Xanadu Weyr - The Firelizard Theatre
There are many different things to look at here. In the northern part of this field lies a massive fort made out of wood. About 10 feet to the right of the fort, there are wooden sit-toys carved in the likeness of dragons and even painted as such. In the middle of the field are two sets of swings suspended from a wooden beam, held up by two wooden beams on either side. To the left of the swings is a 5 by 6 rectangular box filled not quite to the top with sand from Xanadu Weyr's Beach. To the right of the swings are monkey bars, completely crafted out of wood. In front of you are two seesaws, both made out of wood. Finally, to your near left are two benches underneath a large Lemosian Ironwood tree. You find yourself standing in the Courtyard of The Firelizard.
The weather is lovely, the sun is shining brightly, and the sound of children playing carries on the breeze. Indeed, it's Cenlia's turn to watch the kidlets, which she is managing with no small amount of exasperation. Indeed, she looks rather lacking in enthusiasm as she rounds them up to go explore the playground. The gardener-turned-candidate-turned-nanny is not alone in her task, but watches her charges warily nonetheless. The girl may have been recruited bythe Aunties to babysit in Southern Boll more times than she'd care to remember, but she's never been particularly good with children. Thus, her main mode of discipline seems to be telling the little horror wild stories and then threatening to feed them to the dragons. For the moment, however, she and a few other nannies are taking a break, watching the children play and frolic, and occasionally calling out a caution or warning. Cenlia's four firelizards are chittering away high in the branches, apparently justas wary of the little ones as Cenlia herself appears to be.
It seems word has got out that the candidates are on nanny duty at the playground, because along comes Griselda, with a double-wide stroller, and a pair of three turn olds. There's a satisfied /grin/ on her face as she makes a beeline for the nearest white-knotted 'nanny', though she does a bit of a double-take. "Cenlia? What are you doing here?!" she asks, eyes flicking to the gardener's white knot, then back again.
Not far behind Griselda, another form follows. Apparently, Rogawani hadn't intended on being roped into kidlet watching, but there he is none-the-less. With a groan, he walks carefully around the edge, keeping closest to the trees and trying to go unnoticed. It doesn't last long. One of the 'brats quickly points his direction an starts to toddle over. "Oh fine." He mumbles, sounding more amused than exasperated as he picks the kid up. "Ro!" The boy greets cheerfully, and the ex-messenger shoots back a smile. "Hey there, kiddo. What you up to?" "Playin'" Is the quick responce. "Well don't you want to go play with the others instead of grubby ole' me. "Nuh uh!" He pulls at the boy's hair, causing Ro' to wince before looking towards Cenlia, "I'd finished up weeding in the gardens, they sent me here. Ow." He mutters. "Careful."
The arrival of Griselda has Cenlia glancing her way with a smile, and then with barely-disguised horror as the gardener girl spots the twins. "Got searched," Cenlia says with a lopsided grin and a bit of a grimace. "Kind of wishing I hadn't right now," she adds, though she sounds chuckles and glances at Griselda's own knot, expression curious. She was there when Izzy got searched, after all. Cenlia opens her mouth to ask something, but a bit of hair-pulling catches her eye and Cenlia turns to snap at the offending kidlet, "Oy, cut that out or I'll have you send to Avaeth on a platter. With brandysauce!" Whatever Cenlia's been telling these kids, it can't be good for them. The little kid pales a bit and scuttles off to go make trouble further away from the cranky gardener. Spotting another one toddle off towards the trees, Cenlia starts to say something, but she sees his target is Rogawani. The gardener girl grins and calls over a, "Hey, hope you didn't kill the flowerbeds," snickering a bit. The girl's own hair is tied securely in a bun, and her usual toolbelt is missing today, replaced by an ordinary leather one.
Izzy has the kitchenworker knot again, no longer a candidate. She kneels down to unbuckle the toddlers from the stroller, tilting her head briefly at Rogawani, with a quickly suppressed smirk. "Man, the kids sure like you, don't they?" she notes, with a chuckle. It's a good thing, really. There's a shake of her head as she notes Rogawani's knot as well. "Won't catch me wearing one of those again. /Someone/ has to be a parent to these little rascals." there's a shake of her head at that. She does actually seem quite glad to not be a candidate anymore.
"Sometimes." Rogawani replies, pulling his head away from the grasping fingers that want to make a further mess of his hair. Still, he seems happy enough with the boy propped up on one arm. "I used to help my mom out when I was younger. It was one of the only times I got to spend with her after Donakan was born." His voice takes on a slightly saddned tone, but it's quickly lightened again as the boy tries to grab his nose. "Hey!" He says with a nasal sound to his voice. He pulls the kid's hands off of his nose and ruffles his hair before looking at Cenlia. "The flowerbeds are fine. I'm not as stupid with plants as some guys around here, you know. Kind of one of those trail-rider things, remember? Got to know what plants are good and bad." He raises his eyebrows towards her, and then sets the boy down. "Go play."
