Hunting Spectres
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Xanadu Weyr - Kera's Sanitarium
A narrow but wide two story stone cabin is nestled at the end of a long, winding dirt road through the woods. Though at one point most of the greenery had been cleared around the cottage, it has been abandoned for a few turns and now weeds and small plants are creeping up towards the doors. Rounded stones make up the walls, while tiles slope steeply downward across the peaked roof. If asked, some will whisper that this cabin used to belong to Fraille, the crazy Healer lady.
Inside, the cottage is almost entirely empty. It's been swept out and cleaned, and all the damaged furniture removed. What remains is a set of bookshelves in the living room, and after climbing the stairs, a wardrobe and a bed frame in the master bedroom. There is a small unfurnished kitchen, a work room, and another bedroom to complete the cottage's floorplan. One thing is missing - a shelter for a dragon. Since this used to be a Healer's cottage, there isn't one built just yet, but there is plenty of room if the new owner wishes to add one.
One more oddity graces this abandoned little home. In the kitchen there is a door set into the floor. Opening it leads down a creaking set of wooden stairs to the stone-walled basement. This is clearly where Fraille did most of her work, and it's also neglected to be cleaned out by whoever was preparing this cottage for the new resident. Tables are littered with jars and bits of paper, odds and ends of rusted Healer tools, shelves lined with jar after jar after jar of herbs and plants, dried and soaking, hanging from the rafters, and decaying. What a delightfully creepy little room. It's almost as if the walls are whispering, 'Why, yes, actually, Fraille /was/ crazy.'


Spring has settled in, the winter chill replaced by cool breezes and some drizzly weather. This morning the rains have had off, with partially sunny skies. Good enough weather for Kera to be scrubbing down a huge tent with disinfectant. She seems to have stretched the panels across the ground, turning them as she needs. Moncerath is observing her industrious little weyrling's actions from nearby, already having been cautioned from 'helping' too much due to very sharp talons and very thing material. A little work has been done to weed some around the cottages imediate area. Some crates stacked just outside the door holds an assortment of cleaning supplies and other items Kera has scrounged through the stores for. And supervising all is Minimur from his crate perch, even if he appears to be sleeping.

There's an actual sun beyond those clouds! Proof provided… uh… every so often when it peeks out. At this exact moment, it seems to be hiding, but it should be out fairly soon. Soriana's hopeful! Also, she's out for a walk, strolling along one of the forest trails. She's not so hopeful that she doesn't still have a jacket on, but at least it's open in front over her loose shirt. Ah, spring. The smell of fresh leaves and… disinfectant? That makes her curious enough to wend her steps in Kera's general direction, coming to investigate.

Mur'dah is just returning home from another round of first flights with the Weyrlings and V'dim, his jacket slung over his shoulder as his exertions have made it unnecessary for the moment. Sight of Soriana heading in Kera's direction has the brownrider pausing, and then meandering after her. "Sori," he calls, "wait up?"

Kera makes a few more passes with the scrub brush and leans back on her feet. Dropping the brush in the bucket with a clunking slosh, she stands and moves away while the fumes disperse and the canvas dries. Catching a familar voice, she peers around to spot Soriana and Mur'dah strolling along the forest path. Lifting a gloved hand, she sends a quick wave and smile "G'day Soriana, Mur'dah." Noticing that disinfectant is about to drip down her arm, she starts shaking her hands to flick away excess liquid. Holding her hands out away from her clothes, she starts towards the edge of the yard.

Disinfectant ahead of her, Mur'dah behind her, and Soriana's in the middle with - uh. Herself? She pauses at the sound of her name, looking back to… aha! Mur'dah. She smiles to him, stopping in her quest to investigate why the forest smells of cleaning agents to wait for him to catch up. "Heya!" she says, glancing from him over to Kera - they've been spotted! - and giving the greenling healer a wave as well. But she stays where she is, waiting for Mur'dah first. They'll be along in a moment? Probably.

Mur'dah lengthens his strides to catch up, smiling at Sori when he's abreast of her. "What's that smell?" he asks, tilting his face away from Soriana. At least it's assumed he's not asking about /her/ scent. "Ah, Kera. Turning into old lady Fraille already are you?" he teases.

