A Baby Shower

What am I to myself that must be remembered,
insisted upon so often? Is it
that never the ease, even the hardness,
of rain falling will have for me
something other than this, something not so insistent
am I to be locked in this final uneasiness.

- Robert Creely


Xanadu Weyr - Forest

forest.jpg

In sharp contrast to the treeless, carefully manicured look of the main clearing, the forest is full of trees, and maintains most of its natural look. Wild flowers grow in their seasons, bordering the road leading from the main clearing as weaves its way between the stands of trees - wide enough for traffic of all types, even draconic. Leading off are several smaller, less worn trails, which branch outwards, making their way to private residences and other attractions - the theater for example. The road, though, continues on eastward, to the feeding grounds and the mine, and beyond that, to the coastal road out of Xanadu's territory.


A soft, misty rain falls this afternoon, drip-dripping it's music from pine branches to tickle ferns below. Today the forest is quiet, most of the dragons elsewhere on some errands or simply playing hooky. A fresh coolness permeates the woods, sodden pine needles adding to the fragrance of drenched moss crushed underfoot. In the mud-churned trails, large puddles collect, adding moist earth to the perfumed air. Seryth is standing beside one of these trails, one wing half-furled to give her rider some shelter from the rain. Thea is seated on a small boulder. The two seem to be… doing nothing.

Cenlia is out wandering, enjoying the rain and the quiet, although her attention seems to be more on the tree branches above than the ground underfoot. Splashing through puddles without any regard to her poor, mud-caked boots, the girl seems hardly to notice that she's almost nearly walked right past a gold dragon. Gosh, what is so interesting up in the trees?

Seryth chirrs peaceably to the girl walking on the trail, causing Thea to look up from the dewy wildflower she's been staring at. "Oh, hey there Cenlia. Whatcha up to?" Thea looks relaxed, and that's because she is. The gentle rain patters against the thin membranes of Seryth's outstretched wing, runs down to drizzle off the tip. Thea moves over and pats the boulder beside her, calling, "If you want to get out of the rain for a bit, there's room."

Cenlia seems startled a moment, dragging her gaze back down to earth and her thoughts away from wherever they'd been in the branches. She grins at Thea and Seryth, "Oh, hello!" She walks over, nodding politely to Seryth before ducking under the wing to join Thea on her boulder, "The trees here are lovely. I thought I'd get out of the garden for a bit and stretch my legs. How have you been?"

Arinith, the slender bronze, emerges from his weyr and stretches out a bit. Clearly his rider was playing hooky today, more than likely at his weyrmate's request. The bronze warbles happily. He's actually excited about the rain. It's not until a few moments later that he notices the gold weyrling. He forgets he's supposed to be shielding his rider from the rain and moves over to Seryth to give her a gentle neck rub and a croon. R'miel grunts a bit, and runs over to him. "Darn it, Arin!" Ram instead joins the two ladies under Seryth's wing. "Hello there. Thea, and… I don't believe we've met." He smiles to them both.

Thea half-laughs as she answers Cenlia, "Busy and tired, but otherwise fine. Good to see you're getting out and about." She can't help but poke her head out from under Seryth's wing and crane her neck towards the trees, "What's so interesting up there, anyway— ack!" She get's a drip in her eye for her troubles, so she ducks back under her 'umberella' Seryth trills and receives Arinith's neck rub, attempting the head-butt she learned from him the other day. Of course, she doesn't wait for him to lower his head, so she likely gets him somewhere in the shoulder or chest. The wing she's got over the group quivers a bit and allows some rain to run in. "Hello Bronzerider R'miel," Thea greets the Rider with a bit of a laugh. She adds, "This is Cenlia; she's new here. Cenlia, this is R'miel, Xanadu's best berry tart-maker."

Cenlia looks curiously at the bronze dragon as it approaches, as if she'd never seen one up close before. She doesn;t seem to mind the slight drizzle of water, either - she's already pretty wet from walking in the rain. Her attention snaps to R'miel immediately at the mention of berry tarts, "Pleased to meet you sir," she says cheerfully, and then continues without pause, "Berry tarts?"