Cenlia grins a bit at Rogawani, giggling as he gets his nose grabbed. The gardener girl nods, glancing over the playing kids to make sure nobody's getting killed or anything. As she turns back to watch Izzy unbuckling the toddlers, Cen says jokingly, "Betcha they're gonna be right terrors." And speaking of terrors, Cenlia tilts her head thoughtfully to glance at Izzy. "Hey, you seen X'hil lately?" she asks aftera pause, the gardener girl momentarily frowning and adding, "Sir Kinseth was…" Cenlia pauses again, perhaps not quite sure how to phrase that. Loud? Upset? Strangely-talkative? She ends up trailing off without saying any of those things, instead glancing back at the playing children. Yay for distraction.
Griselda nods slowly as Rogawani mentions helping out his mother after Donakan was born. "Lucky." is all she says about that, not making eye contact with the candidates, looking away, at her own children. But it only lasts a moment, before she helps the toddlers out of the stroller and straightens up. "So… searched? Who by?" the question is to both candidates, though she looks at Cenlia. And then there's a frown. "X'hil? He's been busy… What /about/ Kinseth?" And then a second voice chimes in, a deeper voice, a male voice. "What about /Kinseth/?" It's X'hil, naturally, the seldom seen weyrsecond having snuck up behind Izzy just now. The recently freed toddlers toddle straight towards the man, but his expression is serious, concerned. What about Kinseth?
Rogawani's eyes stray towards the two toddlers as they are let loose from the stroller, folding his arms over his chest and watching with the calm expression of one who's used to being around children. "Yeah, I haven't seen X'hil in a while." Rogawani chimes in, obviously curious about the bronzerider, especially after the strangeness he encountered not that long ago from R'sul. It's just about then that a little girl comes up to him and pulls on his shirt. Bending down, "Yeah?" He asks, and the girl leans in to whisper in his ear. "Sure." He smiles, and then unzips his jacket a bit, a green firelizard head peeking out. "Go on." The little girl reaches out and takes the firelizard, who stares at her person warily before releasing him, sitting limply in the child's arms. That's when he catches the bronzerider's voice. "Oh, hey X'hil." He greets, all questions about him being searched forgotten for the time being.
Cenlia starts to answer about her being searched, her expression sour, "By some crazy-" but the gardener girl blinks, head quickly turning from the children to land on the bronzerider. She only looks startled for a moment before she frowns slightly and asks outright, "How come he doesn't want you drinkin'?" Straight to the point. From the trees, bronze Charmer trills a greeting, though whether it's to the weyrsecond or Rogawani's green is not clear.
X'hil kneels down to the toddlers at their insistent tugging, shoving a firelizard at the girl to distract her - poor Meredith actually succeeding at distracting quite well, it's obviously something the brown loathes, but has done before - and lifting the boy up onto his hip. X'hil frowns at Cenlia, and shakes his head, standing up again, still holding his son. "And hello to you to." he mutters, offering Rogawani a warmer "Hey, Rogawani. Seen A'li recently?" Has the man really been too busy to see his own brother, or is he just trying to make conversation? Griselda actually looks a little uncomfortable at the mention of X'hil not drinking, and sidles closer to Cenlia, though she doesn't say anything, not yet. Her eyes are on X'hil.
One of Rogawani's eyebrows shoots up, looking obviously surprised that anything could stop X'hil from drinking. He'd always thought that booze was to Cenlia and her bronzeriding friend something as necessary as air. He's drawn from his boggling thoughts about this, shooting a small smile towards X'hil. "Yeah, I spotted him with his blue a few days back when I was spending my day off at the beach. He's hunting on his own now." The boy reports, standing a little straiter and showing quite a bit of pride in his friend's accomplishments with his dragon. The little girl seems more than distracted with the green lizard, who gives a squeek as she's squeezed a bit too hard.
It's truly unfortunate that Cenlia is so preoccupied with eyeing X'hil suspiciously right now. Because emerging from the forest is the last person in Xanadu the gardener girl wants to see: Eledri. "Cenlia! Where have you been?" he calls over to her, for once not scowling, although the young man does look less than pleased when he spots X'hil, and even less pleased to see Griselda. There's a brief nod in Rogawani's direction, and an even briefer and slightly stiff greeting to the bronzer and Griselda, "Sir. Ma'am." He isn't here to make small talk, however, as he heads straight for gardener girl, saying sevrely, "Your cot in the dorms is empty. What's g-" Cenlia actually manages to look just a tad panicked, glancing around and as if she'd like to flee. Quickly. But it's too late. Eledri's seen the knot. Whatever he was going to say stays unsead. He stares for a moment, incredulous, and then promply rounds on X'hil, voice rising predictably, "What do you think you're doing?!"
X'hil actually smiles, a glimmer of pride showing through his serious face. "That's my A'li. Kinseth and I are very proud." Even if they had nothing to do with it - Re're's Saenkarith searched the boy, and sired Najimeth. He tilts his head at Rogawani, noting the knot. "Hey, congratulations. You might join him in the barracks before long." And then Eledri is rounding on him, and he /stares/. "What do I what? I have /no/ idea what you're talking about." he says, completely honestly, and in a level tone. Confusion now rules his expression. He hasn't been here very long, and he's just now starting to notice knots, so he hasn't really had time to see what Eledri is reacting to. He does glance to Cenlia, but to her face rather than her shoulder, blinking in confusion.
