Xanadu Weyr - Thea's Weyr
This clearing is sheltered by a thick canopy of trees, which seems supported at its centre by an immense, wild-growing fellis tree. Hanging from one of its high branches is a swing, made up of two ropes and a seat of softwood and leather. The grass is tall here and interrupted in places by clusters of white and blue alyssum. Alyssum covers the indentation of the wallow, remaining hardy despite being continually crushed. The constant sound of herdbeast in their pens can be heard close-by, though its source is invisible through the foliage.
The cottage itself is made of white softwood, like birch, though creeping vines cover all four of its walls from the outside and even encircle the brown-shuttered windows and matching door. The interior floor and walls are raw wood that has been sanded and lacquered to make them smooth and, for the most part, the inside is quite spacious. The bedroom area is plain, an ornately carved wardrobe providing the only real decoration, and at the rear of the cottage a brown lattice has been built into the doorway to a makeshift kitchen, where a breakfast nook has been carved into the wall, along with short counters. On one counter, a circle has been cut out and fixed with a clay-fired bowl with a nearby matching pitcher.
Some days you just can't catch a break. Some days work piles up and new people seem to be everywhere you turn, and the fog rolls in making the outside unpleasant, and you just have to escape. There was a time when that would have meant Enkavir burying himself in paperwork, or trekking out to find some isolated place, but now it means something different. Spark suddenly appears out of nowhere in Thea's weyr, gives a little squeak and blinks out again. Not too long after footfalls can be heard and Enkavir materializes out of the fog that is blanketing the weyr in its cool, obscuring presence. "Thea?" He's got a basket of some sort slung over his arm, squinting through the whisps of white as he nears her cottage.
There's light coming from Thea's cottage windows, creating a golden haze of the fog surrounding it. Today the golden globes are lit and placed along either side of the path leading to the dwelling. In the dripping clearing, a dew-beaded Seryth lies enjoying the fog, the green of her eyes showing faintly as she blinks and croons in Enkavir's direction. The door opens and in it Thea's sillhoutte, black against the brightness behind her. "Hi Kav." not surprised, thanks to Spark. Her voice is quiet, but glad to see him is prominent in her tone as she waits for him.
Enkavir pauses long enough to detour from the path and give Seryth a moment of her own. He reaches up to rub a fond hand along her jawline. "And a good afternoon to you to, beautiful," he offers her with a grin before giving her a pat and heading toward Thea. "I come bearing sustenance," he offers to her as he approaches the door, his crooked grin deepening with the lift of the basket. "Just had to get away from the weyr proper and instead of hiking out somewhere I thought I would track you down." Upon reaching her, he leans down to kiss her cheek, free hand seeking hers. "Have you had lunch yet?"
Thea smiles up at Enkavir, with a wry, "Looks like you and Spark managed to find me." Her hand is cool in his, and a bit smudged with black soot. She stands tip-toe to return a kiss to his cheek, "I'm glad you came." Simply and quietly said, not gloomy but not bubbly today. She steps back, drawing him into the cottage with the hand he is holding. The fire is lit, a small cheerful crackle to disperse the grey heaviness outside. "Not yet, I haven't. I was stalling heading up that way, to tell the truth." Her eyes slide weyr-wards for a moment and she shrugs. She seems quite at ease with putting it off awhile longer, too.
"Spark is finally making himself useful now and again, especially if I motivate him properly." Enkavir gives that smudged hand a squeeze, then tips it to peer at the soot. One brow arches quizzically, but then she's pulling him in and the reason is plain. "Oh, a fire. And you didn't even cheat, from the look of your fingers." He has taken on a bit of the jovial mood she's lacking, perhaps because they're socked in by fog, all alone in a little bubble of their own. He lifts the basket once more, "Now you can put it off until dinner if you'd like. I brought water and wine, and a whole picnic. Sometimes it pays to be nice to the kitchen staff." A pause, and he quiets to let his eyes slide over her face, searching. "Everything alright?"