Kera scans the ground casually as she moves, pausing to tug some twiggy looking weed out of the dirt, giving the roots a bit of a shake before stepping over the little hole that was made and smoothing it back down. Moving on towards the edge, weed is tossed on a pile of deadfall twigs and previously pulled weeds. As the pair come closer, Mur'dah is smirked at as she gives him a 'partial' but polite salute. She doesn't want those gloves near her face ya know. "Are you sure sir? Maybe you should go visit her down in the cellar and make comparison notes." Kera flashes a grin and winks to Soriana while gesturing her friends closer "Sorry about the smell, but I took Sori's suggestion." So yea, blame the Jr Weyrwoman for the noxious smell permeating the forest.

"I didn't do it," Soriana says to Mur'dah - but it's with a teasing smirk. Of course she didn't. But she's going to pretend, just for a moment, that maybe he was talking about her and… uh… wait. Kera's explaining, and… apparently it is her fault. Sorta. "…whups," she says, and laughs, tucking her hands into her pockets as she looks over to the house. "How come I don't have a cellar? They seem like such… interesting… places." She grins.

Mur'dah gives an involuntary little shudder. "No thank you," he drawls, approaching close but not too close, and finding something to lean against. "What are you doing?" he asks the greenling, before flashing Sori a grin. "Gee, thanks for stinking up my part of the woods. Maybe ask Ka'el to dig you one? Thinking of digging one for myself too, they seem terribly useful."

Kera chuckles at Sori's /I didn't do it/ which every sentient creature throughout the universe knows means you DID do it. Only, this time, it doesn't. "I spent the morning cleaning up one of the large tents for Moncerath." She gives a grateful dip of her head to Soriana. "Thanks again for suggesting it by the way." A smile is cast around the area "Now I won't have to rush to get a shelter thrown up for Moncerath. I was thinking of something that sorta matched the cottage….tis why I was eyeing the stones along the beach the other day." Her gaze flicks to Soriana briefly at that. Leaving the tent to finish drying, Kera gestures an invite closer to the house and steps over towards the crates. "I've still not gone far down there, but I got a couple of flashlights here…somewhere." She start rummaging through the crate, then looks in another. "I was very surprised to learn it had a celler at all. Maybe you can get a couple ideas for how you wanna dig yours after looking around down there?" Her gaze flicks up to both before finding the torches.

"Uh… you're welcome?" Soriana says to Mur'dah with a grin. "Wanted to make sure it wasn't near my weyr!" Not that… she actually said anything at all to Kera about where to conduct this cleaning, though she did recommend it as a general thing. See? Kera's thanking her for it and everything. "You're welcome," she says to the greenrider, and this time, she actually means it. Unlike the smell of disinfectant she didn't dealt. But hey! She can pretend. She can also wander closer to get a better look at things, and she does so as she hmmms at the suggestion of having Ka'el dig her a cellar and taps her fingers against her chin. "Maybe I will. He needs something to keep him busy." Because being a Weyrleader isn't nearly enough to occupy his time, right? "And then we'd have someplace to put the skeletons." The closets are getting full? As Kera starts suggesting they actually go down in that cellar, Soriana glances to Mur'dah, then back to the greenling. "Shouldn't you have like… a hazard suit? Maybe some ghost armor?" Best defense there is against spirits and spooks!

Mur'dah's first thought about going down into that cellar is 'hell no', but he can't very well look like a wuss in front of the ladies, can he? "How are you feeling, anyhow?" he murmurs aside to Soriana as he reaches out a hand for whatever it is Kera wants to hand him. "So a tent while you work on a more permanent structure? I've got some good woodcrafters and stonemasons to suggest, if you wanted to hire out for someone to build it for you."

Kera grabs some of the flashlights of various sizes from the crate, absentmindedly flicking one on to test the batery. Blinking as she temperarily blinding herself in the process. "I didn't get hazard suits, but there's an old sturdy rake and an axe handle in there by the celler trap door." Surely the brownrider isn't afraid of something hissing and scraping in the dark, is he? "Come on Mini, let's go introduce ourself to our cottage mate." Whether they be of the hissing or chain rattling kind…muhahhahaha. Extending out flashlights, she focuses on Mur'dah and Soriana with a grin, that fades a bit when Mur'dah's questions how the goldrider is feeling. Arching a brow at Soriana, she waits for whatever response the woman gives.