"Be gentle with her, she's not a toy." Rogawani tries to tell the little girl, who just giggles and shifts the little green lizard around in her arms, carrying her like a doll. With a half-smile on his face, he raises his head again to spot Eledri's approach. A quick flicker of a look towards Cenlia tells him all he needs to know… she wasn't hoping to see her brother. His reaction is nearly instinctual, stepping a bit closer to her in an almost protective fashion, shoving his hands into the pockets of his riding jacket, the same jacket that sports his own candidate knot. "Don't know about that much, but thanks." He nods towards the rider, and then seems to fall quieter. He's got himself positioned so that if he has to, all it would take is one step to put himself between Eledri and his sister.
"What the /shards/ do you think you're /doing/?" Eledri repeats, his voice is getting higher by the syllable, the man going slightly red in the face as X'hil apparently seems ignorant of the knot. Eledri looks furious. "I don't care /what/ rank you are or /how/ big your sharding dragon is!" Cenlia tries to back up a bit, and looks fleetingly grateful as Rogawani moves closer. The gardener girl makes a face as her brother starts yelling at the bronzer, the girl hunching her shoulders. "Oh shove it El-" is all she gets out, but a high-pitched, "/SHUT UP!/" from Eledri cuts her off. Facing X'hil again, the computercrafter balls his fists, still shouting, "Are you /mad/?"
X'hil just sort of /stares/ at Eledri, and carefully moves over to Griselda, handing over the toddler boy, before turning back to face Eledri, though he's keeping his distance for the moment. "I /must/ be mad, because this isn't making any sense. /What/ is your problem?" his voice is starting to raise a little, and his expression is quickly moving towards the stern, almost angry, but he's trying to keep calm. And, currently, not doing /too/ badly. Keep calm, keep calm, not in front of the children… "What am I supposed to have done, or not done, now?" he asks, spacing out his words slightly, as if it's all he can do to keep his tone level. Griselda just frowns, and glances over to Rogawani, looking a little lost and concerned. It's not really her place to do or to say anything, but that's her oldest and dearest friend that Eledri is chewing out there. Quite honestly, she's worried about how X'hil will react.
Rogawani's hands ball up into fists in his pockets, although he somehow manages to keep the rest of his expression carefully masked with the exception of a twist in his eyebrows. "Don't talk to her like that." He barks back defensively, scowling at the journeyman now as his tight control twitches loose. "You're the one that needs to shut up. X'hil had nothing to do with this." He's not yelling, but the boy's voice is deeper than he normally uses. A few of the nearer children are staring now, and the little girl with the firelizard is clutching the green tightly, looking shocked. "It's her life. Butt out."
Eledri turns his now-scowling face on Rogawani, fairly growling, "I'm her /brother/. She's my /responsibility/." Turning back to X'hil, Eledri yells, "YOU /aren't/! You can't just pin a knot on her, you sharding /bronzer/!" and he makes that last part sound like an insult, fairly spitting the word out. It's bad enough Cenlia treats X'hil like her favorite sibling most of the time, Eledri seems to have had it. "Maybe /you/ don't have any idea what responsibility /means/, but this is Cenlia's /life/. She doesn't make it here, she gets sent home and married off to some /apple-picker/!" And he makes /that/ sound like an insult too. And he's shaking his fist. At X'hil. It does look /absurd/, yes, but Eledri appears to be beyond caring. "Cenlia is /not/ standing!" Eledri gets a final yell in, rounding on his sister now, though the man is momentarily at a loss for words, his eyes flickering briefly over Rogawani as if sizing him up. Though that might be somewhat of a stretch, as the computercrafter still looks like a geek in those glasses. Eledri manages to sputter out a, "Th- this isn't a /game/, Cenlia! You can't just switch knots because you can't get a piece of paper signed!" Cenlia looks as if she's really like to punch Eledri. She really does. It doesn't help that the yelling has people staring. Okay, well mostly kidlets. But still, this is embarrassing. The gardener girl has had enough, her own voice rising, "Eled if ya don't shove it I'll shove my fist up your a- …face!" And she takes a step forward. Isn't there a rule about candidates getting into fights? Oh dear.
X'hil blinks at Eledri, and peers sideways at Cenlia, eyes going wide. "Hey, you got searched? /Shards/, I miss everything." Oh. Right. Outraged brother. Now that he's more informed, well, X'hil is actually still fairly confused. "Who says Cenlia isn't going to make it as a candidate? /Who/? /You/?" Oh dear, now he's irritated. "For the record, Kinseth did /not/ search Cenlia, but I have no doubt that he /would/ have. He /likes/ her. She /respects/ him." She calls him 'sir', not that 'sharding dragon', for one. He takes a step /towards/ Eledri, drawing up to his full height, to /loom/ over the computer crafter. "Maybe /you/ need a lesson. Candidacy isn't all fun and games, candidacy is /work/ and /responsibility/." He spits the last word back at Eledri. "Ultimately, it's /Cenlia's/ call. You may be her guardian here, but do you really want to be blamed for the 'what ifs' if you force her to back out now? Could you live with yourself if a dragon /died/, or an egg failed to hatch, because she wasn't on the sands that day?" Griselda winces, and steps forward, putting a hand on X'hil's arm, and the man blinks, realising he's raised a fist to Eledri, as well as gone perhaps too far in berating the man. He scowls, and lowers his arm, taking a step backwards, and saying in a softer tone, "I'm sorry, I really am, but the dragons saw something in Cenlia. That… You have to give her a chance." But his tone makes it plain he's /asking/, not ordering.