Arinith accepts a headbutt from the gold, in the chest, apparently. It's likely by this point Arinith can't remember that Seryth is the product of his and Ella's draconic love, as he's crooning to her like he would any other female and being his rackishly charming self. He's a friendly dragon, so Cenlia is free to get close to pat him or just to look. "Hello goldrider Thea. Soon to be weyrwoman now. Ysa will be excited, that means she'll have less work and more excuse to slack off. Cenlia, nice to meet you. Weyrsecond R'miel here, pastry master, rider to Arinith. Good to meet you as well. I bake in my spare time. I'm not trained or anything, I just enjoy it."

Thea snorts at that, "Less work, I bet." Seems she's been paying attention to Zevida in class after all. "He's pretty good at backflips too," she tells Cenlia with a sly look at R'miel. There's a hint of a smile playing about her lips. Seryth likely doesn't remember that Arinith is her sire, either but she's just happy to visit for the time being. She croons softly and settles down to silent dragon-talk, at least those who can't hear her. "Cenlia knows how to make peach… uh… peach what was it, Cenlia?"

At the moment, Cenlia seems more curious about R'miel's cooking than his dragon, though she does give a polite nod of greeting to the bronze when R'miel names him. "Oh, peach brandy," and she grins with mischief, eyes sparkling, "My family tends the orchards in Southern Boll, specifically the peaches for brandy…"
And Cenlia's stomach takes this opportunity, with the mention of sweetstuffs, to growl. She coughs, grinning a bit.

Myra arrives from the Clearing

Ailath arrives from the Clearing

R'miel chuckles to Thea. "The pretty ones always seem to get away with more, don't they? As for me, I work my butt off for R'sul." He raises a brow to her. "Backflips?" The bronzer looks confused at this comment. Arinith for his part settles in with Seryth. He'll jabber to her as long as she wants to talk. Then the bronzer blinks at Cenlia. "Peach brandy! Shards. I'll need to get some of that from you straight away. My weyrmate's turnday is coming up very soon. My family actually grows grapes up near Telgar. We don't make the wine there, but my family does make a bit just for themselves."

Cenlia laughs, saying, "I've got some Sunny Orchard bottles my brother gave me before I left. But that stuff ain't cheap." Her grin widens, "Trade you a bottle for a tray of pastries, though." She says to Thea, "At some point, you should try some; it's fantastic stuff."

Thea snickers a bit at R'miel's confusion, and teasingly prompts his memory, "Don't remember tripping over me and ending up wearing your berry filling? Asking us Ysa and I to lick it off you?" She shrugs in bewilderment at the pretty comment, "Ysa is beautiful and seems to do her share of work." She just smiles at the enthusiasm regarding Cenlia's preach brandy. "I'm game if it's sweet. After Graduation, of course."

Myra is taking the more, er, scenic route back to her weyr, though she's huddled under Ailath's wing from the rain, or trying to. It's hard to huddle when both you and the thing you are huddling under are moving. "Hey, why the long route? Our weyr's that-a-way!" she complains, loudly, with a gesturing jab at the meadow, but Ailath trundles slowly onwards, blazing her own trail. Sort of. Then someone says pastries? Myra perks up, and nudges Ailath over in Cenlia's direction. "Did someone say pastries?" she asks, despite most likely having just come from the kitchens. She does work there, after all.

"Oh?" The bronzer grins to Cenlia. "It's a deal, then. You like fruit filled? Or would you rather have glazed sweetrolls? If you want fruit you'll have to tell me what you like. I also make a cream filled kind as well." Then he laughs at Thea. "Ah right. Yes. And I remember you both declining. It's a shame really." He shakes his head. "Wasting all that filling." Arinith warbles to a familiar green appearance. Ram gives Myra a wave. "Hello, Myra. Yes. We're discussing my pastry making. Did you and L'ton have fun the other night?"

Cenlia giggles a bit at Thea's story about R'miel covered in berry filling. What a waste of good berry filling, indeed. Nodding, Cenlia asks R'miel, "You can make all those types of pastries?" Somebody might just have found a way to get a steady supply of peach brandy at a bargain, judging by Cenlia's expression. Then again, judging by the mild rumbling of her stomach, it might be that she missed breakfast. At any rate, she seems to think for a moment, then says, "I like all pastries, as long as they're sweet."

Seryth warbles at the approaching Ailath, obviously pleased that so many of her kind are out enjoying the rain today. She stretches her neck towards the green and gives her a welcoming whuff, taking care not to move her wing this time. Thea gives the approaching Rider a wave and a salute, taking her cue from R'miel as to her name, "Hello Rider Myra, there's room on the boulder, if you want to sit." The bronzerider just gets a chuckle, "I recall you and Ysa saw to it that it went to good use. Cenlia, get him some fresh peaches, too. He might make some tarts with them, who knows?"