There are two ladies here! And Soriana certainly did look at Mur'dah. Maybe she was hoping for an excuse? Oh well! …though she could make one if she wanted, claiming she doesn't feel well. But no, she gives him a half-smile and a shrug as she accepts a flashlight from Kera. "Some days are better than others?" The half-smile to Mur'dah turns to about three quarters of one. "I'm doing okay, though. Somewhere between that and good. Depends on the day." After her adventure down into Kera's dungeon of terror… er, cellar… who knows? But she follows along bravely enough. "Tent'll let you block out the space, too. See where you'd want the permanent thing… if you do."

Mur'dah takes the flashlight and flicks it on, testing it while it points away from him. Hint hint, Kera. Nodding at Soriana, he smiles. "Glad to hear it. Lead on, Kera, I'll be right behind you." And the second to escape should things go awry.

Kera flicks her gaze over Soriana, then Mur'dah as she hands out the lights. Looking between the two, she frowns and is obviously missing something. Stepping into the dim cottage, the light from the windows isn't enough, so click goes the flashlight. Stopping a few paces in, she glances back to Soriana and Mur'dah again and sighs "Is there something going on Sori? You and Ka'el both have been…and Mur'dah now as well….have you gotten bad news from the infirmary?" Mur'dah's 'gentlemanly' manners of letting her lead the way gets a snort and a rueful smirk "Gee, thanks sir." but she does move over and wrestle the creaky and rusty hinged door up from the floor. "Need to get some oil for that." It was the hinges, right, not anything scurrying around down below. Eyeing the dark hole in the floor, her flashlight darts a ray to and for down there. "Age before healers sir?"

Soriana smiles to Mur'dah, then blinks to Kera. "Uh." She glances to Mur'dah - what, he asked how she was, so she told him - then back to the healer. "Only that they want me to keep coming to appointments?" She laughs a little, trying to make a joke of it, then looks to the trapdoor as it opens, flicking on her flashlight to look at… the abyss! Or at least the stairs to the cellar. "…maybe Moncerath would donate to the cause." Oil, that is. Not… going first, because she'd definitely break the steps. Even if they're not as rickety as they look.

Mur'dah shakes his head at Kera. "No. Good news, in fact." Pause. "Darsce woke up." And he can finally relax, and it shows in his features and his mood. Flashing Soriana a grin, he looks back to Kera and laughs. "Well that'd mean Sori is going first. But I can if you're scared." He teases. Kind of. But maybe it'll be teasing enough to get her to go first?

Kera simply nods to Soriana's insistance that nothing is going on with her, even though the actions of others lately says differantly. Mur'dahs encouraging words has her turning the flashlight his way, wincing and quickly dropping the light from his face "Sorry…Oh, not about the Headwoman, sorry for blinding ya." Crouching down and bracing herself, she leans a bit to extend the flashlight further. "I'm glad she's improving. No doubt your family is breathing a bit easier." Eyeing the blackness, she finally nods at the teasing. "Sure, we'll go with that. Not afraid to admit I don't wanna be first down there. I know I heard something down there a couple days ago and have been hoping it's moved along by now." But she doesn't seem at all eager to introduce herself.

Soriana grins to Mur'dah. "Good!" she says about Darsce. She seems to mean it, too, even if she doesn't go into details. Or… go into details for Kera. She can't help it if all the healer asks about is whether she's eating and if she's gotten bad news! There's no comas on her side, and anything else, well… she's probably assumed the news has already fluttered its way around the weyr? Because really, she's downright terrible when it comes to making announcements. She eyes Kera and Mur'dah as they both try to dodge the responsibility, then laughs. "Okay, fine. I'll go first," as oldest and thus most mature, "and if something eats me, the two of you will just have to figure out how to explain to Ka'el!" Good luck? But she strides forward confidently… until she gets to those stairs, at which point she strides forward carefully.

Mur'dah was just about to move forward himself, when Soriana beats him to it. Right then, he'll take up second spot, shining his flashlight over her shoulder as they descend.