Rogawani just stays steadfast, not responding at first as he just stares at Eledri, playing the part of the silent bodyguard. When the computercrafter turns back to him, he just stares, eyes firm and body tense. Hearing her threat behind him, though, Ro' glances over his shoulder, a wry smile edging on to his face for a split second before fading again. "Cen, don't. You'll get in trouble." He says in a low voice, holding his arm out infront of her, but in a protective way, not restraining. Then, his eyes shift back to Eledri, and past him to X'hil. His head nods firmly once, apparently showing his agreement with what the Weyrsecond has said. "It's her call." He agrees, "Have a little faith in your sister. Have some faith in the dragons. They think she's here for a reason, and not just because of some piece of paper." He mutters, and then lowers his arm, sighing to himself.
Eledri actually looks startled now, and backs off at X'hil's words, the bits about 'work' and 'responsibility' causing the computercrafter to flinch, or maybe it was that raised fist? Either way, the scowl he turns on Cenlia isn't quite as ugly. Eledri actually loses some of the red in his face at the suggestion that a dragon could die. His expression might be answer enough, really, as the anger quickly gives way to embarrassment and leaves him going pale instead of flushed. He looks even more embarrassed at Rogawani's words - being told off by someone nearly five turns younger than himself has got to smart. Cenlia spares a quick, somewhat surprised glance at Rogawani, though she does quickly stop herself when the hand comes up, unclenching her own nearly-balled fist and looking… guilty? But Cen gets in a sharp word before Eledri can reply to either Rogawani or X'hil, the gardener girl muttering, "I ain't seen X'hil since the beach. Was some /other/ rider, you wherry! Ask Thea, she was /there/. And he ain't my /brother/," she somehow can't resist adding in, the girl indicating X'hil, "But he's a sharding lot bettern' you - I'd rather have /him/ for a brother than /you/!" And from her expression, she really looks like she means it, too. Ouch. Eledri just glares. At least he's silent now? The computercrafter's expression undergoes a curious change going from scowl to something less readable, as he says, "You… actually got /searched/?" Disbelief. But he doesn't stick around to hear her answer. He just turns with something of a growl, stalks back the way he came, jaw clenched. The anticlimatic exit has Cenlia letting out a slow, relived breath, and looking rather embarrased.
X'hil just looks guilty, and he didn't even /do/ anything. Though, the part about dragons possibly /dying/, that was rather harsh, he definitely regrets /that/. He watches Eledri in complete silence, and then just sort of deflates when Eledri leaves. The man sighs then, and shakes his head, turning to Cenlia. "I am sorry, I really am. Uh. I'd /congratulate/ you, but…" he grimaces slightly. He made his feelings clear though, when he said that Kinseth would have searched her. He sighs, and kneels beside the three turn old girl at his feet, finally rescuing the brown firelizard from her, and picking her up, now that Griselda is holding the boy. They seem to be gathered near Cenlia, X'hil on one side, kitchenworker Griselda a little behind him, and Rogawani on the gardener-turned-candidate's other side, with a young girl hugging a green firelizard nearby. There are also other young children and candidates on nanny duty. Eledri, Cenlia's computer crafter brother, has just stalked off.
For all his lack of turns and height, Rogawani certainly presents himself as a man when the need calls for it. He doesn't so much as look away from Eledri, even as Cenlia begins to yell at her brother from behind him. The effect is two-fold, to keep Cenlia from being kicked out of candidacy for fighting, and to keep Eledri from starting anything with his sister. Luckily, it seems nothing happens, and he continues to stand there staring at the back of the retreating computer crafter. "Shards." The boy curses under his breath, and then tries to shake off the tension. Luckily he has a little distraction. The little girl with the firelizard tugs on him again, and he leans down, patting her head. "It's okay, promise." The smile returns, and it seems things might, just might get back to something close to normal.
Yelling. Satoris was heading into the forest to decompress a little after the lovely chaos of hatching eggs in the caverns — the mess of which was left for candidates to clean up — when he overheard some kind of arguing. The Journeyman ventures into the theater area and comes to a somewhat startled stop. Not because of the arguing, but because of all the children. He's really not the kind of guy who knows what to do when kids are about.
Eledri stalks right past Satoris, without a word, the journeyman computercrafter looking like he could kill something. Possibly murder an ale. "Shards, he's worsen' my ma when she gets mad at my da for, uh, stuff," Cenlia watches Eledri go, still wary, and perhaps a tiny bit disappointed that she couldn't punch some sense into him. But at least he's gone now. The gardener girl glances around, self-consciously biting her lip as she catches sight of Satoris and her gaze passes over the kidlets, and then back to Rogawani and X'hil. Cenlia grins at Rogawani, looking relieved all the same. She then tilts her head at X'hil, frowning slightly, and saying, "I wanted to ask you…" and she hesitates, but instead of bringing up booze she says, "The way that rider and Thea was goin' on… it couldn't be a joke, right? She wouldn't set me up with a knot just to teach me some lesson, right? I mean… she went and brought me the letter all signed and everything right before it…" Cenlia grins, but the lightness of her tone does not quite make it to her eyes. Apparently the suspicion that she's not supposed to be there has really been nagging at her.