Ailath resists the urge to be nudged by her rider, instead flopping down in the mud with a squelch. This is far enough, apparently. Myra frowns at the green, but runs over, through the rain, to join the people huddling under Seryth's wing. If they'll let her, that is. "Er, mind if I join you?" she asks, awkwardly. She raises an eyebrow at R'miel's request, then snickers. "Oh, sure, we had a great time… How did you fare?" she asks, though she's blushing very slightly. She's got fairly open attitudes towards, er, flights, but it's still a little presumptuous to ask about the experience of others. So, she changes the subject. "Er, pastries? Nice. Never did get into sweet making mys— er, hello." She spots a man jogging from the clearing, carrying an increasingly soggy package. And she recognises him. "Joiran!" Ah, her brother, the 18 turn old apprentice chef, he'd also stood for the last two clutches at Xanadu. At the invitation to join the people on the boulder, she scurries over, though her eye is on Joiran now. "What /is/ he doing out in this weather?" she wonders, shaking her head.

Cenlia scoots over so Myra can join everyone on the boulder. Sheeyes the green dragon curiously, with the same has-never-seen-one-up-close expression as when the bronze approached.

R'miel grins and nods to Cenlia. "I had a lot of free time while I was at Telgar and then at Ierne. So I did a lot of experimentation. All pastries, hm? Well, I'll take a bit of a sampling then, and you can decide on what you like best for next time." R'miel chuckles at Thea. "Ysa isn't one to let good filling go to waste either." The bronzer gives Myra a smile. "Ton owes me one I think. I fared well enough. My weyrmate was at home, so… she helped me with things." R'miel wasn't looking for details, he was just assuring himself that it was Ton who ended up with the greenrider, and that he didn't have to have a talk with one of the other riders of the flight about taking his hard earned prize. Or Arinith's hard earned prize for him. He blinks at the mention of her nephew. "Hm? You know him?"

Seryth tilts her head at the mud-flopped green and a croon of interest at that issues forth. For now, tho she is occupied tenting the humans under her wing so she stays put. Thea doesn't comment on Flights, those things being outside her realm of experience for the time being. The package-bearing Joiran does get a curious look, while R'miel's comment just causes her to smother a laugh.

Cenlia looks positively gleeful at the prospect of a tray full of pastries, and is still grinning as she gives Myra a, "Hello, Ma'am." She glances Joiran's way, probably wondering who he is.

Joiran runs over as quickly as he can, package flopping about as he goes. When he gets closer, he tries to speak, though he's panting quite heavily. "Hey, -huh- -huh- Myra, -huh- you for- -huh- -huh- -got," he gives up on speaking and just waves the package. He stops a bit short of the shelter, and leans forward, hands on his knees, and tries to catch his breath. Breath recovered, he strolls casually the rest of the way, winking a little at the ladies, Thea and Cenlia that is, introducing himself with a smooth "Hiii, Joiran's the name.", before handing the sopping wet package to Myra with a flourish. Myra rolls her eyes. "Why you didn't impress bronze I'll never know." she snorts, taking the package and holding it at arm's length. "Er, /thank/ you Joiran, that will be all." she says, with a frown for the package. The apprentice chef doesn't leave though, he wants to see what's in it about as much as Myra doesn't, which is a lot. Ailath warbles in the general direction of her rider, or perhaps in response to Seryth. "I… I'll open it. I will." she promises, though, she really doesn't seem to want to.

R'miel grins to Cenlia and Thea, then blinks a bit at Joiran's arrival. "Catch your breath, son." He raises a brow at Joiran's smooth talk. Looks like he could use a pointer or two. He eyes the package as well. "Must be important, if he ran all the way here in the rain to deliver it. You ought to open it up, Myra. Now we're all curious." She had an audience now! "Who is it from?"

Thea blinks at the winking Joiran, "You've seen me about when I was Headwoman's assistant but it's been a Turn or so. Don't think we've been introduced before, tho. Nice to meet you, Joiran." A curious glance at Myra's hesitation, "How nice, a package. Not everyday you get one of those. Who is it from?" A sudden spate of heavier rain along with a short gust of breeze brings a small swirl of rain in under Seryth's canopy for a moment, but the slow rhythm returns, as the rain turn finer.

