Xanadu Weyr - Meadow
A large, slightly rolling meadow is set high enough above the riverbank on both sides to avoid suffering from flooding, healthy ground cover and grass spreading out from either side of the dividing river. Scattered amongst the meadow are a variety of buildings, each with a narrow path leading up to it from a main, winding road. Some are set under a few trees, while others sit by themselves.
Stables and a smithy are settled on their own plots, while trees border the western edge of the meadow, and a faint outline of a fence can be seen to the north.
Its winter! But then many already have figured that out thanks to the snow across the ground, and the cold air that blows across any part of the Weyr. Idrissa is making her way on into the meadow humming a faint tune to herself as she goes, she has on a rather thick looking coat that she managed to get from somewhere as the one she normally wears was just not up to the task of trying to keep her warm during this weather. A rather large steel blue-gray colored puppy is following along at her side, the puppy is just rather large and looks more like a medium sized adult dog, his rather long legged and has a scruffy looking appearance, an a leather collar rests around his neck.
ka-el usually is found carrying things, for that seems to be the extent of his apprenticeship for now. Carry this here. Bring this over there. Haul these to this place and then bring that back. It's not difficult work, just tiresome when the things that need to be carried and hauled usually have quite a bit of weight to them. For instance. At this time, Kale is making another delivery by foot, hauling a wheelbarrow full of broken rods towards the forge. If nothing else, the manual labor helps to keep him warm in an otherwise chilly world! The wheelbarrow leaves a trail in the snow, and each breath he exhales is frosty. He pauses for a break, easing the wheelbarrow down with a grunt. He leans against it, and his attention is taken almost immediately by the sight of Idrissa…and a dog! "Hey!" he calls, waving a hand. "What've y'got there?"
Definitely winter. Being without an apprenticeship, Soriana just ends up with a share of general weyr chores. It depends, in part, on whether notices her not doing anything and gives her something to do. At the moment, she's coming out from the caverns with a firelizard on her shoulder and a suspicious bulge in the front of her oversized jacket. When she sees Kale and Idrissa (and dog!) she grins and waves, turning in that direction.
Idrissa glances up at the voice and smiles while waving over at Kale as she continues on towards where he and the wheelbarrow happen to be. "Hey Kale." She offers while peering at the wheelbarrow in question and then hums as she looks to her dog and grins. "Don't you know what a dog is?" This questioned with a joking tone. The dog in question trots on up to Kale and snuffles out at him, tail wagging about while he does the whole puppy wiggle bit. "Cute an't he?" She also catches sight of Soriana and waves back to her. "Hey Sori."
Cute? Eh. It's not a word that Kale would use … out loud anyway. Even if it is true because said dog is in fact very cute by any standards! But, being fourteen and all, he's not going to let that word slip. "/Yes/ I know what a dog is," he remarks with a smirk. "He's a good lookin' dog, at. What're you goin' to use him for? Hunting?" he assumes, though doesn't sound all too convinced that that'll be the case. He kneels when the canine comes nearer, and he grins as he reaches out to scratch his head and rub his face playfully. "Is he one've the pups you were speaking of before? You said you were going to look at a litter?" He glances up at her, then over to Soriana, who earns a wave.
Soriana grins as she gets closer, then puts on a very serious face. "It's like an ovine," she informs Kale, "-but less fluffy. And carnivorous." The grin breaks out again, because obviously Kale knows very well what a canine is. She stops near her two friends, as Toral chirps politely and the top of her jacket …squirms.
Idrissa grins as she hears Kale and chuckles. "Naw, I thought about training him to pull a cart. Would be very helpful and useful with chores and other things." She looks amused as she says that, anything to make work a little bit easier! The dog leans into the attentions from Kale and even goes so far to give him a lick across the face, dog slobber! Rissa grins as she hears Soriana. "Indeed.. His just a puppy and he is /huge/." Well compard to her he is, the dog can stand up and his forepaw rest on her shoulders nearly. "Yup, he was the last one of the litter, so.. I got him. Oh, I figured his name would be Asher too Sori." A slight nod seen as she finally agreed on the name. An Asher looks over to Soriana, sniffing out at her, he knows that her jacket just was all squirming!
Kale very exaaaageratedly rolls his eyes at the explanation given by Soriana, and after the elaborate rolling, he settles his eyes on her. "Uh huh. I'm forever in your debt for that, Soriana, for without it, I don' think I ever would've known what this creature is." He smirks just as the dog feels the need to lick at his face. Yuck! Canine breath! But he doesn't seem to mind, apparently having been licked across the face a few times in his time. Hopefully by dogs. He gives the animal a few more pats and roughhousing before he stands again. "Asher? Sounds fitting, given his coat. I approve."