X'hil shakes his head slowly, then frowns, and turns to Cenlia, well, turns his head anyway. He's still kneeling with the toddler girl on his hip. "I thought you got that paper signed by Weyrleader D'son?" His and D'son's signatures, the two needed. And then she's wondering if she should be a candidate, and he shakes his head. "No. No, that would be a cruel joke, not, not Thea's style, and…" There's a pause then, and his eyes glaze over for just a moment. "And Kinseth agrees." That she should be a candidate? Probably. Griselda frowns a little, and shakes her head, moving over to Rogawani, a little surprised. "You… You handled that well." While she, worldly grown-up and mother of two, just sort of stood there blankly. She probably did stop X'hil from doing something he'd regret, but still. X'hil frowns a little, and tilts his head at the startled Satoris. "Hey." he nods to the miner, in a familiar sort of manner, though his brows are knitted as he tries to place the face. "They're just children, they won't, er, they don't bite … hard." If he could place the face, he might not be so quick to invite the man over.
Satoris is not entirely certain of what X'hil has said. About the not biting. And it's obvious in the way he watches the children out of the corner of his eyes, moving towards the trio there. He nods slightly to Cenlia and Rogawani, watching over his shoulder a bit as Eledri passes out of sight. "That didn't sound good. Is everything alright?" He's got a stack of papers shoved into his belt; paperwork not quite done, but nowhere else for it to be put.
The little girl and Rogawani have a brief moment, where he shows her about how to scratch the firelizard just the right way. Then, like most children do, she grows bored of the plaything and hands the limp lizard back to her owner. "That wasn't so bad, was it, Kia?" Chuckles to himself, as the little green quickly crawls back into his jacket, hiding from any further child-harassment. Patting the lump in his jacket, Ro' stands again, sweeping an eye over the children to make sure they are playing at least 'somewhat' nicely. Griselda's voice brings him back to reality, though, blinking and then flushing a bit as his boyish side returns. Ro' rubs at the back of his neck shyly, and then offers the woman a small smile. "I get defensive when anyone treats a girl that way." He admits, although he seems to keep his voice hushed, as if keeping it between the two of them. Then, his eyes sweep towards Cenlia, and he shoves his hands back into his pockets. "I don't think Thea would make a joke like that. Shards, I figured D'had was pulling one on me when Siebith asked me, but I don't think he'd joke about that either." He admits, turning to nod his head in greeting to Satoris. "Heard you lost one of your minors to the ranks of us white-knots."
Cenlia rubs the back of her neck, mimicking Rogawani before she seems to realize it and drops her hand with a sheepish grin, saying, "Eled ain't never gonna learn how to talk to girls," and she smirks, but doesn't explain the comment. At Satoris' question, Cenlia looks a bit embarrassed and nods, "Yeah, 's fine. My brother just got a trundleug up his butt about me bein' searched." She seems to shrug it off, though, glancing back at X'hil and giving him a long, speculative look, but seeming to accept his answer. If he says so - and if Sir Kinseth says so - then she isn't going to argue.
X'hil is still frowning at Satoris. He knows he should be able to place the man, he /knows/ he should, but… It's like there's some kind of block in his mind. There's a shake of his head then. "Ah, it's okay, children are harmless. Well, mostly harmless." He doesn't really comment on what just happened though, just frowning. There is a brief shake of his head though, and he turns to the messenger-turned-candidate. "Shards, Rogawani, I'm surprised it took this long. For what it's worth, I think you'd make a great rider." X'hil says, finally standing, hefting the three-turn-old girl on his hip with the ease of familiarity. He even smiles at her, a little. He seems to have settled into fatherhood, for all it was a surprise. He gets that serious look on his face again when Cenlia mentions her brother, though. "He … means well?" … yeah, he's not too fond of Eledri, but at least he's trying to make things, well, maybe not /better/, exactly, but not worse… He's trying, anyway.
"Not like he did anything really useful," Satoris mutters, as if it doesn't phase him at all. Or maybe it does and that's why he's got such a devil-may-care attitude about it. "As for your brother," he says, focusing on Cenlia — almost sternly — for a moment, "ignore him. He ought to be proud of you and hopeful for you. If not? Well, likely he's jealous, in which case his opinion ought to matter even less." The journeyman glances back to X'hil and ponders for a moment. Then there's a sigh. "I'm afraid for all my drinking, I've forgotten a number of things. What is your name?" The rider is spared! For now.
Rogawani's nervous hand drops down to his side just a half-second after Cenlia's, shooting her a bit of an unsure smile. Luckily, there's distraction enough to draw his eyes away, and the smile becomes a crooked smile as the boy hooks his hands into his belt, "Surprised? Shards, X'hil, I'm surprised the dragons even bothered with me." He laughs a little bit, and then runs a hand through his hair, half-shrugging. "It's a trade-off. The chance to stand, and the torture of sharing a barracks with my half-brother." His face seems to falter, reminded of something. He mutters a curse under his breath. "Speaking of that… mom wanted to talk to me about Don's missing necklace." He claps himself on the forehead, and then sighs. "I've got to go." He excuses himself, as politely as he can manage, and then pulls something out of his pocket that looks like a crystal on a chain. A moment later, he's racing up the path and into the forest, much to the dismay of one bright firelizard who had been trying to snuggle up to Charmer during the whole escapade.
