So Much Shopping! [Open] [Weaver's Stall]

[glamourie]

Kalerary squinted. Impressive and honeycomb in the same sentence was odd. She'd thought Grenostith beautiful and her memory was of the queen whose hide was like ice; pale and almost silver, or perhaps platinum, instead of the vivid gold most of her color were. But Kalerary tended to prefer lighter-colored dragons. They were much more common at Fort than anywhere else on Pern (even Ciceroth was vividly an example of that, with his paler bronze hide and light touches of brass and copper that made him look like a sunrise) and the few dragons that had such an appearance got her attention vividly as they reminded her of home. Selenitas wasn't home to her. She was trying to grow to like the southern Weyr but it was so different. The other children spoke of Impressing, spoke of Gathers and of saving up their marks to buy different things. Until Blossom, Kalerary had never gone to a Gather at all, and the idea of Impressing wasn't one she particularly fancied. A few girls talked about how much they wanted to be queenriders and she'd laughed at them and told them they'd like it a lot when they got locked up. That made them glare at her, and she didn't understand why until one of the adults explained that goldriders didn't get locked up in the south. It was so - so different, not her home, not at all. She liked the few things that reminded her of what she left... and if she had to Impress, she would have much preferred a green.

"I think Aslath is pretty," Kalerary stated simply, but she meant every word. Aslath was a light-colored gold. Not the icy beauty that Grenostith had been but she was pale - pale like Fort dragons, pale like her papa's Ciceroth. That made her more welcoming. "I like paler dragons usually. Pyreath was a really light green, two shades off of white, with dark green rings around her tail, and Cissy's very pale too. Grenostith was too, she was almost silvery." She pondered for a moment, then cocked her head to the side. "How old's Hepaticath?" It seemed like a valid enough question to her, and if she got the answer she would know how long her papa had been Weyrleader - and how long it would be 'til Aslath flew again. Secretly she disliked the idea of him in charge. He didn't have a right to be in charge after leaving. She was smart though and did not say that for anyone to hear.

She allowed herself, instead, to be distracted by K'von's antics and smirked slightly at his obvious distaste for the dress - which she had picked solely for it being obnoxious. The smirk gave her away but she didn't realize that. "Mr. Brownrider, sir, I don't think there's a gown in this stall that could hide that," she proclaimed, then pointed directly at his bottom to emphasize what she meant. "The lace and frills would - uh - uh - bring out your eyes?" That's what they always said wasn't it? Right!

Despite her attempt at reassurance, Ka'rys was not dissuaded. He didn't really believe that Kalerary hated him but he did believe that she would never trust him again. She was his child, after all. Even if she did - it didn't take away from the discomfort. There was no way to make him feel better about the fact that his daughter was extraordinarily mad at him. There were no words to take that hurt away - or the lost Turns. Necessary evils, yes, but that did not mean he liked them at all.

Her fussing made him immediately twitch in agitation, even though he'd expected it. Trust her to scowl. He shook his head and folded his arms before scoffing. "I like it better down because virtually everything you do comes across as motherly or nagging; virtually everything you wear - with this lovely outfit as an exception - is meant to make you look less interesting, less appealing. The hair tied up makes you look old, coupled with your personality and your usual way of stressing. It makes you seem fifteen or so Turns older than you are, and not in a 'mature' way so much as a 'bitter and grouchy' way. I like it down; it makes you seem closer to your age and adds femininity to your appearance that you usually go out of your way to lack. Getting in your face is half the appeal. No part of me views you as a mother figure, Savitri, and since I can't convince you to dress like this all the time, I'll settle for messing with your hair. Revenge for all your complaints about my shirts, if you like."

[kysseh]

"Paler, hmm?" K'von's mind immediately went to Dohulth, who was lounging on the lakeshore a safe distance from the ruckus in the Gather Square. The brown did not mind activity in the least, but getting some good sunning was next to impossible when people were scurrying right by your nose. It made K'von chuckle to get an impression from his dragon, rubbing the side of his face with one hand to cover the grin. It appeared some holdbrats were investigating some of the sleeping dragons, and a few were now climbing all over Dohulth. With his usual level of amused patience, the brown was permitting it, and K'von could not help but wonder if the silly beast didn't just enjoy the attention of 'hatchlings'. They are not as heavy as you, Fat One.