Kera grins to Soriana when the weyrwoman takes the lead and starts down the creaky stairs. Her gaze flickers to 'the hero' as he's second to decent into the floor. Positioning her light to shine over Soriana's other shoulder, Kera follows Mur'dah. She's not last, she's guarding the rear flank. That's what she's doin. At least the steps are solid enough, for now. The stones walls are coated with turns of dust, and spinner webs, as is pretty much everything in the celler. "Don't worry Soriana. If anything happens, I'll throw Mur'dah at your attacker to slow him while I get you to the infirmary. Deal?" The weyrling jokes with a nervous little chuckle before some rustling sounds causes her to jerk the light to a corner, but seeing nothing but herb filled jars. "You be sure to slow it down a while, okay Mur'dah?"

"Hey, as long as I'm not dead, I won't complain!" Soriana calls back with a smirk. Of course… if she were dead… she wouldn't be complaining either, now would she? Details. She eases her feet onto each step, hearing the creaks and testing them before she puts her full weight onto them, but fortunately none of them actually give way beneath her… despite threatening to do so. Her flashlight flickers around the cellar, but… "So far, not seeing any ghosts." Probably because they're incorporeal.

Mur'dah nods, "Sure thing, I'll show it what's what, give it a good talking to, send it back where it came from with a warning to all its friends." Just what are they talking about? His flashlight flicks to the shelves, wincing at the sights of jars and baskets filled with…Things. Weird things.

Kera scans along the shelves, then waves her hand in front of her face quickly when something catches her eyes. Hoping the others didn't see her panic over a speck of drifting lint, she chuckles nervously "No ghost is a good sign. Let's hope there isn't something worse than a ghost." Leaning forward, she grins to the brownrider "Do you know if they ever found the old Master's body. Maybe she could still be here, somewhere.."

Spoooooooky lectures! …or something. Soriana casts a glance back at Mur'dah and smirks, stepping away from the stairs to search the cellar for… uh… yeah, what are they looking for? "Pretty sure ghosts are worse than bodies. I mean, once they're dead, there's not that much more to worry about, long as they stay dead." Zombies! They're like ghosts, but they smell worse.

Mur'dah moves around slowly, shining his flashlight into the shelves to eye the Things. "I…assume they found her body?" he says slowly, flinching a bit. Is that his mother calling? No? Damn.

Kera grins at the brownrider, suppressing a little giggle before growing more serious. Edging around the cluttered space, she winces when her knee smacks a crate. "Owe!" This time that little hissing and crashing noises are definately coming from Kera and not some tunnelsnake that has burrowed in and trashed the place. Stumbling a half step, she leans against the table, rubbing her knee "Careful where you step. So much stuff down here, will take me some time to go through and clear out."

Soriana looks back to Mur'dah again. "Is she actually dead? I mean…" Spoooooooky! "I think she was before my time. Did she move away, or… what?" Tell her the stories of the mysterious Master Fraille! Because this place isn't creepy enough, apparently. She takes a step toward the shelves, then turns to wince as Kera smacks her knee against that crate. "Careful," she says now that it's too late.

Mur'dah nods. "She's dead, yeah. I…I never met her, Mom and Dad didn't like her. Dad called her a crazy old bat whenever he heard her name. She's dead. Can't remember how she died though. Maybe one of her own potions gone awry, or something she was making tossed out fumes that poisoned her…maybe down here… You alright, Kera?"

Kera nods to Soriana's "I'm good." even though her friend most likely doesn't see it in the darkened stone chamber. "Yea, the dorms where always buzzing with all sorts of stories about her, particularly on stormy nights. So you can just imagine what sorta tales they were." A grin flashes at some memories before her eyes focuses on some old notebooks and older books coated in turns of dust. Mur'dah's mention of his father's habits gets a slow nod "Hmmm, that actually explains alot." The brownrider is given a thoughtful look before she shrugs off whatever she's thinking and peers back to searching. Noticing a row of drawers she tries to open one, but it's swelled shut. "It's looking like whatever I heard before has scurried off. But I don't see where it could have gotten in or out? Either of you see anything?"