Cenlia makes a face when X'hil mentions Eledri meaning well, the girl muttering, "Yeah, I guess." Although she glances in the direction her brother left with a slight frown. She's going to regret what she said to him eventually, but for now Satoris' words have her attention, and she nods to him, a the sides of her mouth tugging upwards at the mention of jelousy. At Rogawani's mention of his brother, Cenlia raises her eyebrows, muttering, "Shards, I'm glad Eled's not been searched," but Rogawani's already heading off, so Cenlia waves though she glances back at all the kidlets in the playground and makes a face. Eyeing them to make sure nobody's getting troublesome, she glances back at the three adults. Meanwhile, in the trees, poor Charmer trills unhappily. Shiny friends are nice to snuggle up to!
X'hil grimaces. Drinking? /Drinking/? …is that jealousy in his eyes? "Ah, it's X'hil. I ride bronze Kinseth." And wear the knot of weyrsecond, but he doesn't draw attention to it. He wouldn't normally, and right now he's relieved that he's just been spared. There's a blink, and a frown. "He /might/ be jealous, at that." The man frowns then, something else tickling at the back of his mind. As Rogawani heads out, the man shakes his head. "I wish him luck. Not that he needs it." Well, it can't /hurt/, anyway. There's a nod to Cenlia. "For the record, I really doubt Kinseth would search Eledri." That doesn't mean another dragon won't though… And then Griselda is moving away to sit down on a bench not far off, patting it and inviting Cenlia to join her. Distraction? Gossip maybe?
"I wouldn't mind sharing space with my brother again…" Then again, Satoris was one of those lucky kids who got along with his older brother. He watches Rogawani disappear to… chores, or somesuch. There's a brief glance at Cenlia. "I've been told the Dragons don't make mistakes." Usually. He won't mention his own experiences. Not right now. He's mind enough for that. Thea's lessons in women must be helping! "Just… think ahead. About the eggs and the hatching." He nods to X'hil, flashing a smirk. "Sorry, if I didn't recognize you right off. So many names going through my head some days. I'm Satoris, the Journeyman Miner here. I manage the mine over," he gestures, vaguely, through the trees, "thataway."
Cenlia smirks, "Eled doesn't even wanna be in a weyr," but the girl shrugs, her eyes drifting in the direction Eledri went once again. She looks thoughtful for a moment, though Satoris' mention of eggs and hatching has the gardener girl smiling. Now that she's relatively sure it's not a joke, the thought seems to be ocurring to her that yes, she actually /could/ impress a dragon. "Shards," she murmurs, eyes on the playground, but with a twinge of excitement in her expression as she's not really really thinking of the kidlets scattered about the place. She catches sight of Izzy moving over to a bench, and wanders after, plopping down and glancing back at the two men curiously, as if considering something, but her attention focuses back on Izzy. Cenlia hasn't forgotten the question X'hil failed to answer earlier!
X'hil nods slowly at Satoris, looking vaguely 'thataway' at the miner's gesturing. "Hm. Mine management. Good work." He glances down to Satoris' belt, and the paperwork stuffed there. Now it makes sense. Almost. "Good work. Good work. I know paperwork." he grimaces. He's still not saying what it is he does, and quite probably isn't going to. He doesn't like to make a thing of it. But it definitely involves paperwork. "Hmm. I don't know that I've seen the mine. Properly, up close, I mean." But he's hardly making a move to go anywhere, not with that three turn old girl on his hip. Griselda has the same aged boy on her lap, and she's eyeing Satoris. Seems /someone/ knows where X'hil recognises the man from. And, well, X'hil might have cottoned on some time ago, but bewildered is almost normal for him, so it's hard to tell. The kitchenworker frowns, and glances to X'hil, then turns back to Cenlia. "Shards, but I worry about him sometimes." is all she says, for the moment, but there's more on the tip of her tongue.
The underbrush rustles, and from it steps a very large blond-haired man. He looks around as if he doesn't know where he is. "Shards this place is confusin'…" he mutters. "Bah…." He looks to the assemblage of people, and blinks. He doesn't speak just yet, but a moment later, nods and strides forward. He looks at knots, looking for people who are in charge. He knows Xanadu's colors, if nothing else. It's X'hil that his eyes finally come to rest on. He gives the others polite nods and smiles, not wanting to be rude, but makes a beeline for X'hil. "Are ye Xanadu's weyrsecond?" he inquires politely. He offers a salute. "I've been sent ta find B'ky. Seems 'e left some things at Fort, an' the one who found 'em is tryin' ta return 'em."
Satoris isn't an enabler! Oddly enough. He's more of an 'alone time' drinker, which means inviting others to join him just doesn't work. When you don't have your own room and rarely sleep anyway, you hold tight to what places and times you /do/ get to yourself. Drunk is Satoris' place. He watches Cenlia join the kitchenworker, glancing back to X'hil. "I would love to foist off the paperwork, but last time I tried, none of it got done. So I end up doing it all and find myself with… far too much to do somedays. It'd be nice to get a break sometime." Then the rather large rider, with a Fortian knot, approaches. Satoris raises his eyebrows, then glances to X'hil. Comprehension dawns: a-/ha/.