Cenlia glances at Joiran briefly, with a, "Hello, I'm Cenlia," but the recently delivered package seems more interesting at the moment. The girl blinks as water spatters in her face from the sudden gust. She hunches down a bit, being already somewhat damp.

Myra sighs, and says, "My parents." She knows, without even looking at it. With a wobble of the package, she ponders. "Might be a blanket, or clothes, or…" she frowns, and gingerly tugs at the packaging, revealing a pastel coloured bit of fabric. Another tear, and another… Joiran can't stand it, and tugs on the cloth, pulling out a … dress? Then a t-shirt, and a pair of loose overalls. Each one has Myra grimacing. "Oh, that is /it/, I am going right over there to give them a piece of my mind," she hesitates, and glances down, shivering as she gets splattered with water. "…when I'm less soaked." Can't between while wet, that's bad. But, what's wrong with the clothes, exactly? Well, they look more like maternity wear than every day wear… Joiran raises a brow at R'miel's raised brow, smirking very slightly. Oh, /he/ thinks he's fine, sure. But he could use help, definitely. Then there's a pause. "Ah, right… Thea?" he guesses. "And well met to you, Cenlia." he says, with a smirking bow. Oh, yes, he needs all the help he can get.

R'miel grunts a bit as the weather makes its way past their covering. He moves a bit to shield the ladies from some of it, then his bronze moves over to the other side of the rock to prevent a similar occurrence from happening. R'miel watches Myra slowly open her package, which turns out to be a gift from her parents. When the clothes are pulled free, he sort of loses his interest. Though he does blink at their size. "Were they expecting you to have put on a lot of weight?" The greenrider wasn't that size! And it wasn't like she didn't dress in concealing clothing. The bronzer just grins and resists a chuckle at Joiran's smooth-talking.

Thea smiles faintly at Joiran with a nod, then eyes the clothes he's twitched out of Myra's package. She looks a bit puzzled, "Maybe they think you've…gained weight?" She's guessing, obviously, although her inadvertent duet with R'miel has her smiling. A bit of a laugh follows as she absently wipes the mist clinging to her face, "Or… they could be trying to give you a hint. Do they want grand-babies so badly?"

Cenlia looks from the clothing to Myra, then back again. She doesn't comment on its size, though, having just met Myra, but she does attempt not to snicker. And oh look, the pretty bronze dragon has come over to the other side, and her attention is elsewhere. If it's not food, it's not as interesting, apparently.

Myra snorts, jerking the clothes away from Joiran, so as to scowl at them at close range? Well, it seems that way. "They /have/ grand-babies. But, yes. Everything they send has some baby bent to it. I've gotten cots, blankets, toys, baby clothes, all manner of things that have gone /straight/ to the store room." No, really. They have. All. She seems a little shifty-eyed, though. She mutters, and tosses the clothes aside, not caring that they land in the mud. "Also, /Joiran/, don't you have /work/ to do?" she turns on the one person she /can/ turn on, sending her poor brother scurrying back to the kitchens. But that really wasn't as satisfying as she'd hoped. "As if things weren't bad enough. I've not been well lately." she whines. It has been so cold and wet, after all.

R'miel grins back at Thea. Clearly they were thinking along the same path, though he hadn't considered they'd be maternity clothes. He should check Ysa's closet to see if she still had hers. If she did maybe she was still open to baby number three? Arinith leans his head down to get a good look at Cenlia and Joiran, the two he doesn't know. R'miel then turns his attention to Myra with a chuckle. "So maybe have a kid? Hm, you don't have a weyrmate, do you? Why to the store room? If you weren't thinking about them you would have thrown them out, right? And if you have one… then they'll be off your case." He grins. This bronzer loves babies.

Thea shrugs, obviously clueless, "Apparently they want more?" Again just a guess, but she's nudged by Seryth, who snakes a head under her own wing to reach her rider. After a bit of a pause, Thea announces, "Seryth's wing is tired and she's getting hungry. She wants to know if Arinith can take over as human shelter for awhile." She flashes a wink at R'miel and rises from the boulder. As she steps out from under Seryth's wing, she adds, "See you folks later." A quick peek up into the trees. "Cenlia, you'll have to tell me later what you've been finding up there." Most likely not peaches. She gives the group a casual wave and heads off with Seryth, whose tummy is rumbling.

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