And those potions… are still there! Whooooo! Ready to shatter and… uh… release deadly fumes? Or at least smell funny. Who knows? Soriana eyes the shelves before she looks back to Kera, who's okay (whew!) and also has stories of this Master Fraille. "Huh," she says, and looks around the cellar with a fresh sense of… wonder? Mystery? Latent terror? "There's probably a hole behind one of these shelves. Old place like this, stuff gets worn out…"

Mur'dah shivers again, shaking his head. "Nothing unusual. I mean…this pig fetus in a jar shouldn't be anything to get worried about, right?" Twitch. "A hole? Like…for critters? Or a hidden passageway?" the little boy in him is /thrilled/ at the possiblity of a passageway. Where would it gooooo?

Kera sidesteps something on the floor that she would rather not have to scrap off her boot, and steps closer to where the others are. Crouching, she shines the light any knock, crany, or crevice that she sees. A headshake to Mur'dah, "Nah, that's no more unusual than me studying an old Master Healer's skull." Still peering for any sign of something coming or going, she nods "You're probably right Sori." Glancing to the brownrider again, she gestures around the room with her light, casting all sorts of odd shadows til she stops. "I heard something down here before. It didn't go out through the trap door." She knows, cause she put alot of heavy crates on it. "So I figure there should be signs of something, maybe a tunnelsnake, digging through. And the condition of the floor says that /something/ has been nesting here from time to time." Standing again, she shakes her head "If it's behind one of these shelves or cabinets though, we won't find it til I get most of this stuff out." Too much clutter to move heavy furniture around.

"…are you sure it's a pig?" Because Soriana isn't. It ain't a dragon fetus - she knows that much - and it proooooobably isn't human (the healers have shown her pictures) - but beyond that… it's a mystery. Like Master Healer skulls that… "Uh. Was it Fraille's skull?" She just figured she should ask, because… well. It'd sort of fit? As for that passage, well, she'd meant the tiny sort that a tunnelsnake can crawl through, but… "Huh. I dunno. Kera, did any of the stories mention a secret passage? Like… a human one?" Healer apprentice, probably the best source of information about old healer cottage! Or rampant speculation. Either way.

Mur'dah shudders, shaking his head. "No. Healer skulls? I. No." No /thank/ you. "This place creeps me out," he mutters with a frown that's almost pouting. Can they go yet?

Kera grins at Soriana's question, and flashes her light across the jar in questions. Nodding, "Yea, that's a young pig alright." Well, not young, how many turns has it been down here? Giving the celler one more looking over "No, couldn't have been Fraille. The one we study is at least a hundred turns old." She /may/ be exaggerating a by a decade or so. "And there wasn't any mention of secret passage ways, sorry." But who knows what will be found once things are moved out of the way. "Let's head back up to the fresh air. I'm sure the disinfectant fumes have dispursed by now." Canting her head to them both as she moves towards the steps, gesturing the others up. "Maybe both of you could give me some advice about Moncerath's shelter?"

"So basically," Soriana says as she looks around, "You've got a bunch of cleaning to do, then some more cleaning on top of it, and you might get a few interesting mementos out of the experience." She laughs, then nods to the suggestion that they go back upstairs. "I can try? But Mur'dah probably knows more than me." She'll follow up the stairs, though, and maybe peek around the rest of the cottage a bit for curiosity's sake.

Mur'dah grimaces, but manages to say, "I think you could turn that pig jar into a nightlight." How horrifying. Twitch. Following Soriana happily up the stairs, he nods. "Yeah, I mean, have you seen my sister's setup? Similar to this, really, you might take a peek. Have to be stone if you wanted it to look like part of the original structure. You could fake that fairly easily I'd think. Door from there to here, and a door to the outside. Fairly straightforward."

Kera brings up the rear in the upward procession, stopping half way out of the floor to leave her flashlight just inside the door before stepping up into the kitchen. Laughing to Soriana's predictions, she nods agreeably. "Definately. On both points. The cleaning and what I may come across down there." brushing dlust from her clothes, she follows Mur'dah towards the door, pausing to call over her shoulder to Soriana "Watch your step if you go upstairs. I noticed a couple of the boards were loose up there." Looking back ahead of her as she steps out behind the brownrider she chuckles. "Another thing on my to fix list." As they move out, she nods agreeably to his suggestions, but chews on her bottom lip as she considers several issues. "I do want it to match the cottage, and I want it to be big enough for her to be comfortable, but I know that's gonna cost the Weyr alot of marks." But if a dragon needs a shelter, what's a girl to do, right?