Cenlia eyes Izzy, though the arrival of the Fortian catches her attention for a moment, the girl's eyebrows rising curiously. But she's got something on her mind, and now that the weyrsecond is out of earshot - or so Cen assumes - the gardener-girl-turned-candidate turns back to Izzy and asks, "How come? 'Cause he runs off sometimes?" Sometimes. Cenlia obviously has a much higher opinion of X'hil now, especially after all the yelling that just happened. The near-violence doesn't seem to bother Cen as much. But she glances back at X'hil for a moment before saying, "Something's gotta be wrong if Sir Kinseth dun want him drinkin'. Thought X'hil'd gone and done something awful. Figure Sir Kinseth's got a good reason… wouldn't tell me though, but shards, even if he was busy later, it was Benden Red." She manages not to pout, but obviously, turning down good wine has got her suspicious. Okay, she probably wouldn't have thought twice about it, except that a certain someone was being rather suspiciously and suddenly talkative. There's concern in her face, though, as she glances back at the bronzer.
X'hil blinks, and peers at the rustling underbrush, or rather the very large man who just emerged from that direction. And then the tall man makes a beeline for him, with a salute. "Oh, please, don't do that." he groans at the salute, eyes flicking to the weyrling's knot, then tilting his head. Those definitely aren't Xanadu's colours. He was about to say something else, but business is at hand. "Mmhmm, okay… B'ky?" he frowns, eyes unfocusing. "Right, right, okay. Recent transfer." Did he just have Kinseth mentally review the paperwork? "Comet wing." A very brief look passes over his face then, at the wing name, but it passes. "I… I'll have Kinseth send someone over." Someone who can find B'ky, if not actually B'ky himself. He seems distracted, glancing over to the forest. "Hmm." he frowns. "Hang on a moment." he mutters, glancing from Ai'an to Satoris. "Here, we could go look, if you'd prefer." Oh, please. Doing is so much better than not doing. Izzy frowns, and shakes her head. "I… he's just a bit…" she mutters, and shakes her head. "He's just a bit /stupid/. Drinking himself to death, /working/ himself to death, it's all the sharding same." She's angry and hurt and concerned. He's her /friend/. She is careful to keep her voice low though, she doesn't want him to overhear. Not that he'd notice right now, distracted as he is.
Liya strides in at an easy pace along the trail, her hands loosely knitted before her. Her eyes focus before her, though she oddly seems unknowing as to where she walks. As she enters the clearing, surrounded by playground equipment, her steps cease, glancing about herself for a moment, coming out of what only could be a daze. Her brows knit as she turns back around, avoiding one or two small children, and makes her way to a nearby bench, lowering herself down.
Drinking and working self to death? That could be Satoris! Except he's also being terrible about avoiding Zevida for far too long. The miner casts a glance to Cenlia and the kitchenworker, then to all the children. Anywhere without children is good enough for him. "I'm not sure how comfortable I am staying here for too long," the miner admits, muttering so only the two riders should hear. "I don't mind helping find… B'ky, you said?"
Ai'an gives a bit of sheepish look at the orders not to salute. "Ah…sorry," he offers. "Force o' habit." He falls silent then, as X'hil reviews things mentally. "Eh…well, either one'd work." He gives a smiles. "I'm sure yer busy, so I'll leave ya be. Jus' wanted ta let it be known that 'e's got some stuff still at Fort, tha's all." He makes to salute X'hil, and then thinks better of it, giving a polite, respectful nod. "Thank ya, sir." And then he turns, giving everyone the same polite and friendly nod and smile on his way out.
Cenlia just eyes Izzy, "Drink and work…?" She frowns, "Y'mean he ain't done nothin' wrong? Just drinkin' too much?" Too much work seems to be a given. Cenlia looks relieved, but also slightly exasperated. "What he shardin' needs is a /vacation/." As if that were obvious. "Thought he'd gone and done something while drunk, like tumbled Thea while drunk or somethin'." Hey, it's the first thing that came to her mind, and Cenlia has seen enough of Thea to suspect that would be almost as bad as breaking the travel ban. But the girl grins and gets up, as if to go tell X'hil that /right now/, but hesitates as she sees the Fortian man leave and spots Liya? Cenlia blinks and asks, "Y'alright?"
A bronze head peeks into the theatre from the forest then, and X'hil blinks. "I. Huh. Okay." he murmurs, tilting his head slightly. "Er, Satoris…" The bronze finds a wide enough gap in the trees and comes striding in, careful as he can. "…have you met Kinseth?" Then he blinks, and stares. Kinseth comes right over, and gives a look to Satoris, nods, and keeps moving. X'hil blinks, but doesn't let it distract him. "Kinseth … Kinseth would like to offer you a break from paperwork. Do you accept?" he pulls a white knot out. Meanwhile, Kinseth is peering about, as though looking for something, or someone. He seems a little … dazed. Izzy snorts, and shakes her head. "What, getting into fights isn't enough? Shards, he's lucky he still has his /knot/ after he decked your brother, at your turnday." Well, he /is/. X'hil is a fighting drunk, apparently.
Liya lifts her gaze to Cenlia as she speaks, her head tilting slightly. "Oh, me?" she says, though seeming a little off. "Yeah," she says with a shake of her head. "I was just walking…and kind of dazed off." Her lips part in a warm smile, though the expression on her face shows a bit of confusion intermingled. "I think I've been working too much lately…I'm Liya, have we met before?" She studies Cenlia for a long minute before catching her bottom lip between her teeth, possibly a nervous expression.
