Xanadu Weyr - Weyrsecond and Jr Weyrwomans' Office
Office or study? Perhaps this room is a little of both. It is spacious and airy with the big windows opposite the door looking northwards, a perfect aspect when one is this far south. Those windows are framed by dark forest green drapes, soft ribbons and braid in dark, rich gold sewn along the edges to give them a sumptuous look. The back wall is covered by shelves that hold a variety of things - mostly records and reference material as well as writing tools and sheets of hide and paper. Tapestries, including several lovely scenes of the terrain around Xanadu Weyr, cover the rest of the wall-space while a soft, plain off-white rug hides the stone floor. A small, low table sits by the door and usually has some refreshment set out on it.
Several broad desks are arranged around the room, each one set so someone sitting at it doesn't look directly at any of the others. Small screens can be set up on each desk to give a little more privacy and each has one comfortable chair that goes with it. So far, it looks like one desk has a permanent claimant. There are also several other chairs, which can be used by visitors.
It is literally the middle of the night - Rukbat at her zenith somewhere on the other side of the world, but here the clocks strike twelve. It's the kind of blackness that only tunnels in the depths of a mountain at midnight can achieve, and though there is electricity, it's so late that bulbs are an affront on the eyes. And so Enkavir has staked out this quiet corner of the weyr, sitting in one of the cushy chairs claimed by ranking riders. A pair of glowbaskets cast just enough light for him to read the book splayed in his hand while casting odd shadows on the sharp planes of his face. Long legs are folded, feet tucked beneath him as he curls up, reading in the silence, utterly at peace with being awake at this ridiculous hour.
There's a fumbling at office door, then it creaks open slowly, pushed by a shoulder. a damp-haired Thea enters balancing a small oil lamp in one hand and carrying a stack of papers under the other arm, backing into the room and easing the door shut with one small foot. Satisfied with the quiet click it makes, she turns finally towards the room only to find it occupied. "AH!" Her lamp, held right under her face, Enkavir's glowlight has not really registered until now. For a moment she's struggling to keep a firm grip on the lamp and the papers from slipping at the same time. It's a losing battle, however and the papers, being the safer option, are sacrificed. Setting her lamp upon the nearest desk, Thea pauses uncertainly, eyeing that book for a moment before raising them to meet his, but the shadows hide them. She manages a wry sort of smile and a soft, "Sorry to disturb you?" She allows the question, for it really is one, to hang there as she kneels to scoop up the papers.
In the midst of absolute silence things like fumbling and gasping don't go unnoticed. Enkavir remains still, his thumb marking his place with just his eyes lifted to watch the spectacle. Only when she loses her papers does he flinch forward as if to go lend a hand, but by then it's already too late so that hint of tension just slips away unheeded. "You couldn't disturb me if you tried, Thea," he offers. His voice is a low purr, vaguely amused and tinged with the huskiness of sleep not quite attained. "It /is/ your office anyhow, come sit." When she bends to pick up her things he stands, sets the book aside and drops to a crouch to lend a hand.
"I wasn't sure…" Thea's shoving papers heedless of their order into a stack of sorts, "Oh, thanks," she glances up for a moment as he comes to help her, then settles back on her knees, drops her head and watches his hands as he gathers what's left of the papers. Finally she asks, "Couldn't sleep either?" It's a tentative question, almost a whisper, then she's shaking… something off and meeting his eyes once more. "Not really mine," a shrug, "Well, it doesn't feel like mine, anyway." There's a bit of wobble in her tone, "I don't mind sharing." She pushes herself up, places the papers on the desk, but doesn't turn around right away. One hand lifts, fingers tremble slightly as she tucks a damp strand of hair behind one ear.
Enkavir is neater, more efficient about stacking the papers and squaring them off, pausing only to wave off Thea's uncertainty. "You're welcome of course, my sweet." When finished he stands and sets his neat stack next to hers. "I often can't sleep, but really it's not all /that/-" he breaks off. He's been watching her, as he always does, but the wobble finally sets him off. "Thea," it's hardly more than a whisper as he steps up behind her and settles his hands lightly on her shoulders. "What's wrong?" His words ruffle her hair as he stands close at her back, hands gently sliding down her arms then back up again. "And it /is/ your office, it should feel like it. But I'm sure that's not what's bothering you."
Thea leans back against Enkavir for a moment, there's a bit of a shiver at the touch of his hands on her arms. She sighs, "N-nothing. I'm sure it's nothing." She turns to face him, her eyes sweep the office indifferently, "No-" she shrugs, "-it doesn't, I use it." She adds more briskly, "Not even a concern to me." Her eyes are shadowed as she tips her head and looks to him, noting the concern in his. "It's Seryth." Trying hard to explain, her teeth catch her lower lip, "She's restless, uneasy…dreaming and it's…disquieting." She shakes her head, a gesture of futility, "If you don't mind, I'll keep you company here for awhile?"
