Twisted!

Xanadu Weyr - Guest Weyr

Rustic and simple, this one-roomed cottage sits at the edge of the forest near the feeding grounds. The decor is spartan with a wide, comfortable bed and a couch, table and chairs and small kitchenette. Kept stocked with food and drink, the bed freshened with sheets and coverlets after each use by the weyrstaff, it's nothing more than a place to give riders participating in mating flights a bit of privacy should they need it.


An annoying gurgling growl gets louder and louder til Kera blinks herself awake, bleary gaze trying to make sense of the strange wall in front of her. Her stomach growls again, ah so that's what woke her up, and she pushes herself up to sit. A quick glance round, that's not /my/ foot sticking out from the sheet. With a sigh she grabs a shirt from the floor, not hers. A few breaths as she contemplates the last few candlemarks, what details she can dredge up right now at least. She didn't run away before, she's not gonna now. Managing to find her own shirt, she slips it own and sets bout gathering scattered bits. She'll stop and tap the ankle that isn't hers, before tugging one of her socks free.

There is no annoying growl of hunger to wake Kiena up and the bluerider may very well have remained unconscious while Kera moved about. That would be the Weyrsecond's foot sticking out from the sheets, as most of her body seems to be haphazardly twined in them. It's only when her ankle is tapped that she jerks awake with a startled grunt, limbs flailing a bit until her mind kicks into gear. Her one hand grips the bed's mattress, while she becomes aware that her other arm is numb from being pinned at an awkward angle under her. Swearing under her breath, the offending foot is also pulled into the sheets as Kiena first curls into a ball and then works on figuring out how she tangled herself up and how best to work her way free. She knows where she is. What happened. Who she is with. "Y'alright?" Kiena manages to mumble to Kera, despite the awkward tension starting to settle in now that she's awake.

Kera tucks assorted clothing under her arm as she moves about, gaze flicking to the mummy wrapped figure that stirs when she hears a mumble. 'Is' she alright? In the grand scheme of things, she could be worse. Nothing feels broken or cracked. And she doesn't come to come anywhere near some of the cases she has seen in the infirmary. A few seconds pass, absentmindedly sorting what's her's or not. "Yea, I suppose so…" gets muttered out "..here.." Dropping what isn't hers on one corner of the bed, she starts putting herself to rights after plopping down on the other corner. Her main focus seems to be anywhere but back towards the Weyrsecond.

There should be no injuries. Flights on Kiena have her wild and unrestrained but in different levels than most riders. At most, perhaps a bruise here or there (and perhaps not caused by her hands) and if there are any red marks upon the skin they are minor enough that they will fade by the day's end or the next and none would break the skin either. Kiena herself is sore and her numbed arm, now that circulation has been return, is giving her grief and she'll flex her fingers and hiss through her teeth as she works through the pins and needles. Ow? "Y'suppose so?" Kiena mutters back, only to glance just enough to see that Kera's dropped her clothes in a tumbled mess on the one corner of the bed. "Thanks." Sitting up, she'll keep the blanket wrapped around herself, while her long hair, even in the tangled mess that it is now, helps to cover the rest. Silence while Kiena sorts out her clothes and slips them on and only once she is reasonably back to decent does she talk again. Kind of. This is still quite awkward. "… not hurt?" she asks as she smooths out her shirt and then sets to work on trying to untangle her hair, but her head will turn, just a little, to try and spot Kera on the other corner. Just a glimpse and nothing more, to be sure the greenrider isn't trying to hide anything.

Kera doesn't stop the snort that slips out, probably due to tension of the moment "From the noises you're making, yea, I suppose I'm doing a bit better than you are." A brief glance over to see the bluerider's flexing digits, then reaching up to scratch under her braid. Giving it up after a couple of minutes, Kera begins unraveling, wincing when her fingers catch a knot and work it loose. A quick shake of her head "No, I'm fine. Really… It's just…." A wave of her hand gestures around the strange weyr in general. Combing with her fingers, the frazzled mess the has turned into a definite bad hair day. The greenhealer seems to be at a loss for words today.

"My arm is asleep, that's all." Kiena grumbles and flinches when the pins and needles in her arm flare up one last time before finally (and with a relieved sigh on her part), everything sorts itself out. Much better! "Right…" she mumbles again. It's just… that? The flight and the aftermath. None of which the Weyrsecond is truly… wanting to discuss or really reflect upon. A natural course of things but that doesn't mean she has to be happy about it. Allowing the silence to settle again, Kiena seems at loss of words as well as she too works on untangling her hair. Eventually the silence is too much and the bluerider speaks up. "… anything you want to uh… talk… about? Since…" And then it hits her. Moncerath's maiden flight. Kera's first flight. Kera's… " — this wasn't your first time, was it?" Kiena blurts out before she can even stop herself. Oh sure, THAT won't make things even worse, right? AWKWARD.