There's a slight nod to Liya from Satoris. He's not familiar with her and, well, with all the children about, he's not the most sociable. Okay, that's a lie. Satoris is never very sociable. "Kinseth? I can't say specifically, no-" But then, he can't really say he's met many anyway. Zevida's lifemate is really the only one he knows. "What?" The question comes after a moment of the miner being the one who's got the dazed look. He glances at the knot and opens his mouth to protest as the meaning sinks in. Reflex, really. And then it closes, brain chugging along and processing. Avaeth's clutch is on the Sands. And he still hasn't made up with Zevida yet. "Would… I have to stop working with the mine completely? The person that oversees it for me isn't ready for the work."
Cenlia grins, likely recalling said decking incident, and saying somewhat defensively, "Eled /deserved/ it," and there's a pause before she adds somewhat sourly, "He usually does." But her brother aside, the girl shrugs, "Lost it once, got it back even /with/ all the weyrwomen mad at him." She's still somewhat impressed by that, though the girl likely doesn't know how he got it back, or why. When Cenlia sees Kinseth, she waves and calls over her usual greeting to him, "Hello, Sir Kinseth," though Liya's question has the girl turning back to grin a bit, "Don't think so, might've run into each other in the garden maybe. I'm Cenlia." The gardener girl extends a hand, adding, "Too much work ain't ever good." Cenlia's eyebrows go up when she spies Satoris being offered the knot, though she doesn't coment.
X'hil shakes his head slowly. "No, no, you'd have afternoons free for other work." There's a pause, and he admits, "You'd have to give up the drinking though, that's … not allowed. For candidates." Poor Satoris. The man does actually seem a little apologetic for that rule. Kinseth moves over towards the women now, curiously. Griselda just shakes her head. "No, no, not me, not again." she hisses at the bronze, but it doesn't seem as though he was interested in her to begin with. Griselda snorts. "Okay, maybe he /did/ deserve it, but still. The weyrsecond is supposed to know better, /behave/ better." And then she tilts her head at Liya, with a curious frown. "Lost in thought? Ah, I'm Griselda. Ignore the dragon, that's just Kinseth." Kinseth is /awfully/ close to them, though.
Liya flashes Cenlia another smile as she extends a hand, shaking it firmly before releasing. "Nice to meet you, Cenlia." Settling her hands in her lap, her head turns as the bronze approaches, her brows lifting for a moment as she looks over him, though has obviously been around quite a few dragons and offers another warm smile to him, and then to Griselda. "Kinseth..and Griselda. Nice to meet both of you." She looks back to Kinseth for a long gaze, then back to other women. "Oh, yeah. I tend to get wrapped up in my thoughts as I walk. Though generally I remember where I was walking to." A light blush rises to her cheeks as she shakes her head slightly.
"Oh." That does bring Satoris pause. He remembers that, from the times he's had to, y'know, be mean to the candidates. He has to think it over some more and finally nods. "I'll do it." Both Zevida and Thea would never forgive him if he didn't: it's the former's clutch and the latter's been trying to get him to slow down the drinking anyway. No need to have two Weyrwoman angry with him. "Just so long as I can still check in on the mine frequently and make sure everything's being taken care of," he assures X'hil. There's concern there. Leave it to Satoris to be concerned about an object, of sorts.
"Was he supposed to let Eled deck me first?" Cenlia asks Izzy, though the gardener girl makes a face, muttering, "Paperwork makes everybody stuffy 'round here." Though how that relates to the current discussion she doesn't elaborate. Also, ignore the dragon? It's hard to ignore something that big, especially if it gets close, and Cenlia gives the bronze a curious glance, but she's distracted as she nods to Liya with a, "Pleased to meetcha."
Griselda scowls at Kinseth. "Go /away/. I'm /not/ sharding interested." she tells the bronze, firmly. X'hil blinks a little at her reaction, and frowns. "Oi, Kinseth! /Back off/." he snaps, putting as much authority as he can muster behind those two words. Kinseth is so surprised that he actually does back off, /staring/ at X'hil. X'hil mutters and shakes his head. "You can definitely work in the mines in the afternoons. You'll just have to make sure to get candidate chores done first, I'm afraid." he says to Satoris, before shooting a stern /look/ at Kinseth, sending the bronze slinking away, and the man following. Griselda actually looks guilty. "Oh, shards, I'd better see if I can sort this out, the man is a mess, honestly." she mutters, leaving the toddlers with Cenlia and heading after X'hil.
"Well, of course," Satoris says after X'hil, as if he couldn't even /imagine/ not doing his chores. Who wouldn't?! It's your job, as a candidate! He looks at the white knot and affixes it in place of his Journeyman knot… which gets tucked into a pouch. "Well. Uhm." He glances to Cenlia. "Want to show me to the barracks? I mean, I know where it is, but… it might.." he seems a bit lost. This is a very new, strange territory for him.
Liya just blinks with the exchange from Griselda, Kinseth, and X'hil. With a long inhale, and perhaps a longing glance between Satoris and Cenlia, she rises from the bench where she sits. "I think I might head back to the Annex…maybe get a little more work done before I lay down. It was really nice to meet you. Next time maybe we can chat." The last part has a faint tone of doubt, considering candidacy takes up a great deal of time…along with work. "You two have fun."