the selection would suffice. It was all things he liked, with special emphasis on the bread (R’wign loved sweet, freshly baked bread; it was possibly his second favorite food, after red meat which he hadn’t had growing up) and meat roll. If it wasn’t, he supposed he could always ask Checkoth to fly him down to get more… but the brown was still asleep. The dragon liked having someone curled up against him while he slept and made no effort to hide that fact. Meira was one of his favorites, too. The first time she’d come to sleep next to him, he’d simply curled up and dragged over half of R’wignHis’s pillows for her to lay on, because a clutch heavy queen needed to be comfortable. Then, in a rare show of possessiveness, he’d wound himself entirely around her, until there was no doubting that to get to Meira, one would have to go through Checkoth. The fire lizards were welcome, but anyone else would have to get through thick brown hide. Of course, in his sleep he’d moved his tails both, but the attempt was there nonetheless. He’d keep her safe!
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Jun 22, 2009 23:45:52 GMT -5
She’d woken up perhaps twenty minutes previously, but that didn’t mean Meira had actually moved. Checkoth wasn’t awake yet, and Meira liked sleeping next to the brown dragon; she liked being able to feel him breathing, even if he was a far cry from Meisk’s size. The dragon’s couch wasn’t exactly soft, but pillows made it better. And she’d felt guilty for taking R’wign’s bed when he so clearly liked it – even though her sleeping next to Checkoth hadn’t actually made him move back into said bed yet. As it was, she’d sat up, and was leaning against Checkoth’s flank, the blanket she’d been using – the gold and white one that R’wign had given to her because Zesa had liked it – over crossed legs. When Stumpy and Roxie had arrived, the blue had been quick to settle in her lap, and for the time, Meira was just…petting him. What Roxie did was not noted; she had her head bowed towards Stumpy, and was more or less using him as a distraction from thinking. Meira didn’t really want to get up yet, because her schedule had become…depressingly empty without taking care of Meisk and Zesa; all she had was the Infirmary shifts, which had been switched to day shifts – and that wasn’t for awhile yet.
It was getting better, the loneliness. Some of it, she knew, was the fact that the shock had worn off and she’d become accustomed to it, but much of it could be credited to R’wign and his various mindmates, as well as Monster. The first night, she hadn’t slept at all – she’d started off in the bed, but a few candlemarks into the night, she’d gone to curl up next to Checkoth to sleep – and…she accepted it, now. Only once had she gone to the Wherhandlers’ Barracks, and fortunately, she hadn’t met any of the other ‘handlers coming or going to gather her things together; she didn’t want pity or sympathy or whatever, however well-intended it likely was. If they treated her like a sane person, she’d have a much better chance of acting like one, but – if there was pity, she would end up crying and hurting, and she didn’t want to – she didn’t. To her credit, Meira didn’t think she was acting like she was falling apart – which was what she’d felt like to begin with. Admittedly, she was…quieter, tended to avoid going out of the weyr as much as she could – but when she did, she didn’t drift around aimlessly, lost, or anything…knowing that she had the baby helped.
R’wign’s call distracted her from Stumpy, however, and Meira raised her head, blinking in surprise before she nodded, coaxing Stumpy off of her lap and uncrossing her legs to stand. She was very obviously pregnant – and felt it. “Um, yes, please,” she answered after a moment. “I’m going to go get dressed first…” Her nightclothes weren’t inappropriate or anything, but – she might as well get dressed now; she’d feel strange eating breakfast still dressed for sleep. Stepping carefully over Checkoth’s tail and pausing to pick up clothes for the day, she smiled slightly at the brownrider; she still felt bad for…invading his weyr, which was the way she saw it; it felt…very selfish, but she couldn’t deal with the idea of spending a night alone without being able to hear the sound of breathing near her.
After she’d gotten dressed in the bathing room – she supposed she was lucky that R’wign had a large single, and didn’t have to share his bathing room with his next-door neighbor, though she wouldn’t have minded it if said neighbor would have been M’ta – Meira returned to the main weyr room, moving towards the couch and coffee table laden with foods. She was – admittedly extremely hungry, now that she stopped to consider it instead of just spoiling Stumpy. “…morning,” she offered, her gaze flickering towards R’wign instead of just fixating on food. “How long have you been up…?” she added curiously. It really – she probably shouldn’t have been feeling guilty, but the weyr wasn’t really home yet; she still felt like a guest, and R’wign bringing food to her…did not feel right. And then, right on cue, her stomach growled, and Meira reddened slightly before she sat down on the couch, bringing one leg up to tuck it beneath the other one – a place which was almost immediately occupied b y Monster, the feline’s head turning comically from food to Empress, and then back again. Food or Empress, food or Empress…hmm. Or maybe he could combine the two and bring her food, and get attention while he was at it.
Yes. The feline purred as Meira wrapped one arm around him, reaching over him to pick up one of the biscuits. “Thanks,” she added gratefully, curling up around Monster and nibbling on the biscuit.
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Post by glamourie on Jun 23, 2009 19:45:50 GMT -5
Casting her a nervous glance, R’wign nodded. His gaze followed Meira as she moved off to change, and he pushed his own hair out of his face before flopping down awkwardly on the couch. His legs moved up to curl underneath him, and he folded his hands in his lap to eye the spread before him. He probably should’ve brought plates, but -- it hadn’t dawned on him. At least he remembered to bring two forks. They’d be able to eat what they wanted off the tray with relative ease. His hand dropped over to pull the blanket under him up and over his lap, and another one up and over his shoulders. Selenitas winters were far from cold, but -- he didn’t want to risk getting a cold. He was prone to infection more than others after his injuries from the Benden attack. That seemed so long ago though. Fort had attacked them more recently. Thinking about Fort though made him turn his gaze pointedly to the tray to avoid staring at Meira in concern. She was… acting a little better, but R’wign was still painfully worried. And sleeping on the hard stone while pregnant was probably not the most comfortable thing ever…
“Good morning,” R’wign answered casually before plucking up a piece of red fruit. He pulled it up to his mouth and took a bite out of it before blinking at her question. Swallowing, he licked the juice from his lips and then shrugged a shoulder. “Long enough to have fed all eight of my pets - they’ve since gone their separate ways - and give Empress a good snack. She’s happy enough now. I haven’t bathed yet though, so you may want to give me a bit of a wide berth. I woke up just before dawn though. I didn’t bother to check the time.” It was a pretty long walk from his weyr to the main hall, especially considering that he had to take a boat across the river to get there. However, he minded a lot less than most people would have, since he was getting used to the trip. That and waking Checkoth up would have been nothing short of rude and he didn’t often wake his beloved brown if it could be helped. He tried to keep Checkoth from being stressed out.