Mur'dah shrugs as he walks out, and around to the side of the cottage most likely to hold the new addition. "Well, then the weyr shouldn't have given you a home without a spot for a dragon." Who is in charge of assigning weyrs anyway? "It'll be alright. You'll work it off."

Kera looks over the outside of the cottage and then around to the encrouching weeds and underbrush. "Does your sister's place have the shelter attached to her house like an addition? Or is it a little bit away?" She brandishes her arm to demonstrate where she is talking about "I was thinking of making use of this side of the cottage, that way one wall is already there." Look, she's already saving Xanadu big marks. "And extend out to bout there.." She frowns a bit, "Or do you think that's too big? I know she's not as big as Kalsuoth and other dragons. But I still want her to be able to stretch out and sleep comfortably."

Mur'dah nods, "It's attached, there's a door so she can go into it without going outside." As for how big it should be, he grins. "Why don't you have her come over and lay down? Measure it that way?"

Kera nods to Mur'dah. "G'point." Peering over, she looks to her dragonmate, who has been nosing at the tent panels curiously. Pushing up, the green waddles around the yard, being careful of the tent due to Kera's earlier warnings. When she gets closer, she's already pivoting around near the edge of the cottage. "Careful Mon." Stepping closer to the green's shoulder, the weyrling settles a hand on the green hide. Peering to either corner of the cottage, the dragon is gently coaxed this way or that to give clearance from the stonewall. "Okay, now stretch out your wings…slowly, now stand at full height." As overlarge sails expaand, Kera repositions her dragonmate and tries to picture a dwelling. Stepping back, she glances to Mur'dah "Okie, granted, she won't be sitting in there with her wings stretch out all the time, but she'ld have the option of stretching if she wanted." A grin is flashed as she peers back to Moncerath, who seems to be ctching on and trying to claim more space with her tail.

Mur'dah chuckles, watching with his arms crossed over his chest. "It's a start," he agrees, before tilting his head. "Duty calls. See you later." Cupping a hand to his mouth, he hollers, "Bye, Sori!" before he's off down the path again, steps quickening as he's called away.

Soriana's last up the stairs, to go with being first down them, but she does make it eventually. Just in time to see Mur'dah heading off, and she waves to him as he disappears off to his duties! …whatever they are tonight. Which leaves her with Kera and… a Moncerath taking up space, who she observes for a moment before looking back to Kera. "So. No ghosts!" …that they saw.

Kera is caught up in picturing the addition to the cottage when Mur'dah get's called away. Nodding, she waves to the departing brownrider. "Thanks for your help Mur'dah." She calls out after him and wanders back towards the cottage door after telling Moncerath she can go rest again. "You doin alright in here Soriana? Didn't get snatched by wild dust bunnies did ya?" Chuckling, she shakes her head "No, no ghost." She gestures to the side if the cottage while moving the crates around some. Patting one with a light smack "It's not soft and comfy, but have a seat if ya like." She follows her own advice and settles on another one.

Soriana laughs. "You have those, do you? Swarms of wild dust-bunnies running around and eating all the furniture?" Because, well, there does seem to be a distinct lack of it. She glances around the crates, then takes a perch on one. "Still moving in, huh?"

Kera grins and looks around. "I got my trunk and other stuff up stairs. This is just stuff I borrowed from stores. Flashlights, cleaning supplies, hammer and a few nails type of thing." Glancing around to her dragonmate a briefly, Kera gestures with her chin then peers back to Soriana "I've been more concerned with worrying about where Moncerath can shelter than finding furniture." Pulling off the little gloves she's been wearing, the weyrling goes on. "My parents already have everything I was keeping at home all boxed up ready to be picked up though." Kera's amused chuckle rings out "I think my dad has his eye on adding a few cages to my old room."

Soriana eyes those crates again. "You should probably find some furniture, even so." She smiles. "Moncerath will probably be happier if you're happy. And you'll have the tent for her, soon." She puts her hands on the edge of the crate, leaning back a bit as she looks around the cottage again. "…cages… uh. He's… a beastcrafter, right?"