Casting a faint scowl at his distant dragon, K'von was brought back to reality by Kalerary's question, and he looked mildly guilty at having gotten side-tracked. "Hepaticath... oh, about seven or eight months. Eight... seven... somewhere in there. Sorry. Dohulth has holdbrats climbing all over him. He distracted me," the brownrider chuckled, grinning broadly as the brown radiated another wave of contentment. Silly beast. "He just likes the attention. Don't ever try tying ribbons on him, or he'll ask you to do it all the time." The laughter took any sting out of the joking warning. Frankly, K'von would be highly amused to see Dohulth decorated in ribbons. The brown probably would encourage it too. Maybe when life settles down, I'll find you a few hatchlings to coo over, Wherryface.

Ohh, that little...

The brownrider was on to Kalerary, though he gave no hint of it. His horror was not entirely feigned, which probably helped in keeping up his act. "Really?! You think it's too big?!" he said anxiously, putting both hands on it as if to feel of it was. His look of horror increased as if to imply that it was, in fact, huge. Before he could respond, though, Dania appeared from somewhere and plopped herself down on his shoulder, chirping loudly to inquire what was up. She looked down at his hands covering his rump and then gave a bewildered chirrup. What was her pet doing?! "Ahh... oh. Kalerary... meet Dania. Dania, this is Kalerary, and no, there are no treats down-" He had to quickly remove his hands from his rump. The little green had begun crawling down to see if there were treats hiding in his hands, and the last thing he wanted was flitter nips to the posterior.

Savitri was quite stunned by the pointed cruelty of his answer, and she visibly recoiled. Sure, she persisted in nagging him about his shirts, but he was largely immune to such comments, she thought. Of course, he tempered it at the end with something that sounded quite bratty to her, so she decided to take his tirade as the immature rant it seemed to be. "There is nothing unfeminine about my attire at any time, Ka'rys, barring when I'm sleeping. And, honestly, if my hair wouldn't be a pain whilst growing back, I'd chop it off at ear level to keep it permanently out of my face." If her response was a little stiff, it was understandable. His comments had hit a previously undiscovered soft spot, and it bothered Savitri that she cared what Ka'rys thought of her appearance. Ridiculous, contrary bronzerider.

"I can't dress like this all the time. It's too fancy, and it would get in the way while I'm working in the infirmary or with Cath. And I'm doing something about your shirts, actually," she commented, opening up her bag to show him the dark grey fabric on top. The brown remained hidden; that was to be a surprise. "I'll even make it long-sleeved for you, but it won't look so old as the other shirts you insist upon wearing." She was doing something positive to enact a change, and she thought that was a great deal more mature than simply whining. Why was wrong with him today? Kalerary's anger bothered him, obviously. She attributed it to that.

Sighing as she realized that she would have to be the one to make a mature peace offering of sorts, she looked over her face, her jaw tightening a bit as she came to a decision. This was ridiculous... bargaining with an adult man like he was his child's age. Then again, she recognized that she was being just as bad, so perhaps... "I'm not trying to mother you, Ka'rys. That's the last thing I want. But.... I can't wear my hair down all the time. I'll leave it down when it's just us talking... not doing anything. But the rest of the time, it stays up." It was the best deal he was going to get, and she wished he would take it so they could move on from this petty arguing. It was ruining what had previously been a good mood.

[glamourie]

Hmph. Ka'rys did not believe her. He chose not to respond to her words immediately, but Savitri could say whatever she wanted - the fact remained that her dressing was for a point, a reason. "Practical" she called it but her motives were as plain as day to him because it was one of the few things they were similar about. She wore the least feminine clothing she could find while not outright picking out ugly garments. The refusal to wear skirts and that all her shirts were so severely cut wasn't lost on him, and coupled with the fact that she always wore her hair pulled up, it was obvious to him that she was trying to go unnoticed, trying to avoid people looking at her. That she took every half-compliment he offered her or any recognition of her physical stature as either insult or a matter worthy of intense analysis, complete with probing and invasive questions, rather than simply accepting the comments for what they were, only reinforced that to him. He knew all about trying to hide, it was why he dressed the way he did, and if Savitri thought she was kidding him, she was sorely mistaken. But clearly, she did, and from the recoiling, he was betting she'd taken what he saw as an observation as little more than an attempt at being insulting. That would be so typical of her - the point of his statements completely lost. He was not in the mood to elaborate.