Taking another bite of his fruit, R’wign clicked his tongue curiously. “I didn’t wake you, did I? I wasn’t sure if you were awake or not when I came in,” he explained, then glanced at the tray on the table. “I don’t really know what you like to eat, either. I just sort of grabbed a large conglomeration of things and hoped that there was something you liked.” He lifted his gaze toward Meira nervously, then dropped it again. “I tend to bias toward things like eggs and meat -- but the biscuits smelled incredible, and well, they’re fresh. There’s nothing better than fresh baked bread. I usually try to get up early just to get some of them, because the first batch is always the best. It has the most flavor. The cooks told me they sometimes mix sweetener into the batter to give it that slight edge -- the other batches they don’t. I think it’s because most of the early risers are the Weyrbrats and they like the sweeter kind better…”
Was he rambling? Awkward. Flushing a hint of pink, R’wign stuffed the apple into his mouth and bowed his head. Maybe that would shut him up. Some people weren’t talkative so early in the morning and it was presumptuous to assume that Meira would be. He’d never really tried talking to her much, not since inviting her to stay, mostly because he didn’t know what to talk about. How do you talk to someone who just lost two of the most important parts of their life? He knew what it felt like to lose fire lizards. He’d lost three all within a close time span. But fire lizard was only half of what Meira lost -- and he couldn’t imagine losing Checkoth. He assumed Meisk’s connection to Meira was as close as Checkoth’s to him, and the idea was petrifying. The mere thought made him want to hug her again, but -- it probably wouldn’t have been welcome.
Ignoring Monster (and the fire lizards), Empress hopped onto the couch and looked up at R’wign expectantly. He glanced at her, then reached down to cut a small sliver of meat from the meatroll before offering it to the feline. She happily snatched it from his fingers and worked at gulping it down, all without even acknowledging her brother’s interest. Pfft.
“So um -- how’d you sleep…?”
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Jun 24, 2009 0:37:17 GMT -5
Curling up like she was – it was getting hard. Her pregnancy was definitely starting to show, and Meira couldn’t help the slightest flush of embarrassment at the thought. Monster was doing her a favor and hiding it for the moment, curled up and purring on her lap as he was, but that didn’t make it go away, and she had a feeling that it was obvious anyway. Meira glanced up at R’wign as she tickled Monster under the chin with one hand, the other holding her biscuit deliberately out of the feline’s reach just in case. The brownrider’s position – complete with blankets over lap and shoulders – made her smile slightly, though – the fact that there were blankets on the couch at all still niggled at her conscience. His reply to her greeting was noted, but she didn’t acknowledge it (mostly because she’d just bitten into the biscuit and didn’t really feel the need to choke trying to reply). As far as how long he’d been awake – how long would it take to feed all eight firelizards…? She’d liked to feed Zesa by hand – she managed to ignore the twinge of pain – but it wasn’t unheard of to just plant bowls of meat in front of the flits, was it? It didn’t really matter, though, and Meira didn’t ask; she just nodded.
His question made her blink, and then Meira shook her head. She’d been awake even before Stumpy and Roxie had made their appearance, and if she hadn’t, she probably would have woken up then – not that they’d been purposely loud, but Monster had meowed loudly enough when they’d showed up, and since the feline had been sprawled right next to her at the time…suffice to say she would have woken. “I was awake before,” she answered quietly, leaning forward to pick a stray piece of meat off of the tray that looked like it had fallen out of a meatroll to offer it to Monster, who, in a display of canine-like skills, swallowed the morsel after minimal chewing and promptly purred.
Still stroking Monster absently (he and Stumpy had both proved to be extremely good for hugging), Meira smiled slightly as R’wign started talking about – biscuit batter. She crinkled her nose slightly even as she ate; the former wherhandler honestly didn’t really care about it, but – she liked listening to R’wign talk, strange as it sounded. It wasn’t him specifically; as long as there was some sound – something steady (his talking, for example, or the sound of Checkoth’s breathing) – it made her feel much less scared, because she was scared when everything was completely silent; it felt…very, very lonely. As he stopped, Meira glanced questioningly at the brownrider; she was one of the people who liked to listen to other people – she’d much rather listen to someone else than have to talk. But – but – was he flushing…? Meira tilted her head to one side curiously, and she smiled slightly. “It’s fine – I’m not picky…” She shrugged, and then added honestly, “I don’t know why anyone would complain about…” Meira lifted her chin to indicate the tray, since both hands were occupied – “room service…and, speaking of which, you didn’t have to…”
This was the reason she hadn’t wanted to take the bed, too. It made her feel like…like such a burden. It was R’wign’s weyr; he’d been nice enough to share it with her – the last thing she wanted was for him to feel like she expected room service, or deserved it. She didn’t like going to the Main Hall, but she could do it…absently offering Monster another piece of meat, Meira blinked when the feline, clasping it gently between his teeth, left her lap to pad to Empress’s side and offer her the piece of meat hopefully, purring around the object in his mouth. Wouldn’t she like some food…? It was good food, and he was offering it to her~
Meira was still watching the two felines, amused despite herself, when R’wign spoke again, and she looked up at the brownrider for a moment before she shrugged. “I was fine…” Her nose crinkled slightly; she’d gone to sleep sitting up, leaning against Checkoth with Monster in her lap, but she hadn’t been uncomfortable. She’d probably have to move into the actual bed soon, though, or else, between the stone and the baby, her back would definitely be sore. “You…?”
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Post by glamourie on Jun 25, 2009 22:26:29 GMT -5
Hearing that she was awake already was both relieving and upsetting. How much was she sleeping? He hoped that she got at least a few hours of sleep. He himself did, but… not enough; he was used to a good eight, and well, without it he was having trouble coping. He’d just nap when he was off duty, go to bed earlier -- or, really, go to his couch earlier but that was a semantic. Either way, making up the sleep wouldn’t have been terribly difficult. He just had to discipline himself enough to go and do exactly that, instead of staying up reading, or experimenting with tea leaves (which actually was a favored hobby of his). And he also needed to make his fire lizards understand that he needed to sleep sometime and not fawn all over them. Needy creatures. He loved them, he did, but having eight of them, a dragon, and a feline, as well as an infirmary shift… the amount of time he had to himself outside of sleeping and eating was actually becoming slow. It was his own fault but that didn’t make it any less frustrating. And her feline had just munched on a very large piece of meat. Her pet now. Not his. Pleasing, that thought was -- though of the two, Monster was the better behaved. Tch.
“Of course I didn’t have to,” R’wign answered as he cut himself a slice of the meatroll. “That’s not why I did it, some feeling of obligation. I’m from Nerat, and my mother taught me when I was young that it’s rude to eat in front of someone else and not offer them any. So this is me, offering you something to eat since I myself am eating. Besides, I thought it would be a nice thing to do. I don’t do things out of a misplaced sense of obligation, I do things because I want to.” He popped the piece of meat up toward his mouth and nibbled a bite of it before pointing it at Meira. “You should tell me what sort of things you like though. I don’t mind bringing back breakfast. It gives me something to do before my shift starts.”
It also gave him a chance to monitor what Meira was eating. Given what had happened so recently, he didn’t trust her to eat enough. When he got depressed, he didn’t eat anywhere near enough to get full, so what were the odds of Meira doing so? Well, maybe because she was pregnant she’d be more considerate of her health and needs. Maybe. He didn’t know -- but it worried him enough that he liked the idea of getting to make sure she was eating at least one meal properly. Fussy, who, R’wign? Well, he was a healer, even if he was one of the more goofy ones, and he was often nicer with patients than the average healer… but it didn’t change that, nice or not, he did fuss. He just had a more round-about way of doing it than most.