Soriana just grins at Kale's retort, and steps closer as Asher comes toward her. "Yeah, it seems like a good name… doesn't it, Asher?" she asks the dog, because of course he'd be the one who'd know. Assuming he even recognizes his own name, yet. The canine is right to be suspicious of her jacket, though… it squirms again, and then… ferret! Inkfoot pokes his head out with a mighty dook, and Toral chirps to the tunnelcat from his perch.
Idrissa laughs as she hears Kale. "Well.. you already owe her two things of debt, you gonna go for three?" She questions with an amused tone while Asher wiggles about and soon headbutts Kale, or at least attempts to as his attention it back on Sori at the 'dook'. The dog tilts his head and slowly creeps forward, head stretching out and she sniffsniffsniffs towards the head that is poking out from the jacket. "I.. don't think his seen a tunnelcat before." Which wouldn't be a surprize around here really.
Kale snickers at Idrissa's quip and glances at Soriana. "True, an' I'd hate to have to wait to be informed of yet /another/ task that I owe. It took her long enough to tell me of jus' the one, and there's still another of hers to be told and the both of yours, Idrissa." He sighs, shoulders slumping. "The more I think've this, the foolish the wager sounds. Why would I agree to four?" He smirks after and shakes his head. "Ah well. I've learned for next time, eh?" He grins at sher, amused by his antics, especially when Inkfoot makes his appearance. "Ah. An' here I was hopin' that the bundle under your jacket was somethin' like a cake." He looks disappointed.
At Idrissa's comment about Kale's debt, Soriana glances to the boy briefly, but her attention is quickly drawn back by a curious Asher. Inkfoot peers down at the canine, and squeakdooks! before wriggling his way out of the jacket. He'd probably leap straight into the air, if Sori didn't catch him instead and lower him toward the canine. "Yeah, there's not many tunnelcats here… and why in the world would cake be wriggly?" The tunnelcat seems utterly fearless, leaning forward and sniffing curiously at the much-larger beast.
Idrissa ohs at this and grins. "What did Sori get ye to do?" She questions with an amused tone having no clue what it could possible be! Asher snuffles out at Inkfoot and then attempts to give him a lick for good measures. Well he is a puppy, everything needs to be sniffed and licked! "Maybe.. he thought it was a live cake?"
For some reason, answering Idrissa doesn't come easy. In fact, the question is making him feel a little embarassed. Not embarassed by Soriana, though the task, for whatever reason, seems…well, embarassing! And so he detours around answering for now, instead focusing on the cake. Or lack thereof. "I didn't see the wriggly part til it was too late an' my hopes were already dashed. But, the wather bein' what it is an' all, I had hoped that you were on your way to deliver a freshly baked cake, or pie. And I had also hoped that upon delivery, the person you were givin' it to changed her mind and said she didn't want it. Then, my last hope was that you'd remember me, poor me, pushin' along this cart here," a gesture to his wheelbarrow, "an' would give me the cake or pie cuz you felt sorry for me."
Inkfoot is licked! The ferret blinks, then… plants his paws against the canine's muzzle, leaning in and sniffing and nosing vigorously! Soriana laughs, trying to keep a hold of him so he doesn't tumble to the snow. Toral chirrups, and takes flight. Sori rather misses the bit where Kale doesn't answer Idrissa's question, but she does hear the bit directed at her! "'Cause… the tragedy of - hey, watchit Inkfoot! - you not havin' cake is tragi- no, Asher is not your runner - tragic. Almost unbearably so."
Idrissa watches the two and smirks a moment. "Neither of you are gona to answer me?" She questions curiously an a faint huff escapes her. Asher wiggles about and grins at Inkfoot and gives the tunnelfoot another lick while his muzzle and nose wiggles about. "I didn't think it was that hard of a question to answer."
"Very tragic," Kale agrees. Insert sage nod here. The antics of pup and tunnelcat are amusing to watch, but he's brought out of his observation as Idrissa comments. "Huh?" Blink blink. "Oh. No, no.. not a hard question," he says with a wave of his hand. "I, uh…well, it's a pretty easy one, really. Makes me think that she's savin' the horrible stuff for her second task." He grins, eyeing Soriana a moment. "She's … er, apparently there's this…dance? happening, and I'm to go with her to it."
