Awkward. {Tags; S'rei}

[Requiem]

"No, not really." Hadn't that been clear by the way he'd phrased the question? S'rei had just hoped that maybe there might be something there. Possibly. Against reason. He didn't like the not knowing, anymore than anyone else. Admittedly, the bronzerider found he cared significantly less about all these issues, but that didn't mean they weren't worrisome behind the fuzz that seemed to travel with him day after day. He still had a sister here, a nephew, three children...all of which he would do anything to protect.

Sadlaurielauriesad? Worm snuggled tighter between the bend of leg and belly, rubbing herself against his hip. S'rei looked at her for a moment, finding that he really wished she wouldn't broadcast as much. Not that it really mattered to him a whole lot.

Ka'rys was mid-sentence, after all, and might not have heard. The older man smiled wryly. "No? They wouldn't welcome a former Selenitas Weyrleader?" Okay, so the sarcasm was probably uncalled for, but he just didn't have the energy to try to be more pleasant. This subject wasn't a favorite of his. More fool him for bringing it up. Maybe the reason he had, though, was the disturbing truth that it wasn't being brought up. It couldn't be. Nothing was being done. S'rei had absolutely no pull, he was fairly certain, as it was clear just what the leadership's opinion of him was given his wing assignment. The best he could hope for was to annoy someone into responding to the inevitable attack now. The thought made him decidedly weary. It was time to do that, though...tomorrow. Yes. Tomorrow, after he squeezed in another couple hours' sleep.

Salenth wasn't awake, but he could hear his voice just the same, stating that ReiHis had been promising himself 'tomorrow' for sevendays now. Shei slurped noisily at the soup, a wide yawn parting her jaws. He set down the spoon and smoothed back her hair, watching her lids dance for a few seconds before falling.

"It would seem too...obvious..." S'rei agreed. The contaminated tithes all seemed to come from the Weyr or one of its holdings. Of course, he didn't find the prospect of Benden that unlikely, even so. They hadn't exactly had the best pick of tactiticians when he was there. Something about training people to see a threat behind every corner, to fight for dominance within the ranks, and to fear anyone more powerful than they...tended to put a cap on creativity. The problem, of course, was that anyone else trying to mess with Selenitas would make it look like it was coming from Benden if they had half a brain. So...there was no real way to know.

S'rei's gaze finally stole upward as he cradled the sleeping Shei closer to him. "It was you, then. I'd wondered about that." Should have gone to T'rid himself. Should have. Ah, but that was par for the course. The man didn't want to admit it, though he was fairly sure he was still battling depression. It just wasn't like him to leave things undone. Yet, knowing all of that didn't change anything...he had no desire. "And what are we going to do about him, Ka'rys? Hold his hand until he gets annoyed enough that he won't listen anymore? Get a healer to forcefeed him a mild poison that keeps him in his furs indefinitely? He won't listen to me, I can promise you that. I'm apparently unstable enough to put Salenth and I with the queens."

Bitterness there? Definitely. Even if, on some level, he could understand it. He wasn't 100%. Still, his 10% was more than T'rid could boast. Or maybe that was just his wounded pride talking.

Worm's little attempts at comforting noises made it clear he was getting agitated, if his voice didn't, and S'rei forced himself to calm. Frustrated, he was. With himself, with the handling of the situation, with the fact that the Weyr seemed to be just as, if not more, vulnerable now than it had been when he'd been Weyrleader. And he couldn't do anything. Nothing that would really get anything moving. Maybe that was why tomorrow remained tomorrow and never became today. He sighed. "Look, I'm open to suggestions. It's just been...rough." Sort of an apology. Kind of. The most he was going to give Ka'rys, anyway.

[glamourie]

S’rei’s question, sarcastic though it was, earned a very mature response in the form of an obscene gesture, but only after Ka’rys was sure that Shei was looking away. In fact, the dedication that the bronze rider paid to making sure that the little girl did not see was likely comical to behold. It wasn’t as though she was old enough to understand any of the meanings, but he was definitely very careful anyway. Just because S’rei was being a facetious twit didn’t mean it would be appropriate to introduce his daughter to misbehavior. Ka’rys tried very hard to be a good example for children, because he liked them.

“Stop reminding me,” he scolded, definitely with a note of agitation in his voice. He did not like thinking of himself as a Weyrleader. Ka’rys thought he was an absolutely terrible leader and he was betting the majority of Selenitas agreed with him. Overall, S’rei was a popular Weyrleader. While he was a step above T’rid, he was betting everyone would prefer S’rei back. Ka’rys was nice enough not to point that out. He also was smart enough not to remind S’rei that him being a former Selenitas Weyrleader had very little to do with why he wouldn’t be welcome back. He doubted that Fort much cared. The problem came with the fact that he hadn’t handed Selenitas over immediately, and he was betting that earned him plenty of people wanting his head. He’d betrayed them. In some ways he felt bad; in others, not so much. He did what was best by him and in the end that was all he could do. And when Millieth or Hepaticath rose, he’d be praying for Salenth and offending Ciceroth.