As for how he slept, R’wign shrugged - and lied through his teeth. “I slept just fine.” His back was a little stiff. No sense worrying Meira, though; it was his decision to invite her to stay and he wasn’t about to make her feel guilty by telling her the truth. He strongly suspected Meira would run if she thought herself an inconvenience. “I had a dream that I was eaten by a giant pie,” he confessed with a slight nod. “It was mixed berry, with cream on the top. It chased me, furious, and I ran in terror from it, but eventually it cornered me in the kitchens. Going down felt like I was being surrounded by slime, it was eerie and somewhat disorienting. That’s my story. I’m sure that a mind healer would say it means I should eat less pies --”
“And they’d be right.”
R’wign blinked and looked over his shoulder at the speaker. He was oblivious to Empress eying Monster thoughtfully, or the way the female feline sprawled across his lap possessively. Evidently she couldn’t have cared less about the offering of food. She wasn’t interested in him. He wasn’t Hers. He needed to shoo, thank you.
The speaker was none other than Ka’rys, up bright and early and -- lugging into the weyr, all on his lonesome, a four-poster style cradle of dark redwood. The top was wound with pale yellow and white fabrics, and the mattress itself was stitched together by Savitri. Casually putting the cradle down by his feet, Ka’rys brushed one strand of brown hair from his face and then asked blandly, “So where do you want this at?” he asked -- of Meira, not R’wign. R’wign was totally ignored by the bronze rider, who couldn’t have cared less what the boy had to say or thought. “I’d have taken it to your rooms but as far as I know you don’t have any other one, so I brought it here. Savitri said you’d probably like yellow or green and I’m hogging all the green fabric…”
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Jun 29, 2009 0:05:55 GMT -5
Meira couldn’t help reddening slightly at the response she received. It was – maybe it was presumptuous to assume that it was because of her that R’wign had brought the food up, but…it didn’t make sense to go down to the Dining Hall, get it, and come back up; if he’d wanted to eat up here, he could have called for a Drudge to bring food, couldn’t have he? She shrugged silently, bobbing her head slightly in answer. It was polite of him – she wouldn’t have gotten anything to eat if he hadn’t brought it up, honestly. She was hungry, but not – not hungry enough to actively look for food, especially since she’d have to go to the Main Hall. His question as to what she liked, however, made her drop her head, swallowing the mouthful of biscuit and reaching out to stroke Monster’s back thoughtfully (she was ignored; the feline was much too interested in Empress!) before she shook her head slightly, shrugging. She didn’t think she was picky. Granted, she didn’t usually eat a lot, either, but – when she did, she didn’t mind what she ate one way or the other as long as it was edible.
“I don’t really mind – whatever there is,” she answered after a moment; it was the truth – before she glanced at the tray in question. Her next words – this is fine – seemed very, very silly, considering the sheer amount of food the brownrider had brought, so Meira changed her words halfway into: “Anything here would be fine…” She gestured slightly at the tray, and then glanced at R’wign again before smiling slightly. “I – um, don’t like basil, but – I suppose that’s not really breakfast…” There were some breakfast foods with basil in them, she was sure, but she couldn’t think of any off the top of her head. Considering basil was one of the only things she actively disliked, though, as far as food was concerned, she figured she might as well mention it. Basil wasn’t exactly extraordinarily commonplace, anyway…
Her nose crinkled slightly, slight amusement flickering in her eyes, as R’wign commented on his – his dream. Nightmare? Hnn. Giant pies – and being eaten by said pies – was positively cheerful compared to her dreams, though she supposed it had been scary at the time. Hers hadn’t been scary, but Meira didn’t want to talk about them, either – and it wasn’t like they were incredibly exciting. The same dream, she’d had. One she ought to have gotten used to by then – a dream that hurt every single time. Meisk, and Zesa. They didn’t do anything, and neither did she – it was peaceful, though, sitting curled up against the wher with firelizard in her lap. Even a dream couldn’t replace the mental and emotional bond, but it came terrifyingly close. Meira’s smile was slightly mechanical; R’wign’s dream did amuse her, but – talk of said dreams only reminded her of hers, and –
Ka’rys’s voice made Meira jump visibly, pale eyes darting towards the door nervously. She’d just taken a bite of the biscuit and nearly choked; clearing her throat, her head tilted to one side, in a mixture of surprise and nervousness – and then her eyes found the cradle, and widened in surprised awe. A cradle – a lovely cradle; Meira pulled Monster back towards her absently, the feline swallowing the offering of meat he’d previously held out for Empress to hug the male, staring at Ka’rys for a moment before she glanced at R’wign questioningly; she’d thought they were going to have to buy the cradle – or – or steal one from the crèche or something…but this was – a cradle was – completely unexpected. Setting the half-eaten biscuit down on the edge of the tray, Meira stood up (awkwardly, but she did it) and stepped around the table to the cradle’s side, gaze flicking towards Ka’rys’s face nervously; she was still holding Monster, even though the feline’s attention was solely for his sister.
“I – um, next to the bed would be great…it’s beautiful – thank you – where did you get it…?”
She’d known that R’wign was friends with Ka’rys – or something like that; the brownrider had mentioned the bronzerider before, but – his bringing a cradle was…completely and totally a surprise. If R’wign had known about it, he certainly hadn’t let on – or maybe she’d just been unobservant enough not to notice…?
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Post by glamourie on Jun 30, 2009 8:49:50 GMT -5
No basil. Right. Real picky, that. He supposed he shouldn’t have teased though, since it made bringing Meira snacks more convenient. As it was, he rather felt like she was going out of her way to be easy. Basil was easy to avoid though - the only thing he ate it in (that he knew of; R’wign was no chef, far from) was tomato soup, and even then it was only because he didn’t like the standard, thick, acidic flavor of tomatoes. Something to kill the acidity was needed. Note to self: Do not bring Meira tomato soup. After Marra, she was downright refreshing. His former weyrmate (now deceased, he thought bitterly) was a vegetarian; she didn’t touch any kind of meat if it could be helped, not even fish. R’wign wouldn’t touch fish either, but that came from growing up on fish almost exclusively (his father being a fisherman). How funny: he was more picky than Meira was. Though, she’d said she was from Benden Weyr (a fact he hadn’t commented on and had no intentions of ever bringing up -- if she was raised there, she probably didn’t want to talk about it, even if he was burning with curiosity to know how she’d gotten to Selenitas), so it made sense that she didn’t have finicky tastes. Compared to the north, the food served at Selenitas Weyr was… absolutely, astoundingly good. The quality was just mind boggling. He’d gotten full off of two pieces of fruit when he first got there, as a matter of fact. It just tasted too good, he’d savored it, and he was sure his stomach would rebel at the quality of food. Seemed like so long ago, that…
His mind was still processing that fact as his eyes followed the newly-arrived bronze rider with a hint of interest. He’d asked Ka’rys for a cradle, and was told, quite literally, no. The bronze rider said he was too busy. Too busy making things for his own baby, too busy with his weyrmate and now Junior Weyrleader status (R’wign was happy to mock that every chance he got). He’d explained he didn’t have time, and then called him ‘Barfbucket’ because he’d thrown up on Ka’rys (a fact he was still not apologetic for). That he’d shown up at all was… staggering. Savitri, had to be; considering the gold rider had a habit of butting into things that didn’t exactly concern her, he couldn’t say he was terribly surprised. What he was feeling was gratitude, amidst the mild annoyance that came up at the mere mention of the Junior Weyrwoman (primarily because she was almost his polar opposite in demeanor, but still). For once, he was glad for her nosiness. Sort of.