Her explanation was mentally pushed aside. She could justify it however she wanted and it made no difference. No, she couldn't wear Gather finery constantly but it would not have killed Savitri to get shirts with nicer hems, or wear skirts more often; she seemed to resent the very possibility. Nicer shirts would not get in the way in the infirmary or with Hepaticath and neither would a nice long skirt. He'd seen plenty of females manage to look feminine while working. Even Kalierre of Phremath managed to appear more feminine than Savitri at times, and that was somewhat disgraceful, since of the two, Savitri was by far the more attractive. Her words sounded to him like excuses, and he regarded them as exactly that. He could make excuses for whatever he wanted, too - it didn't change the cold hard facts, not for him, and not for her. Whatever she wanted to assume, the end result was the same: she was trying to repel people. For the most part, it worked. Not with him though, unfortunately for her.

Snorting, Ka'rys shook his head, but... ultimately, there were no words to describe his response to her. Instead, he offered a mild look, then folded his arms slightly. She was making him shirts? Slight squint. "You're determined." It was not a compliment. "I will never understand why it matters. In any case, yes, I prefer your hair down, and your arguments of it getting in the way all the time don't really apply, since you're not always caring for Hepaticath or in the infirmary, and I am willing to bet she'd be on my side that it looks better down. Ciceroth is." Although, Ciceroth's response really was that he only liked it better down because Ka'rys clearly did, and for once it was something that made RysHis happy that was not necessarily harmful. Win-win all around. It wasn't as though the bronze much cared about human hair and how it was worn. What did it matter to him?

Kalerary grinned slightly before looking toward the lake where some of the dragons were sleeping. The slight metallic glimmer told her that Ciceroth was over there, though she didn't know where. Which one was Dohulth? There were quite a few browns around and she didn't know what he looked like, so she settled for not asking. She'd find out later. Instead, she considered what sort of ribbons would look good on a brown dragon. She was betting vivid greens would, but she'd have to see him to be sure. Hmm. Clicking her tongue, she eyed the different fabrics briefly, then turned around to look straight up at K'von. If he thought he would dissuade her by such comments, he was mistaken. She liked browns and blues and greens, they were always much, much nicer than the bronzes and the golds. Most of the brownriders at Fort were nice and her mama had liked them. Pyreath liked her browns, too, almost as much as she'd liked "that bronze." Cissy. Mm.

"Yes it's --"

The sound of chirruping made her squawk in surprise and she bounced away from K'von, her eyes going roughly the size of saucers. Another firelizard! There were so many of them around the south. That Cezine had two, Z'hin had one, now K'von had one and... Dania was her name? She crinkled up her nose slightly and eyed the green firelizard before another appeared right on her head, perching neatly enough. The firelizard on her head was a smooth green-blue like some kind of aquatic flower, small and delicate but with a decided feminine grace. Hanging around her neck were Selenitas colors, marking where she was from in case anyone was confused - but Kalerary did not know who the green was. Flailing, she reached up and grabbed the little flit, earning a puzzled chirp in response, though the female did not bite or squirm much. Instead she made herself comfortable, happily flashing images of Ciceroth in the shallows of the lake to K'von, Dania and Kalerary in perfect harmony. The bronze was most effectively lounging, but like Dohulth, a couple of the holdbrats had decided to climb on him and splash around. Ciceroth did not even appear to be awake to notice.

Frowning, Kalerary held the green out for K'von to examine before asking bluntly, "Where did this one come from?"

[kysseh]

There were days that Ka'rys really pushed her buttons, and Savitri had to take a deep breath and then exhale at the realization that this, in fact, was becoming one of them. For as little as she saw the weyrleader at times, the man did seem to know how to make her angry or upset without fail. She wanted to just walk away and enjoy her Gather elsewhere, but... he was her friend, or so she considered him. And for all that he bothered her at times, he had not done wrong by her. In fact, he had taken time out of his likely very busy life to look after her when she was needed it. Patience was required, and patience, she would have. It was just going to take her a bit to figure out how to proceed.