Kera 's fingers work through her hair, not that they are really accomplishing anything at this point, but the thoughtless repetition gives her hands something to do as she looks off into the space in front of her. Talk? Her brain sooo does not want to do the talk thing right now, but she tries to find a couple words. Before they can be cobbled together though, Kiena's blurted out questions is met by a startled silence, disturbed by Kera's protesting belly. Shaking her head while pressing a hand to her complaining stomach. "Um, well, there was some dancing and some mugs.." clearing her throat she start winding clumps of hair around a couple of fingers with a quick lift and drop to her shoulder, suddenly finding fingernails very fascinating and mumbling on "So no, this isn't the 'first' memory in that regards." Thankfully, though that doesn't really dispel the awkwardness. Stretching her legs out and rolling her ankles before peering towards Kiena. An uncertain little shrug "I know the lectures covered this but…" sighing she rubs her face in both hands, huffing at her protesting stomach.

To say Kiena is relieved is an understatement as she literally sighs with it when Kera more or less explains that no, this is not a first time. At least, not in some senses. She eventually gives up on her hair and just hastily braids it so that she can twist it into a sloppy, haphazard bun. There! Now she looks… completely bedraggled. No hiding it! "Ah well. Good… then." she says, clearing her throat. "That this isn't… your first, uh… everything." Because that made sense, right? Another pause and then there's the sound of fabric sliding over the bed and a shift in the mattress as Kiena pushes to her feet. Again, she voices her concern with a low spoken, "Y'sure you're alright?"

Kera scrubs her face with hands a couple more times before taking a deep breath and nodding as she lets it out. "Pretty sure." A glance around the sparce weyr and she sees a twisted soup spoon lying on the floor by the door. Looking at it a few seconds she sniffs, a giggle bubbles out, followed by a genuine few seconds of laughing before getting her humor under control and gesturing towards the spoon for Kiena to spot. "Honestly, I'm not exactly sure what to think at this moment. But I'm gonna try not to get bent all out of shape over this like that poor spoon has." Another fit of snickers takes over and bit by bit, she starts to relax and breath a bit easier. Rising and stepping barefoot across the floor, she bends briefly to snatch it up and glance further around the room "Good news and bad news I suppose." is muttered when she doesn't see what she's looking for "Bad news is I seem to have lost my satchel." She winces and smack her forehead, scolding herself "Can't believe I just walk off and left my satchel."

How on Pern did a twisted spoon get in here? Kiena eyes it suspiciously until Kera begins to laugh and then the Weyrsecond just looks… completely baffled. She's been to many flights, lost most of them and won roughly a quarter but never has she had a greenrider laughing over a twisted spoon — or making puns off of it. Slowly, Kiena's mouth draws into a hint of an amused grin as well. Laughter is contagious, after all? "Well… Shards, Kera. You're full of surprises, y'know?" She's handling this so well! Or she's a complete master at hiding her true feelings. Kiena isn't quite sure yet, but she'll take the good humour! "Bad news?" Uh oh. Bracing, she then exhales when it turns out to only be a missing possession. "Uh… your work satchel? Where were you before… Moncerath flew?"

A hint of annoyance slides across Kera's face at herself for forgetting her satchel, a half nod then sorta headshake to Kiena. "A couple of notebooks, but mostly just little odd things I like to keep close to hand." Where was she? A rueful little smirk and she lifts the twisted spoon, wiggling it between clutched fingers "I had just started to make a dent in a bowl of herdbeast stew." Thus the growly protesting that echos from her belly ocassionally. Not really wanting to think about the last couple of candlemarks, much less talk about them, her attention focuses on Kiena's words. "I surprise you? Why?" A worried frown begins to crease over her forehead. "Am I…acting odd to you?" Kera gives a quick shake of her head "I think I'm still me. I don't feel like a differant person." Sighing, she blows a clump of hair from in front of her eyes, it flutters out only to land pretty much in the same place, causing her to tuck the hair behind her ear irritably. Peering back to the bluerider she shrugs "I'll feel better when I check on Moncerath when she manages to rouse herself." Kera shoves the twisted little spoon in her pocket after it recatches her eye,then Green looks to Blue "Is it always like this…this weird and awkward?"

