The current time for zone 0 is: 2684.1.17 13:06:16
Xanadu Weyr - Meadow Ridge
The meadow continues its gentle rolls and dips, grass tall and short waving in the slightest of breezes. Each hill seems to grow a bit higher, a bit steeper, as eventually, the meadow works up to a large ridge, the top flattening out at its new elevation.
From the top of the ridge, the view is certainly something to be admired - higher than the majority of the trees, one can look out over the rest of Xanadu Weyr proper. The houses in the lower meadow - each roof a different color - and the clock tower peeking upwards from the its forest surroundings are all visible, as is the cliff that houses the Weyr Caverns themselves. And yet, the ridge also holds an amazing view of the night sky - horizon to horizon - unaffected by the light pollution of the more heavily traveled regions.
Settled upon the ridge is a rather distinctive looking building - nearing three stories tall, circular grey walls have carefully been erected, and a large dome is settled upon this solid foundation. Large panels make up the roof, aside from one section which remains open, and from which the telescope the struction houses peeks out. Sitting adjacent to the tower is a long, low building, meant to serve as offices, record rooms and dorms for those who man the observatory, as well as providing a handy platform for those who seek to use smaller, hand-held 'scopes.
Early afternoon finds D'son on top of the ridge sitting on a blanket with a small lunch laid out, enjoying the view, food and drink and the summer sunshine. Inimeth is perched nearby, looking down over the prospect of the Weyr below, tail curled around his body neatly, eyes a serene blue-green.
Phylicia is enjoying her one day off this sevenday by … running? Apparently so. Most people probably wouldn't peg the 'healer'-candidate to exersize in such a fashion, yet here it is. In mid-calf boots, taper-legged bottoms and a tank top, she's running on her day off to the top of a very high place. Only when she reaches the edge, does she allow herself to stop, panting. And only then does she notice the huge dragon and his rider near by. Huh. Funny how those can sneak up on you. She offers him a minorly out-of-breath wave, should he be looking.
Girl running. Definitely worth a second look, though D'son's not exactly overt about it. He takes a bite out of the meat roll and gives Phylicia a friendly little wave. "Heya," he greets. "Good place to take a run to. View's great once you get up to the top, huh?"
Which is good, that he's not overt about oogling a running girl. Phylicia nods her head in agreement, wandering a little closer to the edge without any worry of heights that some people have. "Better than climbing a tree." She offers with a smile, forgetting formalities for the moment as she does enjoy the view before her. "No foliage in the way, or branches." Nor worrying about how to get back down without breaking something. She takes in a deep breath, letting it out slowly with a smile.
"Not into trees?" D'son asks curiously and draws his legs up a little, elbows dropping to rest atop his knees, half meatroll still held in his hand. "And yeah, it's really clear. It's a good place for thinking. Or just relaxing."
"Oh no." Phylicia says with a little laugh, obviously meant to correct him. "My parents couldn't keep me out of trees." She looks back out over the weyr, that parts that are available to see and she nods to herself with a bit of a grin. People still have a hard time keeping her out of the trees when she's so minded, in fact. "Which are you out for today? Thinking or relaxing?" She asks, taking a few steps closer, yet not wanting to intrude.
"Yeah? Still climb them sometimes? There's some you can climb at Ista, but a bunch you can't and you have to be careful for bugs," Dels notes about his own tree-climbing background. "A little bit of both actually," he ansers her question and gestures to the open space on his blanket. "Take a break if you like."
Running puts Phylicia in a good mood, so needless to say, D'son's offer is met with a friend smile as she walks over to the blanket, settling herself without a whole lot of fuss. "Constantly." She admits. "People don't tend to look up, so it's a good place to be, when you don't want to be disturbed." Unless those people are her parents. They've learned to look up by now. "Mmm, bugs. Most trees have some. But I tend to have a good coat on, and gloves."
"Ha, you're right. They don't. Makes for good hiding out," Dels agrees about trees. He laughs though about coat and gloves. "Too hot for coats at Ista," he points out. "Have you ever been over that way?"
Phylicia shakes her head this time, enjoying whatever light breeze that decides to sweep over the ridge. "I've never been able to travel much." She supplies. "I've been to the Healer hall, Southern Boll, here, and weyrwoman Thea's home hold." She lifts her shoulders in a shrug. "Not very well traveled, I guess."
"Why not? I mean, is it just being busy, or not knowing riders o hitch a ride with?" D'son asks curiously and then nods towards the little basket he brought his food up in. "I've got some fruit in there if you want a snack. And oh, Thea's home hold. Interesting place, hm?"
Phylicia ponders that question a little bit, as she eyes the basket he nods to. The rumbling of her stomach however, decides that particular item, and she sits up to rummage in the basket, coming out with a redfruit. "Thank you." She says for the apple. "I suppose… I've been too busy. I still AM too busy." She corrects herself with a grin. "I had my craft to focus on. Traveling… might have been a part of that, eventually."