Thea backs into the room, her smile quirking a bit as her hand is examined. "Ruin wouldn't cooperate and Shep is off chasing some little green right now." She eyes the basket with a bit of curiosity and not a small amount of approval, "I'd like that." Then it's back to Enkavir's face, a bit of mischief sparkles in them, "Chop extra meat for the new firelizards? Or did ya let the old nanny-cooks ruffle your hair and pinch your cheeks?" His scrutiny is met with a half-shrug, "I'm not sure? Changes…" She gestures towards the breakfast nook, "Shall we sit there or by the fire?"
"Ruin wouldn't cooperate? Imagine that." Enkavir's tone is dry as it gets, amusement in his eyes as he releases her hand and heads for the breakfast nook. "This works, I think, unless you're chilly?" Even as he speaks, he's opening the basket and pulling out items. "I was just properly respectful of and thankful for their hard work." It's vague and he tips his head, glancing at her sidelong. "Pinch my cheeks, indeed." A cloth-wrapped packet of meatrolls is set on the table, then thick slices of bread, sliced wherry, cheese for sandwiches, pieces of fruit and finally a small bubbly. "Changes?" He slides out a chair, motions her into it, and goes to find glasses for the wine.
Thea snorts, "Big surprise huh? But glad I am Ruin's drifted off somewhere else today." She slides into the chair obediently, "It's warming up." She points to the appropriate cupboard, answering, "New Weyrleader." It's cryptic, the tone dry, when she continues, "Haven't met him, but Vivian is… putting herself at his disposal." There's a shrug, "Can't say how Niva's taking the change." One finger traces a circle absently on the tabletop. She's staring intently at it, but not really seeing it.
Enkavir glances back to see where Thea points, then nods and opens the door. "Maybe he and Spark are off getting into trouble together somewhere. That's just what we need." He comes up with two goblets, shoulders the cupboard closed, and comes back to the table. "New Weyrleader, yeah. Odd how the whim of dragons or weather or whatever it was can change the whole dynamic of a Weyr, eh?" He knocks another chair back with his foot and drops neatly down into it, reaching for the wineskin and splashing some white wine into each glass. "He seems… alright. Kind of young though, isn't he?" Not that Enkavir can talk being only a few months older than D'son. "Does it bother you that Vivian's offered to lend a hand? I don't know that we've ever met."
Thea's finger stills as she tilts a look at him, her mouth half-smiling, "Or individual lives." She frowns a little, "I hope he has more sense than-" She stops, finishing, "-our Weyrsecond has." There's a shrug, "Vivian and I don't see much of each other. She’s kept to R'sul's office for the most part up til now. She's… more of a complication than anything else. Thinks she's older than her turns, precocious…" A handflip dismisses the girl. Her eyes seek those of the man across the table. "Niva's just… bewildering to me." Her eyes are somber but it's not deep distress in them, more like a quiet resignation.
Enkavir inches the glass closer to Thea, fingers sliding it across the table by bits. "Does it affect you so much, personally? I guess you have to work with him but… is it something deeper?" He's curious but only gently probing, giving her a bit of space by putting a few sandwiches together with slow motions. "If the girl helped R'sul and now she'll be helping D'son it sounds like that's one thing that won't change much." Though it's a statement there's a hint of question in there somewhere, and when his eyes trail back to her they are keen. "You can tell me about it you know. You can trust me."
"Well, we are a team." Thea takes the goblet from Enkavir with a silent thanks, lifts and takes a sip, swallows, then adds tartly (not directed at him), "Or we're supposed to be." She doesn't explain that, just shakes her head, "Vivian isn't a problem for me. R'sul could handle her. D'son seems young." She props a chin in one hand, elbow rests on the table. "I just don't want anymore turmoil, you know?" She watches him for a moment or two, "Not much to tell, really. There's trouble between Niva and Ista. And Fort." That is said with a soft growl. "I'm in the dark about the whys and wherefores." She shrugs, "No communication."