Folding his arms again.... defensive. That or just plain sulky. "Yes, I am determined and perversely stubborn, bossy, domineering, prone to nagging, and not given to girlish flights of fancy. We've established this before. But I have my virtues, just as you do. That or you're just a terrible masochist for sticking around me," she commented, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder and lifting a hand to brush a few stray locks of hair from her face. Her nose wrinkled. Now did he see why she liked it tied back?! "Dragon males are not the greatest authorities on human female hair. Hepaticath doesn't mind what I wear, except when we're swimming. Then she positively insists I not wear extra layers." The mere mention of her mindmate had her rolling her eyes and reaching her mind to touch that distant presence. "She likes what makes me happy."

K'von was about to point Dohulth out to Kalerary when she jumped at the sight of Dania. He tried to comfort the child and Dania at once, for upon seeing that she had startled the hatchling, Dania had immediately plastered herself to the side of his neck and started creeling in distress. Not happy like that was bad! What had she done?! Both man and flit were startled as another flit appeared atop Kalerary's head, and K'von peered at it, surprised when the girl snatched it off her hand and held it. Well... that was one well-behaved flitter right there, yes sir. At the images the flitter doled out, Dania twittered and then looked over toward the bronzerider and his weyrling friend. K'von understood.

"I think it's... your drudge's pet? Maybe? It's a very well-behaved firelizard," he commented, holding out his hands for her to deposit the flit in if she did not want it near her. Some people were not fond of the little creatures, after all. He rolled the shoulder that Dania was not perched on, giving Kalerary an apologetic look. "Sorry about Dania. She didn't mean to scare you." Dania offered a quiet peep and crept down K'von's arm a bit. Her head stretched out a bit, and she crooned softly and then launched off K'von's arm, fluttering over to one of the racks of fabrics. She didn't seem to know which one to choose, but eventually she snagged a little blue bit that had some shiny qualities. When she returned to K'von, the bit of fabric clutched in her little forepaws, she held it out to Kalerary as a peace offering. See? She was trying to make the little hatchling happy! All hatchlings liked pretty shiny things, didn't they?"

[glamourie]

... He was very tempted to just walk away. She was being ridiculous, and he didn't have the patience to argue with her. It was okay for her to tear him apart expertly over wearing what she deemed an unattractive shirt, yet he made it clear he liked her hair down better, and she had to find a million reasons why no, she was going to wear it exactly how she wanted it, and if he was nice she'd wear it down just for him. It was infuriating, because on one hand he adored the concept of special treatment, but on the other, Savitri missed the point completely. She had no problem making insistent demands of him whatsoever and did not seem to appreciate it when similar demands were made of her. He made a mental note, and scowled, but arguing with her was a waste of his time. She would never understand it and, knowing her, probably was huffing and assuming he had no better point than that he didn't like the hairsticks. He didn't, of course, but there was more to it than that, and trying to make her comprehend that she was a hypocrite on a lot of subjects was like beating his head into a wall. Just as she hadn't gotten the point when he was talking to her by the river. Sharding woman was impossible.

"Ciceroth is more of an authority on things than you'll ever come to realize," Ka'rys replied dryly. That, at least, was true; the bronze had a remarkable understanding of emotions for a creature that did not feel a very wide spectrum of them. Usually, it was Ciceroth who convinced him to do the things most human beings deemed normal. Ka'rys's idea of a good way to spend his time was to lounge in the archives and read. Social he was not. He twitched slightly, then decided to finish the topic with the most neutral comment he could make, which... was anything but neutral, but got his point across. She wanted honesty and bluntness, she got it, and maybe she'd be careful what she wished for in the future. "That aside, you're being petty. It's okay for you to demand I change an aspect of my life that you find unappealing, but Faranth forbid I suggest you do the same - for any reason. You should try not to do that, that, 'Do this but don't ask me to do the same' attitude of yours. It gets on my nerves." Cue rant about how unfair he was being or a glare, possibly a scowl or exasperated throwing up of her arms. He twitched, then moved away from Savitri, over toward the racks.

Kalerary was distracted and that was perhaps both a good and bad thing; on one hand it kept her from noticing that her father was clearly agitated and thus she was likely the center of his focus again (or would be as soon as he came over to where they were standing), but on the other, it also robbed her of the chance to behave smugly for that same fact. The six turn old was busy focusing on the happy little firelizard in her hands who did not appear to mind at all that she was being clenched as if she was a possession. In fact, the little green firelizard was smugly chirruping, and it was clear as day that she was delighted. Delighted beyond all words. The hatchling was holding her!