Meira’s instruction made Ka’rys bob his head agreeably and he picked the cradle up before hauling it over to the side of the bed. He set it up a few paces away, but close enough that anything from it could be easily heard; having a child before gave him a touch of an advantage with that. Then he took a moment to fluff the coverings (designed to block out light to help sleep) so that the drapes fell neatly around the sides of the cradle, painting shades of pastel yellow and gold over the four posts on the sides. There was a drawer on the bottom, too, to put small things. It wasn’t on rockers, primarily because he had no idea how to make those (due to not being able to balance it neatly; he had no formal training with wood crafting) but it was nice enough, he thought. Nicer than the first one he’d made, which he planned to go back to and touch up since it was for his baby.
The question made him look over his shoulder and he glanced at R’wign curiously. The brown rider shrugged at him, and he crinkled his nose.
“I made it. I’m surprised R’wign didn’t tell you, considering he’s been on my case to make one since you told him,” he said, tactful enough not to tell Meira that the reason he’d refused was because R’wign threw up all over him in anxiety. Being vomited on tended to reduce his moods to anything but generous. “I’m not a formally trained woodcrafter, so I don’t know how to make the rockers most cradles have; I doubled up on a drawer instead. Most of the fabrics used are leftovers from things Savitri and I bought for our own baby, but there’s some new things. Savitri put the mattress together herself, and insisted on the fabric over the four posters to block out any light; it’s actually thicker than it looks and can be pushed to the far sides.” He lifted one hand to indicate the ends of each of the four sides for emphasis. “I’m sure you could tie it with some kind of cording too, like a curtain. You should thank Savitri though. She insisted you’d want it.”
“You like Savitri better than me,” R’wign said with a slight pout, before indicating the fruit. “I’ve known you longer, and I only saved your life. Obviously I’m not worth listening to. Want some fruit?”
“Oh do drop the dramatics, and no; I’m going back to bed shortly. I only woke up because Kalerary was insisting on water, then I thought to bring this up to you while I was here.” Ka’rys shrugged, then glanced from R’wign to Meira and back again. “That said -- if you two don’t need anything else or have any questions… I’m going to return to Savitri before she wakes up and figures out an errand for me to run…”
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Jun 30, 2009 16:17:49 GMT -5
That Ka’rys had brought them a cradle – Meira really was grateful. She didn’t want to impose on R’wign more than she already had; that included making him pay for too much of the supplies they needed. She had marks, but not a lot – not nearly enough. Probably not enough to cover even half of what would need to be bought. This would…definitely help, though she didn’t really like the idea of Ka’rys, who had even less to do with the baby than R’wign, having to pay for anything, either. Nevertheless, she followed the bronzerider across the room. Monster was content to stay in her arms, the feline purring pleasantly (his attention was still focused entirely on Empress; Ka’rys had not merited a second glance), as she stopped a few feet away, eyes flickering from Ka’rys to the cradle. It was…absolutely gorgeous, especially the shades of yellow and gold: It reminded her of the blanket that she’d been sleeping with – the one that R’wign had given her before; the one that Zesa had chosen and claimed. It would be nice, to be able to give the blanket to the baby, she thought – Zesa would have liked it.
The glance at R’wign was not missed; indeed, Meira’s eyes flicked towards the brownrider, too, uncertainly biting her lip at the same time: Had he known something? Or was it her question…? Her eyes widened at the answer, and she murmured a soft “oh”. The comment about R’wign asking for such a long time, though, made her crinkle her nose slightly; he hadn’t told her – even mentioned it as a side or anything. Not that she was really going to complain, seeing as it was a definitely pleasant surprise, but…she did want to know why he hadn’t told her, considering that she’d been…obviously concerned about how they were going to be able to acquire a cradle. She thought she’d been rather obvious about it, anyway; trying to plan for Baby helped take her mind off of Meisk and Zesa.
Meira didn’t say anything, though she nodded gratefully as Ka’rys explained the cradle. She’d never really figured out the difference between a cradle and a crib, but – one difference was that cradles had rockers and cribs didn’t, she’d thought, so…they could just call it a crib, couldn’t they? She bobbed her head, thoughtfully biting her lip; she wasn’t on shift with Savitri at all, but she could catch the goldrider after her second shift, she expected…or she could just stay behind and stay at the Infirmary, which seemed much more likely, since she didn’t have anything else to do anyway. She smiled slightly, an almost wry expression flickering across her face. “Well – she was right,” she commented quietly, setting Monster down on the bed to move to the cradle and touch it tentatively, running the fingertips of her right hand over the smooth wood, the expression on her face almost wistful. Zesa and Meisk would have loved it, especially the yellow – it was the wher’s favorite color and Zesa would have loved it simply for its gold.
The exchange of comments between R’wign and Ka’rys drew a slightly amused smile to her face – Meira watched silently for a moment before she circled around to the front of the cradle again, one hand reaching out to stroke Monster – the feline had proved to be a loyal hug-toy, and, as a direct result of his patience, he’d become a very comforting presence, even if his attention was more on Empress than anything else. “Thank you – again,” she offered quietly, smiling at the bronzerider gratefully. “And – could you please tell Savitri thank you, too…? I’ll try to tell her myself, but – could you…?” The last thing she wanted was somehow not catching Savitri to tell her thank you and having the goldrider think that she wasn’t grateful, though she was pretty sure that R’wign and Savitri had an Infirmary shift together. And, thinking of R’wign – she half-turned towards him, her expression questioning even as Monster purred, hopping off the bed to prance over to the couch – to Empress – where he jumped up and then sprawled down, eyeing his sister pleasantly.
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Post by glamourie on Jul 2, 2009 1:28:38 GMT -5
Ka’rys nodded casually (ignoring R’wign who was giving him a baleful look; the brown rider did not like being termed ‘dramatic’ no matter how true it was) to Meira. Though really, her request went without saying; he was sure Savitri would know that the girl was grateful and be very happy that Meira liked the gift. But -- if it made her feel better to be reassured that he’d repeat her gratitude to the gold rider, so be it; not like it was any problem for him to do so. Granted, he intended to go back to his weyr, curl up in his furs and go straight to sleep (he was so tired; he’d been up half the night trying to wind the fabrics and smooth the handle of the drawer), but he’d talk to Savitri anyway. She’d probably even wake him up not long after he went to sleep (he was a light sleeper). Casting one last questioning glance in the direction of the brown rider, Ka’rys offered a half-flippant wave that may or may not have been primarily sarcastic, before turning and stalking out of the weyr. Even his footsteps were tired; just because he had strength enough to carry the cradle up for them did not mean he was going to stick around long. (He hadn’t been sleeping that great, a side effect of worrying pointlessly over things he couldn’t fix or control -- deep down, he was a worry wart at heart.)