Kera nods agreeably to her friend "I will, sorry I don't have anything more comfortable yet, but not really used to all this yet." She gestures around to the cottage and the area in general. "All the turns of living in one noisey and crowded dorm or another, and now, I need furniture and dishes for guests." Grinning at that, she dips her head to confirm her friend is right "Yea. Jrman beastcrafter. And boy did he have a laugh at my expense when Moncerath chose me to." Her speaks with a drastically lowered voice and tries to mimic her father "Don't wanna deal with big smelly beasts huh?" Touching on an ongoing…debate in the healer's family. With a smirk she rolls her eyes skywards as if annoyed then grins back to the young Weyrwoman.

"Heh," Soriana says, nodding. "You'll get used to it. Soon you'll start wondering how you ever managed to sleep when you were crowded together with all those other people." But sometimes it takes a while, and there's a lot of other changes to complicate things when adjusting to life with a dragon. "Hey now, don't be calling Moncerath smelly," she says with a teasing grin, then winks. "Are you planning to go visit them? Rubicon's not all that far away, you could probably arrange a straight flight."

Kera grins and looks over her cottage. "I doubt it will take me very long to get used to sleeping in my own room again." She smiles and realizes that 'room' is an understatement when considering the three level home she's been given. Holding her hands up as if they will save her from Soriana's scolding, grinning "My da's words not mine, I swear." Lowering her hands, she goes on "He's always been upset that I didn't join his craft. I never liked being very close to runner and heardbeast. Aaannnd I admit I was a bit whiney about it when I was little." Kera shrugs but doesn't seem very repentant about it. Nodding as she stretches her feet out some "Yea, I'll go visit them when I'm allowed. For now, we're to stick to the Weyr. They came to visit me bout three sevendays ago on my turnday. That's when he hinted at clearing my old room out to make room for a few cages."

"Probably not. It's easy to get used to that sort of thing." Soriana laughs, then nods about those beastcraft origins. "I like runners well enough," Soriana says, "But I wouldn't want to be a beastcrafter. Just… I don't like them that well." She nods about the visits - the one Kera's vaguely planning, and the one her parents made. "I think you've room enough here that they can do whatever they want with the old one."

Kera frowns slightly and shrugs. "I liked runners when I was little, then I got kicked and chomped at by a couple. Since then, not so much." A nod to her friend as she glances around. "Oh more than enough room to be sure. And once I get a little furniture, Minimur will have his choice of places to perch, and groom." An amused eyeroll as she nods "I think dad will send it by transport rider if he 'really' wants the room sooner rather than later though." Kera is looking around the old cottage for a few seconds then turns her attention back to Soriana. "Did you have trouble getting used to all the room you suddenly had when you were assigned a weyr?" Hmm, hard to consider the old cottage a weyr.

"Oh, sure. Some runners are nasty." Soriana half-smiles. "Some people are, too. But better that you're doing the things you enjoy than the things someone else can do just as well and will enjoy more." It's probably just as well that Mur'dah isn't here for this part of the conversation, given what happened to his sister. She tilts her head a bit at the question about her weyr, and laughs as she shakes her head. "Not really. But then, I'd been living with my mother before being a candidate, and she had a full weyr too… so it wasn't as much of a difference. And the extra room was good for Luraoth."

Kera nods quickly at the truth of her friend's words about runners and people alike. She considers things from Sori's perspective with a few little dips of her head "Ah, so it was pretty much what you expected then." Peering thoughtfully at her friend, "How have things been around your and Ka'el's place lately? I've hardly been able to catch up with either of you very much over the last turn, not counting quick little running-waverbys on my way to this task or that. Tell me what's been going on latley outside the world of weyrlinghood." Kera leans forward, bracing elbows on knees some, trying to find a comfortable position on the very uncomfortable crate.

"More or less." Soriana shrugs a bit. Maybe she's just forgotten about all the strangenesses of it! In all the many ages since since she got her weyr. So… a couple turns. That's many ages! By some definitions of an age. Another definition of an age would be the past turn, the one during which Kera's been wrapped up in weyrlinghood. "With us?" She laughs a bit, giving her head a shake. Soriana puts her foot up on the edge of the crate, wrapping one arm around it. "Well, there's the Weyrleader stuff. Lots to keep busy. We're still tossing around plans for adding a forge for Ka'el. Didn't realize how fancy the rock stack has to be for that." She hehs, then peeks down to her knee. "And, well. There's the… baby… stuff."