K'von's explanation had her squinting and Kalerary held the firelizard up in front of her face. "His pet? I didn't know he had a pet," she said thoughtfully before looking up just in time to see a piece of fabric offered to her. Suddenly she dropped Ophelie who plummeted toward the ground with a squawk, though she managed to catch herself on her wings easily enough. Glancing apologetically at the green, who swept up and landed right back on her head, Kalerary accepted Dania's little fabric and gently patted her head with one finger; anything more looked like it might squish her. "Don't 'pologize, she just surprised me 'cause I'm not used to 'em. I lived at Fort Weyr and there are not many firelizards there, no where near as many as here. We mostly just had dragons and, um, drudges. They're pretty. I like the greens and the blues best. Z'hin has a pretty blue who doesn't make a peep. Hrorek is nice." Holding the fabric out for the green on her head to look at, she spoke to Dania, voice soft, "Thank you, Dania."

Trying to distract himself, Ka'rys picked at one of the vests on a rack, though his gaze flicked back toward Kalerary. Ophelie's position on her head reassured him more than he was willing to admit, and he would have probably trusted her as much as he did K'von to watch the child. His firelizard was remarkably faithful. Biting his lip, he glanced back at Savitri before shoving one of the hangers over. "Are you sure you're not just getting agitated over me messing with your hair because your little candidate-friend made the hairsticks for you?"

[kysseh]

Savitri was completely at a loss for what to say, so she said nothing. Though she doubted that Ciceroth was an expert on human female hair, she had never discounted his intelligence. Petty, hmm? Perhaps she was being so. Thus, silence reigned while he moved off to investigate the racks. Her green eyes remained trained on his form and then looked to the ground, taking the words as the pointed rebuke they were obviously intended to be. She was not oblivious. The goldweyrling knew that she picked at him for his attire... unceasingly too, at times. Weren't her efforts to accommodate him going to be noted? It wasn't as though she were refusing to change her style of dressing completely; a compromise had been offered. Apparently, though, that attempt at peace would go unacknowledged, and she just left it be. There was simply no point in continuing to bicker like this.

So, the young woman just stood and looked down, suitably cowed by his scolding and letting herself mull it over. Was she being a judgmental hypocrite? Judgmental and critical, sure, but... she was trying...

Ground-flattened flitters were certainly not a good thing, and K'von instinctively reached out in an attempt to catch the little green before she hit the ground. The critter recovered on her own, though, and the brownrider chuckled at the realization of where the unknown flitter was perching. What was it with flitters and heads? Seeing that both child and flitter were unharmed, he relaxed and squatted comfortably, sitting on his heels with arms draped loosely across his knees. Dania seemed overjoyed that her gift had been accepted, and her humanpet watched as she puffed up a trilled delightedly, perched comfortably on his forearm and watching her new hatchling-friend look over the offering.

The finger that stroked her head elicited a delighted croon from the green, a sound that had K'von laughing softly at his green's enthusiasm. "Oh, they take some getting used to. They're cute, some of them. Dania likes making everyone happy," he said softly, watching as his flitter fairly fluttered in her delight. "From Fort, hmm? Have you been here in the south long? Nicer here than up north." Dania fluted a welcome to the other green and then continued to trill at Kalerary. She liked this hatchling, she did! She would have to bring the hatchling more pretty things to cheer her up. All hatchlings liked pretty things, didn't they? "We didn't have many flitters where I grew up either. Dania... she just hatched a few months... sevendays... ago. We haven't been together long, she and I."

Ka'rys' question caught her off-guard, and Savitri quickly lifted her head, startled, to look at him. The violent motion of shoving the hanger had her firming the line of her chin, shocking her enough from her self-recriminating thoughts to have her alert and guarding her expression now. But his question was... was he jealous? Her brow furrowed slightly as she realized just how childish it sounded. Juvenile. Envious. "No... I don't mind you removing the hairsticks so much. I wish you'd have asked me, though. They're special since he made them just for me, but no... that's not why I'm 'agitated'." She glanced away again, not sure what else to say and, thus, opting to say nothing at all.