Enkavir absorbs that shiver into his stillness, tightening his grip on her arms ever so slightly. He glances around the room, a hint of a frown beginning to grow across his brow. "Well /I/ use it, but it should be a space you claim. You must spend a lot of time in here." But maybe she doesn't. The realization that he really has no idea how she spends so many moments of her day makes the frown deepen, but as she continues to speak her concerns far outweigh his thoughts so he just listens, nods down into her shadowed eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to help when it comes to dragons but I'd be more than happy to have you sit with me, any time. You know that." He reaches for her hand, planning to lead her to a chair. "I have a little pot of chamomile tea on the table there if you'd like some? Sometimes it helps me rest."
Thea's eyes trace the line of Enkavir's mouth, noting the frown, but not knowing what it is for. There's a silent question in her eyes. "I do spend time here, yes." Thea allows herself to be led, flicking her fingers at the office as if dismissing it from her mind, "As little as possible, actually. Take it up to the starstones in warmer weather." She tilts a curious look sideways at him, "It helps just to be… here." Oh yes. The place she flees from for the sanctuary of the starstones. She notes the irony of that remark with a small, amused smile. "Forgive me if I don't make much sense tonight? And chamomile tea sounds wonderful."
Enkavir's frown has faded to neutrality as she follows him, and he settles her in the chair he so recently vacated. It is still warm, comfortable and cushioned, and he leans down to grab a blanket from the floor which he tucks lightly around her. "Tea it is," he says lightly, heading around the desk to the small table and pouring a mug full for her. "You don't like it here, but it helps to be here?" A wry smile touches his lips for just a moment, his eyes keen on hers as he carries the tea over and sets it in front of her. Placing a light kiss on her forehead, he leans back to rest his weight on the desk in front of her, lacing his fingers together and looking down at her. "You make sense, mostly. Is she still asleep? Dreaming? Do you see them or just sense that she's restless?"
Thea snuggles into the chair with a grateful sigh, making a fake grimace at Enkavir that turns into a bit of a grin admitting, "It does tonight." Her eyes remain shadowed as she watches his, but she's covering it as best she can, reaching for the cup and cradling it in her hands for the time being. "She's asleep. Dreaming. I didn't want to wake her." There's a pause as she mulls how to answer. "It's much like a daydream that you can't stop." A tiny frown forms between her brows, and she waves the thought away. "Makes no sense, I know and yes, some pictures. Fragments really." Her head tilts up to meet his eyes again, "Do you have to stand? It's like I'm… being interviewed." She rubs her temples for a moment, "Sorry, don't mean to snap."
Enkavir watches the little shifts in her expression, the way her brow creases when she frowns, the curve of her mouth as it slides into a grin. "Ah, tonight is different." His own lips take on a warm smile, his eyes mirroring its warmth as he folds down to sit at her feet, still leaning against th desk but with his back now. He grins up at her, almost impish. "Better?" As to dreaming he listens with the occasional little nod. "I suppose I can sort of imagine it. It must be distracting though. Your own dreams are hard enough to puzzle through without having someone else's nonsense in your waking mind, I'm sure. Do you think something's… wrong? Or just one of those nights?"
Thea smiles back at Enkavir, as he sits and leans back against the desk, her eyes dancing over his face to settle on his eyes. She tilts her head and tosses him a bit of a saucy look, "Much better, no crik in the neck this way." She tucks her legs up underneath her, shifting to sit sideways in the chair facing him, one elbow propped on the chair's arm. One shoulder lifts, "Something wrong…hrm. I don't know?" She adds, "Just bits of pictures… shell-shards in a pit… a lone dragon crying…" She flicks her fingers as if she could disperse the dreams. "What were you reading when I came in?"
Enkavir's lopsided smirk deepens, tugging up one side of his mouth but not the other. "I live to serve, milady," he quips, bowing his head but then looking up at her through his dark lashes "We can't have you with a crick in your neck after all. No spilling tea on me though, if you don't mind." He bends his knees, looping one arm loosely over them and tipping his head back to rest it against the desk while looking up at her. "Egg shards, that sounds like a good sign really, unless the feeling is ominous? The shells are getting hard and eventually they'll have to crack. Release you from the sands and free you to gallivanting off… somewhere. What sort of place would you like to go?" The tone and words are casual but his watching upward glance is far less so.
Thea's laugh rings out before she can stop it and she's clapping her hand over her mouth like a child, eyes darting towards the door in a guilty fashion. She shakes her head, muttering "Get in trouble with Hisolda and we'll never hear the end of it. Must not spill tea, yessir." She salutes him with the cup before sipping, "Mmm, good. Not a good feel to the dreams," she shakes it off mulling Enkavir's comments, "Though it could be because they're ready to hatch." This thought seems to lift the melancholy from her and she's considering his next question. "Free." The word is breathed as if it is a rare jewel placed in the hands of a pauper. "I…don't know?" Her eyes are full of wonder simply as the thought and they seek the answers in his (as if he would know), "Where would you suggest?"