So tragic. There's a lack of cake. "They didn' have any cake in the caverns," Soriana says, shaking her head. "Not even cookies. Just like… vegetables. And stew." Her tongue is stuck out briefly, not unlike how Asher's is as the canine and tunnelcat continue to make friends or at least wiggle at each other. Now with the reminder from Idrissa, she blinks. Oh, did it not get answered? Well… it's nothing hard, no. Which is why she'll let Kale answer it instead of her, yes! Maybe once she comes up with the second task, she'll explain that one herself. This one… nope, he can explain it to Idrissa. After all, she's the one who had to tell it to him!
Idrissa peers at them still, waiting for the answer to what Kale's fate is! She ohs at this. "There's gona be a dance?" See, she has NO idea what goes on around this place. A curious glance is sent to Sori and she looks back to Kale almost looking confused before a faint nod is seen. "Well.. Sounds like fun." She isn't too sure how to answer that. Asher sits down in front of Soriana, a large forepaw lifting to attempt to bat out at Inkfoot, which Rissa leans over to poke at him. "Don't do that. Your too big to play with Inkfoot."
"Yeah. T'was news to me too," admits Kale with a smirky look to Idrissa. "but, there it is, my first task. It'll be my first dance here on Xanadu. I… I'm wonderin' what to expect," he says, thinking back to the skinny dipping incident on the beach incident. Hopefully, the folks around here go to dances clothed…ahem. He glances from Idrissa, to Soriana, then perks. Inspiration!! "Hey, Idrissa can come too, right? I mean, this isn't an invitation only sort've thing, is it?"
Nuh-uh! Inkfoot can totally take this canine. He is Inkfoot the mighty! Boss of dragons! Destroyer of felines! The only reason there haven't been songs written about him is that the harpers have been busy. That's all! He dooks to Asher, doing his best to hop side to side in Soriana's hands. The girl laughs, lifting him up and away before he gets into trouble. "Yeah, uhm… it's not for a while yet, but… I overheard a couple of the cavernworkers talking about planning stuff. So… yeah." How she got from its existence to the idea that she should go with Kale, well… that is left as a mystery. "It'll be fun," she says to Kale's wondering. Not perhaps the most detailed reassurance, but it's not like she has details to give, either. At his mention of Idrissa coming, there's a fleeting sort of frown. But going to the dance! "Well, yeah, it's for everyone. I mean… sure." A brief pause, then she grins again. "We'll hafta find /her/ someone to go with, too!" Because Kale is not making this a just-a-friend thing so easily, oh no.
Idrissa grins as she watches Asher and Inkfoot, the dog at elast doesn't try to tackle Soriana to get at Inkfoot so they can play, but he does whineeeeeee.. Rissa glances to Sori and nods slightly, a faint smile seen. "Well that sound nice. Dance, an planning an.. all." Like she knows what to expect. She blinks and shakes her head to Kale while letting a hand settle against Asher once the overgrown pup comes back to her. "Naw its alright.. I wouldn't know what to do at a dance anyway." As Sori suggestes finding her someone to go with she goes rather pale. "Who'd want to go to a dance with me?…Not like I know anyone around here other then you two and Mikal. An I'm /NOT/ going with Mikal." As for that frown from Sori she did catch it..
But .. didn't they already find someone for her to go with? It's very simple in Kale's mind. They all go together! Done deal. That way he's still holding up his end of the wager with Soriana by going with her, and it all seems much more manageable and less awkward with Idrissa in the picture too! But as Sori speaks of finding a date for Idrissa too…he inwardly ughs. Leave it to girls to make things complicated! "You'd have us," he points out. Maybe they just need to hear it aloud. "We'd all be there so we might as well eat together 'n dance together an'.. whatever else." He grins at them both. Perhaps an added grin will help things along.
Going… with Mikal? Soriana shudders at the very prospect. "Oh, shards, no. Not Mikal." Her head is firmly shaken, because that would just be… horrid. Kale just gets a look, because he clearly doesn't get what's going on here. Possibly willfully so. "Well of course we'll all hang out there together," she says, but then she continues, "But I'm goin' with you, and so Idrissa needs someone to go with too. So she's got someone to dance with when we're dancing together."
Idrissa would have been perfectly find tagging along with the two, but Soriana sort put a damper on that saying they would have to find someone to go with her, an that frown.. Which no Rissa isn't about to forget. Her gaze lingers on Soriana a few moments before it lowers down to Asher and quietly pets and scratches against his shoulders. "Maybe I can just take Asher?.." She's joking, really. "I dono how to dance.." Is offered after a moment at the talk of dancing and she shakes her head slightly, the more it is talked about the more unsure she gets about the whole thing.