"Learning to be a healer probably takes up a lot of time and brainspace," D'son says amiably. "And sure, if you get to be a journeyman and posting and all that, that'd lead to traveling."
Phylicia nods, considering his words. "Possibly. My specialty was botany and herb-lore." She ponders that for a moment. "My mentor was going to take me to several different areas. Ista being one of them." She lifts her shoulders in a bit of a shrug and smiles, not going any further into her craft life. "But with being Searched, going places is a little … difficult."
"There's all kinds of interesting plants at Ista, it's true," D'son says with a pair of nods. "And that's true. At least, you know, have to have a rider take you around. So you can pop back quickly."
Phylicia offers D'son a smile at that. "It makes much more sense to spend the day doing something that you enjoy, and unwinding. Instead of trying to hook up some sort of escort for the day." And she takes a bite out of her redfruit then, the growling in her stomach reminding her that it is indeed lunch time. "If you don't mind me asking," She says after swallowing. "What do you do?"
"Hm. I guess, if you're looking at it that way. As an escort, instead of you know, hanging out with a friend and going places together," D'son offers up the other scenario. He nudges the plate with the meatrolls on it more her way too as he hears the tummy grumblings. "Right now, I just fly duties with the Weyrleader's wing and in my spare time, I tinker."
Phylicia again lifts her shoulders in a small, sheepish shrug. "The one rider that I'd really like to go out and about with is bound to the sands right now." She offers, smiling gratefully as he nudges the plate of meatrolls closer, though she finishes off the redfruit first, before picking one up. "The other rider that I know… It might be a little weird still." She says slowly, thinking upon that situation before she blinks. "You tinker? What sort of things do you tinker with?"
"Thea?" D'son asks curiously, head tilted to the side. "Oh?" for this other rider. "And out of all of Xanadu, there's only two?" Surprise there then he grins, nods. "Yeah. Smith stuff. A little bit of tech more recently. I'll probably see about doing the whole craft-rider thing soon."
Phylicia's smile is a little sheepish. "I only really know two riders well enough to want to spend an entire day with them. The rest of the people I know tend to be crafters, like I was. Am." She pauses a moment. "Whatever." Seems to be her final conclusion before taking a bite out of the meatroll, watching him. "I guess you can always start… 'late,' can't you?" She asks somewhat rhetorically. It's just not often that you run across older people who are just starting into a craft.
"Well, you know, until you impress, if you impress, you still /are/ a crafter, it's just … on hold until you find out what happens on the sands," D'son points out. "Right?" And he nods a few times for her question. "Strictly speaking, I'm not starting from the ground up. I studied with my grandparents for a few turns, just not as an apprentice." There's another little pause as he finishes off his meatroll, dusts crumbs off his hands. Once his mouth is clear: "And if you feel comfortable enough /with me/ I'd be happy to take you around to a place or two. I like to go visit different places."
"I'm more 'on hold' than you know…" She mumbles mostly to herself, though it's likely that he can probably overhear that mumble. Having just taken a bite out of her meatroll, she looks at him as he offers his 'services' to her. It pulls a closed-mouth smile from her before she can swallow, and respond properly. "Well, if I have another rest day where I don't need to catch up on sleep, I might take you up on that."
A brief sidelong look meets that mumble, but Dels doesn't pry. "Be happy to," D'son says with an amiable smile. "We go out a lot and I have a lot more time than I used to."
Phylicia gives him another smile after she polishes off that meatroll. "I bet you do." She says with a bit of a chuckle. "Just, not somewhere cold. Going from summer to winter is too much of a shock for my poor system." Its her only terms. Honest!
"Hey, I'm Istan-born, remember? The cold here in winter is about all I can deal with," he claims laughingly and drops his hands back behind him to support his weight. "So, no cold. I about froze my butt off when we had snow here."
Sometimes it's eerie how most healers tend to sit with a straight back, much like Phylicia is doing now without leaning on anything, her hands calmly in her lap. "You wouldn't want to visit Southern Boll then. It's about half way between Fort and Ista, and they still get snow." It's probably about the same sort of climate - maybe a little colder - that Xanadu sports. A small streak of gold catches her attention out of the corner of her eye, and she puts out one of her arms for a yet-growing gold to daintily perch upon. "I'm sorry, D'son, sir." She says, falling into the formalities now with a little grin. "I seem to have forgotten a promise to my trio to bathe and oil each of them today." And needless to say, by the gold's whirling eyes, the female of the trio isn't pleased. So the girl is standing up from the blanket, still smiling. "Thanks for the food and company, though."
"Oh? I thought Boll all the way down at the bottom was about the same as Ista," D'son says with a curious look, but then he nods as Phylicia excuses herself. "Sure, it's like having a baby dragon sort of," he adds with a grin and pushes to his feet as she rises too. "You're welcome. And do look me up if you want a ride sometime. "