As soon as Ka’rys was out of sight, R’wign turned to Meira and offered her a light shrug. “I asked him awhile back if he’d make us a cradle. That trunk - the one at the end of the bed - he made for me a long time ago. He’s not a wood crafter, but he makes some nice things, so long as you don’t need burnt symbols or special detailed carvings; those M’ta is way, way better at anyway. He got mad at me because I threw up on him before.” He shrugged and brushed his hair from his face, decidedly not telling her why he’d thrown up. Better left unsaid. “He’s good at holding grudges. I wasn’t going to tell you because he said no - and I didn’t want to make him look bad. I’d mentioned to Savitri in passing you liked yellow, I didn’t realize why she wanted to know.” Sneaky gold rider; she’d asked almost off-handedly and he’d thought she was going to give Meira blankets or baby clothes. Cradle was not on his list of possible reasons she wanted to know, but it probably should have been. Silly him. Not that he was ungrateful -- he wasn’t. Odds were, the only reason Ka’rys caved was because of Meisk and Zesa. He was not going to tell Meira that. It would probably make her feel bad… and make Ka’rys look like a jerk. Which he was, but still…
R’wign grabbed one of the biscuits and slipped over to the other side of the cradle to look it over. He was careful not to lean over the side lest he drop crumbs all over everything, but as far as he was concerned, it would probably have to be wiped off soon enough anyway. Babies drooled. Dribbled. Got slobber all over everything… They were messy. Why, exactly, did he want one? He hadn’t before, but since he was getting one whether he wanted or not, the idea was growing on him. He was still very nervous, though… Everything under the sun could go wrong. Starting with Meira deciding she hated him for some reason. He half-expected that (as he didn’t believe the former wherhandler really liked him as a person; he was under the impression she tolerated him and only because of not having anywhere else to live). Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Marra was gone -- and before she’d died, she’d talked about wanting a baby some day. After Checkoth was grown up, but they’d talked about it. Part of him felt wrong for doing it without her, even though he hadn’t exactly planned for things to happen that way. It just… happened…
I don’t think that WenchYours would want you always being sad at thoughts of her, Checkoth pointed out helpfully as he stretched on his weyrledge, flexing his claws and two tails in the process. He yawned widely, making a sound in between a croak and a croon as he did so, and then flared his wings until he was completely stretched. The innocent way he spoke made it obvious that Checkoth did not realize his pet nickname for Marra was not a very pleasant one. Or if he did, he simply didn’t care; she was WenchYours to R’wign, always. And ‘The Harper’ to everyone else. I don’t understand what you humans call Love, but you wouldn’t want her sad at thoughts of you if things were reversed, I just know you wouldn’t. So maybe you should stop being sad at thoughts of her. Doesn’t that make sense? Good morning, by the way.
Trying to explain what it was like to miss someone to Checkoth was about as easy as bashing his head into a wall, so R’wign didn’t bother. The brown’s memory wasn’t good enough to recall anyone enough to miss them -- and he wasn’t human enough to understand what love meant, and how the absence of her in his life was staggering at times. Yes, Check had a point, but it wasn’t so simple as to turn off and on a feeling. There were some happy feelings, too - but he missed Marra. Part of him felt empty without her. It wasn’t dominant - he was able to function normally, just fine, in fact, but… most of him felt guilty, as though he was doing her memory great insult by not being torn apart. And another part of him blamed himself for all that happened. Maybe if he was more… more, she’d still be alive. Maybe.
“I guess we should start thinking about living arrangements again. Or more specifically, we should start figuring out whether or not you want to stay here with the baby indefinitely. You’re welcome to - but I don’t expect you to or anything,” R’wign said softly as he munched his biscuit, then glanced at Checkoth’s sprawled out self. The brown crooned adoringly to Meira, and R’wign snorted. “I think he likes you better than he likes me sometimes. He’s always fussing that I won’t sleep next to him. How you can do it is beyond me. He’s hard as a rock, and he twitches his tails constantly. I’d be waking up fussing at him. It’s bad enough I have Empress on me when I do sleep…”
Good morning, Meiramine! Checkoth added helpfully; he’d staked his claim, he had. His, she was; mate of R’wignHis, in his mind. Since they were having a clutch, the thought made sense. Right? Right.
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Jul 2, 2009 14:48:39 GMT -5
Ka’rys certainly hadn’t stayed around very long, she noted absently as the Junior Weyrleader turned and left the weyr. At least Savitri would get her thank-you, though. Meira did like the goldrider, though there wasn’t much contact between the two of them – not in the Infirmary, and not outside of it. And at the moment, she was feeling…exceptionally grateful to both Ka’rys and Savitri; cradles were hardly cheap. And – she was grateful to R’wign, too, for asking; she certainly wouldn’t have known to ask and, in all honesty, even if she had known, she probably wouldn’t have asked – it seemed very audacious to ask for it when she could, technically, buy it, especially considering Ka’rys was Junior Weyrleader – wouldn’t he be incredibly busy…? She didn’t know how much responsibility went to the Senior Weyrleader and how much went to the Junior Weyrleader, but – it made sense, to her at least, that he would be very busy – but then, she wasn’t familiar with Ka’rys to begin with.
As R’wign spoke, Meira looked back at him, and nodded after a pause, glancing at the trunk in question as the brownrider mentioned it. “I think it looks nice without anything…intricate,” she commented quietly, running her hand over the smooth wood; the urge to – completely examine it, inch by inch – was very strong, and Meira contented herself with exploring it with her eyes; she was sure there’d be time to examine it more closely later. Was it odd that she wanted to? Her nose crinkled slightly, and her gaze flickered upwards to R’wign, a look that was a mixture of amusement and concern flashing across her face; she bit her lip to keep from smiling at the idea of the brownrider…throwing up on Ka’rys. Maybe that was mean – okay, it definitely was – but honestly? The mental image was amusing. Still, she nodded, and, flicking a glance upwards at R’wign again, Meira couldn’t help clicking her tongue, smiling slightly. Savitri had asked…? “Well – he did make it, so…he can’t’ve been too upset,” she noted, stepping aside to let R’wign inspect the cradle. She thought it was absolutely beautiful, but that was just her, and she was hardly any expert on cradles to begin with…
Checkoth’s yawn made her look over at the brown dragon, and a look that was blatant adoration flickered across her face; Meira was very, very fond of the dragon. He wasn’t a replacement for Meisk and Zesa, but if Checkoth had come closer to being a replacement than any other creature had. The brown was nice to her, and sleeping next to him helped, too; it was distinctly reminiscent of curling up with Meisk, if on a much larger scale. Some of the firelizards helped, too, but – Checkoth was different enough that it didn’t hurt to think about. A dragon was…not close enough to a wher or firelizard; she didn’t think of him as a replacement so much as just – something that would make it hurt less.