Picking up his klah, Ka’rys stared at S’rei for a moment. His little outburst was watched in silence. For S’rei it wasn’t much of an outburst, though had the same response come from Ka’rys, it could be considered an all-out tantrum. He took a sip from his mug and raised an eyebrow slowly, a bemused look coming over his face. It really was astounding how quickly a plan came together in his mind, though. Truly. He wasn’t typically a strategist, at least he didn’t think, but S’rei’s question had a thousand possible answers unfolding in his mind. He took a long slug of his klah, set the mug down, and lowered himself onto his good foot on the floor. His fingers curled on the edge of the counter for support, because it was obvious his second ankle could not support his weight. Only once he was situated did he formulate the best way to explain his reply, and he was slightly nervous. S’rei’s reaction was key.

“We need defenses set up. Extra defenses. The Night Watch, maybe signal fires set on the edges of the Weyrs in addition to the drums; if the fires come on, we’re under attack. We need to set up an evacuation route to get everyone we can out, preferably unnoticed. The North has spies. We need to get only a handful of people we can trust to work out an evacuation route to Selenitas Hold. Someone who knows the area decently.” Someone like Z’hin, perhaps. Hm. “We need to also figure out first response scenarios. Who goes up in the air immediately and what areas they protect. If we’re under attack, it’d be better if our people weren’t all scattered. Focus on one specific defense, if we can.” He clucked his tongue and glanced at S’rei. “It needs to be suggested to T’rid. If he doesn’t do it, then we need to do it behind his back. Plain and simple. It has to be done, and letting a young Weyrleader get in the way accomplishes nothing.” His body weight relaxed backwards, and Ka’rys stared pointedly at S’rei. “You could convince people to do it behind his back if he gets in our way.” Point-blank and direct, he was being, and he knew it. “You have a lot of supporters. Always have. After -- after everything that’s happened, you’ve got more. If something has to be done behind his back, you’re the one people will listen to. Not me. They don’t like me.”

[Requiem]

Probably entirely without knowing it, Ka'rys had hit on one of the best ways to talk to S'rei. Stop worrying about all the things that are wrong and think about a way to actually fix them. The bronzerider listened in silence, not once looking up from Shei. He released his breath in a lingering exhale. With anyone else, they might have been irritated with Ka'rys, if only because the small man was thinking circles around them, but S'rei didn't have a problem with it. Ka'rys was intelligent and naturally security-minded. And, besides, he knew that he likely would have come up with something similar if he'd actually thought about it. In that sense, Ka'rys was a nice catalyst.

"Everything needs to be planned before it's brought to T'rid," S'rei stated, half to himself. For one, if the kid decided to run with it he might want to decide some of the details, and S'rei knew he wasn't comfortable with leaving anything like that to T'rid. "You're going to need someone to actually lead the Night Watch, too. Contingency plans for attacks at night and during the day. Leaders who can take groups of twenty or so if the Weyr needs to be evacuated. All pretty quietly. If you've got people you can trust, I'll need their names." Ka'rys was paranoid; if they passed muster with him, they were probably safe. That S'rei trusted Ka'rys might have disturbed him if he actually stopped to think about it. He didn't.

He did stop however at Ka'rys's declaration, meeting his eyes. S'rei wasn't nearly so sure. It didn't seem to him like he had much of anyone at Selenitas, but then, he'd kind of done that himself, hadn't he? Why would anyone respect someone who couldn't even stand up to his own woman? Weyrwoman or not. Well, Shmee was no longer in the picture. The bronzerider finally shrugged. "I think you may be seeing what you want to see, Ka'rys, but I'll do what I can." Yes. He would, wouldn't he? Maybe S'rei just needed to feel like he was doing something, that he was actually useful. There was definitely more life in his face as his eyes took on the distracted quality of someone deep in thought.

"Threadfall, too," he murmured to himself. They'd already been attacked once during that time. Even so, it was ideal. Less than full manpower and distracted by other things. Sliding down to the floor, he didn't seem to notice when Worm buried her teeth into his thigh to cling to him. It didn't seem to occur to S'rei that he'd just naturally taken the problem as his own and more or less excluded Ka'rys. Even now he was walking for the door, his mind working through the details that would make the plan work. He thrived on such details.