Kera absentminedly reaches to scratch her leg just at the top of her boot as the goldrider starts relaying points of note in the past age. Her head bobs gently to each thing Soriana mentions. Running a weyr, bound to take a few candlemarks out of the day. The desire for a personal forge is pondered…..perhaps a bit to much as she blinks back to Soriana, eyes widen a bit "Bastuwha…excuse me, did you say the baby stuff?" The weyrling is a bit surprised that her friend mentions it rather casually, as Kera hears every day that her friend is expecting. "Baby as in a mini Sori running around to torment Ka'el in about fifteen turns? That kinda baby stuff?" The weyrling works to keep herself from getting too jazzed yet, in case she is misunderstanding things, again.

"…uh," Soriana says. Blink. "I… well. We… don't know if it's a boy or girl?" So it might be a little Kale to torment them! "But… uh…" Her fingers tighten a little around her leg. Torment. Yay. Why is she supposed to look forward to this again? Her smile looks just a little queasy as she says, "Yeah. That sort of baby stuff."

Kera chuckles to Soriana "Not sure if Xanadu can handle a Ka'el clone running around. So til I hear otherwise, I'll actually put marks on you having a girl. And congratulations. That explains everyone's behavior recently." A pleased nod to her friend, and she doesn't miss the quesy look that crosses her friend's face. "I promise next time I'll have somewhere more comfortable to sit." Hopefully there will be another visit, once the place gets spruced up and filled in some. "When are you due? Did the healer on duty give you some tea to help ease the morning sickness?" She barely gives her friend time to answer as she tosses out more questions in her excited curiosity and grins "As if your place wasn't full of critters of all sizes already. Add one with diapers." Shaking her head at that, "I can imagine Ka'el trying to talk his way out of diaper duty."

Soriana's mouth tugs up at one side. Xanadu can't handle a baby Ka'el? "Uh… thanks?" The half-smile remains in place - the other half must be broken - as she listens to Kera bubble. "It's not… I can sit on a crate just fine." Her jaw sets for a moment, a stubborn expression, then eases back into the semi-smile. "It's… months yet." Her due date. So she has time to get used to things! Like… the entire prospect of baby. "I've got some teas and stuff." For morning sickness, evening sickness, mid-afternoon malaise… "Uh." Her brow furrows as she tries to think about her weyr. It's not… that… chaotic, is it? Okay, yes, there's the firelizards and the dragons and the humans, but… uhm. Diapers. Yes, those are something that babies wear, aren't they? And a good thing, too, because otherwise they'd be… doing the things they do in diapers… not in diapers. And that would just be… "What." Talking his way out of… "Nope. Not going to be any of that." Not if he's trying it with her!

Kera nods as Soriana assures that she has all the tease she could possbly need "I must say, you are looking great, but please don't be stubborn, go have yourself checked out if you have any problems. Even if you think it's the least little thing." She may not have been able to keep up on her healer studies, or even know what's happening in the infirmary right now, but that doesn't stop her little 'cautions' when she thinks they are needed. Laughing at the weyrwoman's reaction to a possibility of how Ka'el may react in the future. "Not having any of that huh?" She nods to her friend, trying to stifle her amusement. "Good for you. Don't give'm any slack Sori." Letting a quiet moment go by as she cast a glance to the window, when the wind whistles through the rattling panes of old glass. Another thing for the to do list. Smirking to herself, her attention goes back to the weyrwoman. "Glad things are going well." Unless you include the diaper duty looming in the woman's near future.

"I've got healer appointments, don't worry about that," Soriana says with a smile, then glances to that rattling window. "I should let you get things taken care of here…" she says, then adds a wry smile. "And, well, I should go finish up a thing or three of my own." Always something to do, and soon? She'll have even more things to do! Something to look forward to, including plenty of diapers. Y-ay. So much upcoming excitement! Fun and adventure and… terror. All those wonderful things. "I'll see you around," she says as she eases up from the crate. "And get some furniture!" That's said with a wink, but then she's heading out.

Kera smiles when Sori insist she's got her appointments lined up. Standing when her friend does, Kera laughs agreeably "I'll get things set to right before you visit again, promise." waving to her friend "You take care, and congratulations 'mama'." A wink is given, yea, get used to it.


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