– living arrangements?
She tilted her head sideways to look at R’wign, biting her lip absently. She’d been – quite honestly, she didn’t want to move into her own rooms, because there’d be nobody there – it would be lonely. Meira couldn’t remember what it was like to sleep in a room when you couldn’t hear someone else’s breathing – be it wher, firelizard, or another person. Indeed, she could ever remember having her own room, and the idea was honestly terrifying. But – she didn’t want to stay if R’wign didn’t really want her to, especially considering that her being there – meant that he couldn’t have his bed, since she would end up having to sleep in it eventually. She chewed on the inside of her lip slightly, but at the mention of Checkoth, she glanced at the brown again, smiling affectionately at Checkoth as he addressed her. “Good morning to you, too,” she answered. It was…sweet that he’d apparently decided she belonged to him. Meira glanced back at R’wign, and then added, more quietly, “He’s not so bad – pillows help, too…” Pillows and blankets…and she was used to curling up against Meisk, too.
Originally, the only thing Meira had been worried about was that he’d roll over on top of her or something. But, but…“I…I’d like to stay,” she admitted honestly, both arms wrapped around her abdomen again subconsciously. “I won’t if it’s any trouble to you, but…I really don’t want to be alone, and it’s – I guess if you wanted to be close to the baby, it’s easier, too, but – ” She shrugged, trailing off as she reddened slightly, glancing towards the cradle again: She didn’t want to impose on R’wign. At all.
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Post by glamourie on Jul 5, 2009 4:33:16 GMT -5
Oh, R’wign was sure that the only reason Ka’rys made the cradle was because Savitri told him to do so. Not that the bronze rider was ungenerous; in fact, he could be very forthcoming with help. Just… lately, the man was very testy, and understandably so: his daughter was mauled in the attack from Benden, his weyrmate was pregnant… it wasn’t without foundation. Still, trying to explain to someone who didn’t know Ka’rys any of that was… a daunting idea. He knew it wasn’t personal, the way that Ka’rys flippantly disregarded his request, though part of him was hurt that he hadn’t ignored Savitri (why exactly was she rated more highly in importance than him, despite him knowing Ka’rys for far longer?). So, instead of stressing and emphasizing his points, which might have made him sound like he wasn’t happy (he was!), R’wign settled for a mostly-formal nod that he hoped appeared sincere. It was, it just… he wasn’t enthusiastic, but… part of it was how early it was in the wee morning hours. Hnn. He’d be really, really glad when Kalierre went back on shift so he could catch up on sleep. Going without was starting to catch up to him, it was a wonder he hadn’t dropped over. Thoughts for another, less busy time, perhaps…? R’wign brought one hand up and rubbed his temples.
The smile on his face widened to a real one. Pillows and blankets. It would’ve taken a lot more than that too make sleeping by Checkoth comfortable to him -- or, rather, by someone else’s dragon. Checkoth was an exception. After the attack when he first went back to his rooms, it was by Check that he slept, curled into a ball with one of the dragon’s forelegs laced over him possessively. There were multiple reasons for that but the biggest one was depression: Marra was gone, he was alone, there was nothing left for him aside from Checkoth and he’d needed the reassurance that only contact could provide. Meira was stronger than him; if he lost Check… he didn’t know what he’d do, but it was unlikely that he’d make it, fire lizards or not. He felt certain that he’d positively fall apart, and then give up on life entirely. Checkoth made waking up worth doing, more often than not. That thought made him feel weak, though, so R’wign pushed it away. No sulking. Not with Meira around, anyway.
“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t ready for you to say yes, you know,” R’wign replied with a raised eyebrow, then picked up another biscuit and took to tearing it apart with his fingers. Yummy. “You don’t owe me explanations, long or short, or any kind of reasoning. I told you when I invited you to stay that you could, and I meant it; I’m not going to say ‘Okay, go now’ spontaneously. I only asked because I need to work on acquiring myself another bed, because as adorable as I find it, you can’t possibly hope to sleep on Checkoth forever. Not while pregnant anyway. And I’m not relegating a guest to the couch. I can just imagine what my mother would say. She’d box my ears, she would. She’d snap, ‘I raised you better than that, Rawign, I did!’ and that would be the end of it, really.” He was joking, about most of that -- yeah, his mother would have been furious, but the baby was more his ulterior motive… and he was pretty sure that Meira had at least guessed that. “We’re going to have to reorganize. Though, theoretically we could move to a family weyr if you’d prefer that. It’ll be less walking to get food later on, but more to get to the infirmary with it’s new location.”
Rubbing his nose, R’wign turned to look at Checkoth. The brown rolled over on his ledge and stretched out languidly, and the healer smiled, almost as if in thought. “If we stay in here, we’ll have to decorate a bit. For example, I’ll probably have to move the beds around -- I’d want yours to be nearer to the hearth than where that currently is; it gets chilly in here at night, and the baby would need to be warm. Then the couch and chairs would have to be moved aside, I’ll probably have to ditch the desk. Not that I use it for anything. Could probably set up two beds, with the couch and chairs in the middle… and the baby’s stuff over by your side, if you want. Just something to think about since this is a pretty decent sized weyr.” Clicking his tongue, R’wign glanced sideways at Meira, then added casually, “How do you feel about painting?”
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Jul 8, 2009 19:05:53 GMT -5
His smile made her flush slightly; Meira glanced at Checkoth, biting her lip even as she smiled at the brown. Quite honestly, if she could, she’d prefer to stay curled up with Checkoth all day – just because the dragon wasn’t a squashy pillow didn’t mean it wasn’t comforting to be able to press against him and hear his heart beating and feel his breathing, after all. Comforting – not exactly comfortable, though, unless you did add in extra…padding, for lack of a better word. Said padding was probably not the best for the nostalgia, primarily being the blanket that she’d considered Zesa’s and random pillows. Perversely, it helped her not want to break down into tears, though – which was probably a good thing, since she didn’t want to cry. Whether or not she preferred to stay with Checkoth all day, though, was rather beside the point when it actually came down to her schedule: She wouldn’t neglect the Infirmary and she did have to do other things, be it eating or trying not to become a complete recluse.
R’wign’s statements as far as her permanently moving in went, though – she couldn’t help the slight shrug. Some part of her knew that the offer he’d made to start with had been entirely genuine – she did. But still, Meira had to give him the option of saying no – offering to do something was very, very different (she thought) than actually carrying it out, and she’d tried not to be any trouble (at all; it was probably quite obvious, though she did note reluctantly that soon enough, once the baby had decided to stop growing, she’d have enough trouble getting around as it was and would probably depend on R’wign more than she was willing to) – something about it still felt like imposing. She nodded, smiling in a mixture of embarrassment and amusement at his comment about her sleeping on Checkoth – a smile that widened slightly as the brownrider went on. She’d have to actually start sleeping on the bed soon enough, something that almost scared her. On the upside, she’d still be able to hear Checkoth’s breathing – and R’wign’s, the feline’s, and any of the flitters that decided to sleep nearby. It wasn’t as soothing as being able to feel it, but – she’d manage: She’d have to.