Enkavir takes a small sip of his own wine, rolling it over his tongue contemplatively as he listens. "You don't feel like you're part of the team? You wish you were moreso or just that people would stop being so tumultuous?" He doesn't know much about Ista or Fort or the politics involved so he just watches her with keen eyes. "Just between Niva or between the weyr as a whole, do you think?"
Thea shakes her head, leaning forward just a bit to emphasize her points, "Feel like part of the team? Well, no because," And she ticks things off on her fingers, "One, I don't throw temper tantrums at my staff - I'd have to -have- a staff, but that's beside the point. Two, I am not irrationally upset with other-Weyr bronzers for catching female dragons at this Weyr. Three I am not drunk at work - or all my waking hours, even. Four I like to know what's going on and, five…" Her eyes, when they flicker up to Enkavir from where they are fixed upon her fingers have unshed tears, and her laugh has a tiny bit of a hysterical edge to it, "I wish to be on good terms with the leaders of other Weyrs." She swipes at them roughly, "Absurd, I know."
Enkavir leans forward as Thea does, mirroring her body language without thought. He looks down at her fingers with each point ticked off, frown slowly beginning to grow through the items. "I… shells. Who does each point match up with? If it's all Niva, Faranth help us all." His jovial tone leaks away to nothing as she looks at him with that look in her eyes though and he melts into concern, leaning to catch a tear with the back of one knuckle. "Darling, it will all work out. You can only do what you can do, you know? I don't have many positive illusions to be shattered when it comes to leaders or dragonriders but… things could change." He aims for optimism, but it's a bit of a stretch for him.
The corners of Thea's lips quirk up just a bit at Enkavir's last comment, although she shakes her head, "Not all Niva. I've never seen her drunk. Ysa, R'sul used to-" Her lips press together for a moment, "They're gone so it's irrelevant." She takes a deep breath as his knuckle traces her cheek, "I'm ok. It's just…" Her eyes drop and she traces the rim of her goblet with a finger, "…you get used to things, even if they are unbearable and when changes come…" She exhales with a shrug, her voice devoid of emotion, "I think…" Her face clears a bit and she nods to herself, there's a bit of hope sparking in the ice green of her eyes when she looks back up at Enkavir. Firmly, "I need a day away from here, Kav. Maybe Niva would give me just -one-."
Enkavir takes some courage from that smile however small, his knuckle brushing there next. "Like you said, they're gone at least for now. I had heard that of Ysa but not of R'sul. I never worked much with him." His eyes follow hers like a magnet, watching the slow circuit of her finger around the goblet. "I know what you mean," he offers softly, taking a sip of his own wine and watching her with intent eyes over the rim. "Sometimes the way things are are preferable to the way things could be, especially when the future holds no guarantees." Her upward look both physically and mentally brings a somewhat grim curve to his lips. "She better. Just tell her you'll be no use if you go stark raving mad, something like that." He holds one hand out, palm out. "We could go wherever you want, but maybe you'd like to meet my family? Or visit Landing and the Yokohama. If you meant to go away with /me/ for a day."
"Oh! Oh, I never -saw- R'sul that way," Thea hastens to clarify, "I rarely -saw- him at all. Hisolda-" Again the lips close with a shake of her head. As Enkavir's knuckle traces her lower lip, she gives it a quick kiss and there's more of a smile there now. A smile which grows as he goes through his list. "So many choices!" Murmured with a browraise, "Might have to ask for a week instead." Her hand lifts from tracing her glass and she rests it in his open palm as if it were an invitation. Her eyes are sparkling in earnest now, "I'd love to do both and yes with you, who else?"