Thea's almost childlike delight makes Enkavir break out in a true smile, eyes crinkling with it as he chuckles along with her. "I wouldn't worry about it, we're down a side tunnel and there's hardly a tunnelsnake stirring out there at this time of night." He nods to the silent cup-salute, then rakes a hand through his hair. "Well there you go. And even if it's not that it could just be a lack of exercise, excess heat, not sleeping right outside of her own be- er… wallow?" One brow arches quizzically - his dragon vocabulary is lacking as ever. And then it's to freedom. That crooked grin begins to bloom, mischief in his eyes as a hand lifts toward her. It nearly settles on her knee as his lips part for some comment, but then he just stops, clears his throat, pats her lightly. "I don't know. I had a few thoughts but I don't even know if it's anything you'd like. Maybe somewhere with snow, a change from the sands."
"You don't know Hisolda, then." Thea mock-shudders at that, but she's forgotten the woman already, "Could be. I know I'm tired of them and I don't have to lie on them like she does." Her lips twitch at his stumble, but she doesn't comment, instead she simply give a quizzical look to the hand that… pats her? Enkavir is given a confused blink and she holds out her hand, a silent entreaty to be enlightened, but she isn't going to push it. A brow arches, but that is all. Keeping her eyes on his, she matches his light tone, "Anywhere away from here for a day would be nice. The yokohama. Ista." Still the watching.
Enkavir shakes his head. "No, I don't. And somehow I think I am grateful that's the case." he tsks softly then, giving her knee another little pat. "Dragons are going to hatch out of those eggs, and they'll be lifemates to someone. Our future, all that sort of thing. It's an honor not just a duty… haven't you hear the Harper's tales?" This is all rattled off rather drily and at the end he just grins up at her. She blinks and he clears his throat, looks down but gives that hand a squeeze. "I was going to say I have plenty of suggestions… but none of them included… places so much." He glances up, but then his tone turns lighter and he settles back, crossing his arms over his chest. "The Yokohama is actually a good idea. I had considered that, outside of my, ah, other thoughts."
Thea listens her quizzical expression growing. The dry chiding is ignored, "Kav…" Her eyes drift down to her hand as he squeezes it then return to his, ice-green vies with gold tossed into them by the oil lamp's flicker. "Suggestions, but not places to go? Tell me." The Yokahama doesn't sidetrack her, not this time. She leans forward to prop her chin in one hand. "What other thoughts?"
Enkavir cants his head, tipping it both to the side and foreward a bit, leaving his eyes cast in shadow even as they rise to meet hers. "I was thinking of something a bit more… private. Now that you won't have the sands tugging you back to them all the time, now that Seryth will be less preoccupied in one corner of your mind. Maybe I could see where you normally stay, fix you dinner…" he waves a dismissive hand, then shrugs. "I don't know, something more romantic, less vacation."
Thea is silent for a long moment, her eyes on Enkavir's have gone very thoughtful and there is a solemn line to her mouth. When at last she speaks it may not be what he'd expected, "You… cook?" There's a breath of a hesitation before her tone matches the lightness he had used a moment ago, "Well, why not? I don't really know if I'd be allowed to go off for long anyway." She places the teacup on the side table, the clink making her jump a bit and she flashes him a rueful glance. "I don't think Seryth will mind if you visit."
That moment stretches, Enkavir's features melting to stillness as he watches her watching him. And when her lips part to speak he leans slightly forward … and then she asks about his cooking. He lets out a breath of laughter, flumps a bit and just shakes his head. "A little. A very little. Maybe I should have said /bring/ you dinner? I can make a few things." He blinks when the clink makes her jump, and he shifts forward onto his knees, takes her hands and cradles them in his, resting the pair on her lap. "You need to relax some or you'll never get to sleep."
Thea's lips twitch into a sly smile at the flump Enkavir does. "Just thought I'd ask," There's a teasing light in her eye and amusement ripples her voice. Apparently she's over the nervous start she gave herself. As he moves closer, she drops her head to study the hands that hold hers. For a moment and she is still, then she lifts her head with eyes gone soft, a gentle line to her lips, "And how am I supposed to do that? I wouldn't be walking the dark corridors of a deserted Weyr if I knew how."
Enkavir gives her hand the gentlest of squeezes, then he stands, still holding on to them. "Drink some more tea maybe, and let's turn down this light a little." He lets go of her long enough to turn the oil lamp out, leaving them bathed in the softer light cast by the glows. He walks the few paces necessary to snag another chair and pulls it over, snugging it up against hers and settling down into it. "I'll read to you." Taking up his book he shifts so that he leans against her, nuzzles lightly at her hair, then opens to the beginning, leaving his place unmarked. It's a collection of children's stories, though why he's reading it he doesn't offer. The first is an old familiar tale of a Holder's beautiful daughter, turned to drudge when her father dies and her step-mother is confirmed by the Conclave. Sliding an arm around her and pillowing her head with his shoulder he begins to read.
Somewhere within the words that the story weaves, enclosed in the secure arm around her, and the sound of the voice that lulls her, Thea's dark lashes touch pale cheeks as her breathing becomes slow and regular. Totally relaxed in trust and soft glowlight, the woman sleeps easily, untroubled by restless dragon or disturbing dreams.