“I don’t…think it’s necessary to move into a bigger weyr,” she offered, shrugging one shoulder absently. “Unless you wanted to, of course…and anyway, the Infirmary’s much more important than eating and sleeping is, isn’t it?” The last was slightly pointed, and if there was a slight emphasis on the word ‘sleeping’, who could blame her? She wasn’t the one staying up unholy hours at night and day to take care of the Infirmary – though, she probably would if she were in R’wign’s position. Such did not need mentioning, though. Still, the mention of food reminded Meira of the existence of the breakfast tray, which had been more or less completely forgotten, and she absently moved towards it to pick up a redfruit and bite into it, glancing back towards R’wign even as she did so. Organizing – she hadn’t thought it would be much of a problem; R’wign’s weyr was big enough – but then, she’d never imagined what it’d be like with two beds in place, either. She nodded slowly, trying to imagine the layout the brownrider suggested. To be closer to the hearth meant being farther away from Checkoth, didn’t it, though…? Sigh. “Umm…I think that’d be okay? Could we organize it so you could keep the desk, or would that be impossible…?” She didn’t need it for anything in particular, but – still. Desks could come in handy…
Decorating, though. Decorations…she’d never been exceptionally good at. Her own room had always been more or less bland, but then – she’d never been compelled to spend much time when she was awake in said room, so it hadn’t mattered. This was different, and honestly – Meira wasn’t quite sure how to go about the decorating process. Painting, though – painting was even more foreign, being a lot closer to permanent than simple decorations were. How did she feel…? “I – um, hope you’re good at it?” She crinkled her nose slightly, and shrugged. “I guess painting would be nice? I didn’t really think much about it,” she admitted, shrugging. It sounded odd to admit that most of the time she’d had alone had been spent either in the Infirmary (though she didn’t stay ridiculously late – hi, R’wign) or doting on Stumpy and Roxie – and Checkoth, when the brown was there. “I don’t know – like, what color…?” Yellow she liked, but there was a such thing as too much, wasn’t there?
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Post by glamourie on Jul 9, 2009 15:43:03 GMT -5
“Oh, see. Living here has made you cheeky. I am starting to believe that accusation of being a bad influence had foundation,” R’wign replied with a wry smirk. She was right about one thing though -- he did put the infirmary before eating. Not because eating was less important but because usually, the infirmary had people’s lives at stake. He ate just fine though and he thought he slept okay. Not as well lately, but considering everything that everyone had been through lately, wasn’t that … understandable? Yes, Meira had suffered worse than most, but losing Marra and Religna stung badly. Half the time when he closed his eyes, it was their faces he saw. Explaining that seemed selfish, though, so he settled for teasing: that, at least, was safe. So long as she didn’t take him as serious, anyway. Some part of him was almost glad that Meira was… was herself enough to tease him for her perception of him not sleeping. It wasn’t baseless, he just thought that he was taking care of himself fine. He wasn’t collapsing from exhaustion, was he? No. Meira didn’t seem to understand (and he couldn’t fault her; she hadn’t known him that long) that R’wign really didn’t push himself that badly. More than most would, yes, but never more than he could handle and he knew his limits. He’d taught himself the virtue in setting realistic goals for himself long ago. Much more beneficial that way. Twelve-hour shifts was actually normal to him… and it kept him busy. Not to mention out of trouble.
On the subject of it though, R’wign really didn’t like the idea of moving into a bigger weyr. Not really because of the walking (he could use the exercise), but because a larger weyr implied they were… a family. And they weren’t, exactly, while also being one - it was just strange. Normal for Weyr life, as far as he understood, but strange to someone who was hold bred. Even in the north when couples didn’t love one another, they often lived together and at least acted like a couple. And he didn’t see that at all in Weyrs; even people living together didn’t act like a ‘couple’ unless they were one, and --- it just struck him as so strange. Mind-bogglingly different. He’d get used to it, he would, but there were still some things about Weyrlife that four turns hadn’t sold him on yet.
Pulling one biscuit to his lips, R’wign frowned. Desk. He took a bite and stood up before taking a few steps back to get a look at the entire weyr layout, just for an idea. “Possible, I suppose. One bed over there --” He indicated a space near the door, somewhat behind it, “-- set out longways, and then another where the current one is. It’ll be a little… full, though. Might get worse when we need a full crib, and not just a cradle, though theoretically, we could manage it all. Would probably need a somewhat smaller bed though. Phoo. I like huge beds -- I tend to toss and turn.” Especially lately, though R’wign had enough tact not to tack that on. Meira would probably think that it had something to do with her, and it… didn’t. He just wasn’t used to being without Marra. Being a blanket hog, she’d used to sleep entirely on top of him, and that lack of weight on his chest was just the final nail in the coffin, so to speak: it just reminded him over and over again that he was alone. Completely alone. Firelizards, Checkoth, even Meira couldn’t fix that. Alone….
“Hnn… I’m decent at painting, but it might be fun to do it together…?” He shrugged one shoulder, and then ambled back to the couch before resuming his spot, wound in blankets like a mummy. “K’lir has a bunch of wooden patterns that he got made it up a couple Turns ago - in shapes of salamandyrs and fire lizards in different poses. He used them to paint his weyr for Kahrelir. I was just wondering if maybe you’d want to add them to the walls near where the baby’s bed and things will be, to add a little cheer. It’s a bit depressing in here, I admit -- I just moved into this weyr after I got out of the infirmary myself. My old one had flowers all over the place, paintings and carvings…” All of which were put away. They’d belonged to Marra, and he didn’t want reminders of her constantly. “Theoretically we could pin up some of the extra blankets, too, you know… Just against the walls, for some color. I don’t like the idea of a baby having such -- such boring drab. It should be cheerful, happy… and I don’t know, it gives us something fun to do. I think it’d be fun trying to decorate, anyway. Especially since we have a cradle now to base our decorations off of…”
Actually, he thought decorating would give Meira something to focus on that wasn’t work-related, or relating to Meisk and Zesa in any way. In his opinion, that made it a valid idea. But giving him something to look forward to was an added benefit, he’d admit, if only to himself.
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Avu
Weyrleader Ce'thian Rider A'emi Handler Sena Harper Matteo Weyrbrat Riaren
Posts: 2,439
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Post by Avu on Jul 9, 2009 22:35:44 GMT -5
Meira crinkled her nose, a smile that was more a wry grin than anything else flickering across her face. “Very quick to take credit, aren’t you?” she observed, an undeniable hint of playfulness in her tone; the cradle’s arrival had made her very, very happy – perhaps disproportionately so, she thought vaguely, but – well, the words were true enough anyway; it wasn’t that R’wign had been a bad influence so much that she’d relaxed considerably around him. Consider it a side effect of sharing a weyr with him, perhaps, or the fact that she was kind of carrying his baby – but she was relaxing, and that meant she was okay with teasing. A little. Only occasionally, and it was mainly because of the brownrider’s insisting that she had a say in things. The redfruit was turned over in her hand, almost vaguely; she wasn’t sure why she did it, even as she glanced at the cradle again. She expected – though it hurt to think about – that the “cheeky” comment had somewhat stemmed out of Meisk not being there, as well; the blue had been so shy that it had only intensified her own discomfort around new people in general. Zesa had countered that, but only slightly, considering the gold had not been exceptionally outgoing to start with.