"I'm sure folks left it well enough alone," Kiena tries to reassure Kera, only to grimace as the twisted spoon is wiggled between clutched fingers. "So rather then dent the bowl, you twisted the cutlery?" she drawls in a faintly sarcastic but teasing tone. She chuckles dryly but her amusement swiftly fades as she hastily back peddles. "No, no! I didn't mean it like that. I meant it in a… a good way! Y'fine, Kera. Really! Not acting odd at all." Far from it! She sighs, "Of course you're still you." That brings a puzzled frown to follow. "Why'd you think you'd change from a flight? Flights don't change folks." Kiena shrugs her shoulders then and begins to idly pace the room. There's not much else in there to do or to sit and she doesn't seem keen on returning to the bed. "It can be, yeah. Don't think I've… ever come out of a flight without some awkwardness but it's mostly just like we're now. Obviously not the same with all riders but…" She would know this, wouldn't she?

Kera chuckles a little holding her hands up innocently. "I got nothing against the spoon." Waving off the spoon "I don't remember bringing it, but sure took a stomping." Scanning the floor, a step and a half is taken and she wiggles her foot into a shoe, then the other. The worried frown starts to fade away when Kiena seems certain she isn't 'differant' now. Her mouth opens a couple of times as if to explain, but words for why don't seem to come any easier than talking about the prior candlemarks, finally settling on "It's a long story." The Weyrsecond's pacing isn't exactly doing much to calm fretting nerves, so the greenhealer takes a spot to lean against the wall by the window. Watching little dust motes drifting across the sunlight space in front of her she focuses on one and follows it til it drifts into shadow. Blinking and snapping out of her thoughts, Kera nods over the differences in flights and people. Reaching up to the windowsil, fingers nudge the curtain a little and she glances out, not really paying attention to what's through the glass. A minute or so stretches by and the silence makes all those little sounds you never hear, wring loud and clear. Almost too loud. "I guess I should go find my satchel. Moncerath's still asleep, but I still have shift in the infirmary. "With….what's happening…" she trails off, not wanting to voice the loss of Xanadu's senior queen or the Weyrwoman. "With everything going on, more than a few around the Weyr have needed to be dosed with Fellis."

Kiena snorts again in reference to the spoon and looks doubtful to Kera's reassurances and she won't pressure the greenrider into further details. Not this time, anyways. The Weyrsecond's pacing isn't anything to worry about either and just a habit of hers, one that she does when she's feeling a touch uneasy or restless. "So's Ujinath," Kiena remarks with a smirk. No doubt still cuddled with Moncerath, unless the green has chased him off already. She grimaces, "Hopefully you can find your satchel…" And then that unspoken reason. 'Everything that happened'… Kiena's grief surfaces, only to be pushed down as she keeps herself composed. It's been a trying time for the Weyrsecond and for many and now she seems all the more exhausted. Part of her can't help but be taken aback by Kera's last tidbit of information. "Isn't that dangerous?" she mutters as she scans the room one last time. Does she have everything? Yes. Yes she does.

Kera glances away from the window when Kiena mentions Ujinath, a little nod given at mention of the blue still sleeping. Of coarse they are, neither of them have duties they are late for. We cant all sleep the day away in dragondreams. Sighing a little and scanning the floor after noticing the effect her words about the queen pair had on the bluerider, she doesn't say anything else about it. Seems she did enough damage already. Latching onto infirmary talk gratefully, a small shake of her head is given "It's only being done in extreme cases, very carefully measured doses. Some of the older riders and other weyrfolk. Better to let them get some rest as they can. Heart conditions can be worsened if they can't calm.." She trails off, Kiena really doesn't wanna hear her shop talk, and no doubt the greenhealer is close to babbling through the tension. Shaking her head, she turns and reaches for the handle "I should get going.." A glance back to Kiena, there isn't any written manual to study for this moment. Any other time, she'ld leave with a smile, wave and toss in a G'day, but now, she seems rather uncertain. "Maybe later this won't seem so…" she doesn't finish, no doubt Kiena is well aware of the awkwardness flight can create. A quick head nod and she opens the door and starts out.

She didn't do any damage at all. How would Kera know of Kiena's mental state? The flight and its aftermath has led to them being here, but their minds focused on other things (and everything else). The Weyrsecond has had some rough moments and still has more to face, but for now she is in control of herself and Kera's talk of Healing seems to do the trick to keep her distracted. That and she's… curious of all things. "I see. And what of insomnia? Or is that what it helps with? For the… older riders and weyrfolk." Riiight. Shaking her head, Kiena nods and offers a faint smile to Kera. "So should I. And… maybe…" she begins to answer but never finishes either. By then, the greenrider is already out the door and Kiena will wait a few seconds before following, taking a moment to compose herself again and prepare to face yet another day. Only now she'll have to pretend no one is whispering about the flight.


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