Enkavir arches a brow, canting his head a bit at her hasty explanation. "Hisolda?" That is what he latches onto, a shame his touch distracted her so. Her smile brings on one of his own, a broad enough one that his eyes crinkle up and he leans forward, clasping her hand. "Maybe you /should/ ask for a week. Though a trip to the Yokohama is necessarily brief, and my family… well, you might not that to be overly long either. The days between can be spent at Southern Boll by the water, lounging in the sun. I'll write up an official leave request this afternoon." His thumb circles over her palm and he watches her with eyes that sparkle just as much as hers. "Mmm, with yourself and your wonderful golden partner? All alone?"
Thea's eyes widen, "A leave request? Simple as that?" There's a wondering to Thea's voice. No one ever told her those things existed, apparently. "Southern Boll…" she breathes, "I've not been there in ages. You know, Xanadu and Rubicon river Hold are all I've ever seen of the Southern Continent, come to think of it." The question about Hisolda lingers through her happy daze. "Hisolda told me once," and here she hesitates, unwilling to gossip, "That Fiora takes care to keep him from the bottle. When she can." She pushes that unhappy thought away, Enkavir's thumb proving to be a distraction, but the tone of his voice as he says 'alone' has her speechless and her lips part as she stares, bemused. Three Turns of work and people everywhere… and all the rest she's had to deal with then this. What can she say?
Enkavir lets out a rough chuckle, nodding his head. "Yeah, a leave request. You know, where you request time off? How… how did you think you were supposed to ask for time off?" He's amused, his crooked grin claiming his lips. "Now, it might not be quite that easy with Niva but it's generally a good first step. I bet I could get her to just sign off on it if I'm allowed to be sneaky." He lifts a finger, not allowing her to linger long on Hisolda and R'sul, acknowledging it inside but not outwardly. "Maybe an aerial tour then, and we can just pick a likely looking place to touch down?" Her speechlessness leaves him equally amused and he laughs. "Don't look at me like that. I meant alone by yourself not alone with me. But… alone with me works better for one of us at least." That one being /him/ of course.
Thea shakes her head, lifting both hands with a futile shrug thrown in there. "What is time off?" That ought to say it all, really, but she explains, "Was never told I could." Her eyes narrow just a tiny bit. "Sneaky? How sneaky? Kav… I don't want to get in trouble with Niva" Then he's… he's mocking her? Her bemusement turns to bewilderment and she's flustered all of the sudden. "Oh. By myself." It's said flatly and she deflates just a bit. Suuuure she'd really love to be alone. What young girl wouldn't? Lacking anything better to do at the moment, she raises her glass and sips silently.
Enkavir tsks softly, shaking his head. "That, my dear, is just a sad answer. We will have to work together to get you a little break. I don't honestly think you'd go stark raving mad but stressed and burned out are nearly as bad when it comes down to it." He shrugs, glancing down at his hand around the wine goblet. "Just a little sneaky. It would be me that got in trouble if anyone, and I could play innocent. Oh how'd that get in the stack? I'm sure I had it in with things you should really read. That sort of thing." His brows lift, gauging her reaction to the idea. But then she's deflating and he shakes his head, chagrined. "Oh hon, I was just saying some people might like some alone time. I did say I'd rather be with you." He gives the hand in his a squeeze, a little tug. "Don't look like that."
Thea can't continue 'looking like that' when Enkavir is scripting how he'd deceive the Weyrwoman. She just laughs helplessly, "Better not say how, Kav. Because if she asks me 'Did you know about this?' I can honestly say no." She can't stop her mirth as she shakes her head, "No, time alone I've had." She could easily tick these off on her fingers too, but she refrains. "Hours on the sands, in the office…"She flickers a glance at him, "nights." There's a shrug, "Saw folks at meals."
Enkavir winks, dipping a nod. "Right, Forget I said anything." He pushes his chair out as she goes over the times she's been alone and apparently not happy about it. A hand rakes through his hair and he stands, slipping around the table to her side. "Well now you're off the sands, and I spend time in the office… and you should have fewer nights alone too, I hope." His grin is almost rakish and he slides his hands across her shoulders. "I'll do what I can to get you your time of and in the meantime we can just enjoy little mini-vacations, especially when the day is as foggy as this one."