The brownrider didn’t answer on the idea of moving into a family weyr, so Meira supposed that meant they weren’t moving anywhere – which was completely fine with her. She kind of preferred a smaller weyr, truth be told. R’wign’s weyr wasn’t small, but – once they’d stuffed all the furniture in, Meira expected that the space that would be left to actually move around in would be depleted notably. Didn’t babies need some kind of enclosed area once they could crawl and walk…? Hmm. She would have rubbed her temple had she not been holding the redfruit, and compromised by taking an absentminded bite of it. It would probably be to their advantage to move into a bigger weyr; most people probably jumped at the opportunity. Checkoth would have a bigger weyrledge, the baby would have more room when, eventually, it began to walk around and run and play, and it’d probably be easier to fit all the furniture in, but…she was still slightly reluctant.
She took another bite of the redfruit as R’wign spoke, and took a step backwards, too, her back almost pressed against a wall as her gaze swept through the weyr thoughtfully, trying to mentally picture what, exactly, the weyr would look like should they decide to go with the layout suggested by R’wign. Crowded, but – at least they’d be able to get from Point A to Point B without clambering over things. In theory. It kind of depended on size of furniture – and then again, Meira didn’t entirely trust things to her imagination. She didn’t entirely lack one, but – imagination was hazy at best. “I – um, think that would work?” she offered weakly, far from certain. “If we do need a smaller bed, I wouldn’t mind taking the smaller, especially since you prefer the larger bed…” She nodded absently at the current bed for emphasis, pausing to bite into the redfruit and chew; she didn’t speak until after she’d swallowed: “Would the baby – need a playpen, or something…? Not immediately, but…eventually…?” Meira had never been a mother before – obviously – but that didn’t mean she didn’t love the baby (she was very much aware that it was one of the only things that had kept her from ceasing to care after Meisk and Zesa had died), and having it in a pen when it started to move around of its own volition seemed like a very good idea to her, assuming they weren’t going to hover over it constantly.
Still, Meira nodded at the idea of decoration. Firelizards and Salamandyrs were cute – and that way, they wouldn’t really have to worry about colors, would they? She glanced at the cradle, and then at the wall nearer the fireplace. Pinning up the blankets – yes; they couldn’t have firelizard and salamandyrs covering the entire place, after all…she looked back at R’wign, a slight smile quirking the side of her mouth upwards at his blanket-swathed position on the couch again. “I think it’d be fun,” she agreed, bobbing her head absently. “Are we going to have the cradle close to the fireplace, then…? Or should we – wait, till the furniture is all laid out so we’ll be sure to have the decorations around the cradle, where we want them…?” Either way, she thought the first thing to do was probably to get another bed. She’d have to end up sleeping on a bed soon enough, and she felt bad for robbing R’wign of his bed. “The firelizard and salamandyr patterns – they’d be in all five colors…?” she added absently. A little parade of firelizards and Salamandyrs of all colors – cute, yes…?
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Post by glamourie on Jul 12, 2009 1:16:22 GMT -5
Still sassing! Still! Yes, yes, R’wign was quick to take credit/responsibility for Meira’s sudden burst of… ego? Outgoingness? Whatever it was, he was glad for it, even if he had to tease her right back; it just was not in his nature to take a comment like that without responding in kind. He couldn’t do it. Though, if he hadn’t responded, he suspected Meira would believe he took offense; she was so skittish, despite his efforts to console her. So quick to assume he didn’t like her or want her around. So… different from the last woman to inhabit his weyr. Marra was anything but skittish or insecure, at least outwardly, and she very much liked to blow up at him any time he did anything wrong. Meira didn’t seem like the type to even defend herself, but he was focused: he’d teach her to do just that, if he had to. Not the best example of fighters, R’wign -- but he’d do his best to make sure Meira understood that she could argue with him on anything that she wanted to without fear. He’d never hold it against her. There was a reason he continually told her to speak up if she had an opinion: he wanted her to say what she thought, regardless of how he might take it. R’wign was not accustomed to dealing with people who were so… painfully shy. Everyone else in his life had no problem telling him where to stick his head if they disagreed. She was the lone exception.
His head cocked and he regarded the room in front of him carefully, while Meira spoke. Smaller bed -- was she, again, trying to avoid being an inconvenience in some way? Probably. She always seemed to have that, at least as an ulterior motive for her behaviors, and though R’wign was tempted to scold her again for it, he refrained.
“We’ll work out bed arrangements when the time comes. As it is, I’m managing fine enough on my couch,” he said, and meant it: he was content trying to sleep on the couch even if it was dreadfully uncomfortable (a fact he’d never admit to Meira). “As for a playpen, I think that’s awhile off. As far as I know, babies don’t start being able to actually turn over until they’re four months old, let alone crawl around. I think they learn to crawl about six months, but I could be mistaken on that. Child development wasn’t really one of my specialties in healing.” He glanced over at Meira and grinned slightly. “Kind of makes me wish it was, though. Would be nice knowing more going into this. But you’re right, we’ll need some kind of pen for the baby later on, but I’m not even sure where you get one of those. K’lir’s son Kahrelir is about three turns, and he’s got a big wooden blockade he puts between his private part of the weyr and where Calistoth sleeps, to keep Kahrelir from roaming, and in the doorway. Aside from that, I think he just doesn’t have anything breakable, and a whole lot of carpets. Works fine for him, but Kahrelir’s not a normal baby by most standards.”
He was a healthy baby. There was no doubt about that. But normal was not a term applied to Kahrelir often simply because most three turn olds talked. And Kahrelir didn’t. He didn’t cry, fuss or make a peep, though he could get into things just fine. Sometime, R’wign was tempted to try and babysit the boy by offer - not force - just to get more experience with young children. It was a frightening idea, but at the same time, a necessary one: Kahrelir was the best example for learning to handle children and the baby liked him well enough. Though, he’d have to face up with K’lir. The greenrider hadn’t said much about the idea of him being a father - wisely, actually - thus far. Was he mad? It was hard to say. Lir’s moods were so unpredictable.
Glancing toward the fireplace, R’wign thoughtfully clicked his tongue. “I think we could just decorate the whole weyr, unless you oppose. I’m not adverse to more color to make this place lively. I just moved into this weyr recently. My old one --” Had a lot of bad memories, and blood stains on the floor. He’d been unable to go back into it. “-- was pretty heavily decorated. I miss it, actually, and it’d be nice to make this place… cheerier. And you mean six, not five. Salamandyrs come in white, too. We could make them whatever color we wanted, I guess…gold, bronze, brown… pink and purple dotted… Does it matter? I think we should have fun with it, do it our way. But the cradle should probably not be too close to the fireplace. It’s wood, and I don’t feel comfortable putting anything wood near crackling embers, I don’t care what anyone says. Call me paranoid if you like but I’m just not that trustworthy of it. Close enough to be warm, but not… not that close.”
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