It doesn't seem as if Kale is going to get any slack from Soriana, who is adamant about Idrissa finding an escort for herself as well. So much for his mighty plan of a friendly threesome group. He relents. "Ah, alright then. She'll need a dance partner, an' I don't think a dog will do much for ya," he says to Idrissa directly, snickering at her suggestion. If he notices her discomfort, he makes no sign of it and instead begins to move, pacing toward his wheelbarrow in thought and plucking a short and broken rod from within to fiddle with as he thinks. "I might know a fella.. maybe," he begins, nodding to himself. "He's a crafter too. Woodcraft apprentice. He might want ta go. Shall I ask?"
They will do this thing properly, they will. So decrees Soriana. At Idrissa's hesitation, she relents ever so slightly. "If… /if/ we don't find anyone, you'll still come and Kale'll dance with you some. But we're gonna look for someone, just for you. Shouldn't be hard. You're pretty an' nice, so there's bound to be plenty of /good/ boys who'd want to take you." As opposed to boys like Mikal. She nods firmly, and conveniently enough, Kale provides an initial lead! She grins, and nods. "Yeah. You ask him if he wants to go, and if he does… we'll meet him up with Rissa and see." It's like pairing runners! ..sorta.
Idrissa watches the two quietly a few moments as they talk, its like she's not even there.. Or at least that is how it feels to her at the moment. She is about to say something to Kale and then Sori answers. "I.. don't know.." Is offered after a moment, tone should be enough to show she is clearly very unsure about all this, but then it is Rissa an she tends to be unsure about a lot of things when it comes to social advents. She lets her gaze rest on Asher and she hugs the dog to her slight whom just leans against her happy with the attention. "I guess I could meet 'em."
Kale tosses the metal piece back into the wheelbarrow with a clang and heads towards Idrissa. An arm is slung over her shoulder in a show of comaradarie. "It'll be fun. He's a nice fella, from what I can tell. He'll make for a good escort." Escort. Not date. Because that's what Kale is too. An escort! Soriana didn't say anything about this being a /date/. He grins encouragingly before lifting his arm from her. "Then it's settled, an' you girls didn't make it difficult /at all/," said with obvious sarcasm. "So all we need now is to figure when this dance is, an' go."
Soriana grins to Idrissa in a way meant to be reassuring. Her social life is well in hand, so she doesn't have to worry herself about it! All these things will be taken care of. "It'll be fun!" she says, then sticks out her tongue at Kale. "Just 'cause you grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere…" Like she did! "…and don't know about the proper way to do these things!" Okay, admittedly, she's mostly making this up as she goes along, but! She has observed several relationships of the older-teenager and early-twentysomething nature (from a safe distance), and so she totally knows how they work. Yes. Totally. "Yeah. S'posed to be a couple months… maybe it'll be spring, even!"
Idrissa glances to Kale at the hug, a faint smile seen, an she gives his arm a slight pat. "Alright.. alright.." Is soon heard, a faint sigh escapes her an she glances back to Soriana smirking. "I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere." She points out with an amused tone. An Sori knows that! "Do.. we have to dress up an stuff for it?" This questioned with a very unsure tone at the thought. "I can't imagne showing up in our normal clothing would be such a good thing if its a dance an stuffs."
Ha! With as many older brothers as he has, Kale should be the prince of charm and know all of the romancing tricks in the book. Maybe, in all of his fourteen turns, he just wasn't paying attention! He makes a face at Soriana, eyes crossing and nose scrunching up. A grin ruins the look though, and he fixes his face and vision as Idrissa questions of attire. Hm. That…is a very good question. Oh no. Does he even /have/ anything that may be worthy of a Xanadu dance? That'll mean shopping! Hopefully it /is/ in spring. He can procrastinate til then. "Would the two've you wear dresses?" he asks, a somewhat skeptical look turned to Soriana.
Well, yeah, Idrissa grew up on a farm, and she's being just as difficult about not conforming to this proper way of going to dances! This is why Soriana has to take charge. With her vast knowle- huh. That's a good point Idrissa raises about clothes. She hadn't thought about that, but the other girl is right. They probably /will/ want something fancy. Something… dressed-up. Her surprise shows for just a moment on her face, before she recovers and nods firmly. "We'd better find some stuff. Maybe… we can get something from the stores! There's bound to be stuff in our sizes." What with them being at the age of growth spurts. They'll just find some… wait. Dresses? There's that look again. She doesn't quite look down over herself, but… when was the last time she wore a dress? …has she /ever/ worn a dress? "Uh. Well. …we'll find something."
Idrissa chews on her lip slightly and just blinks at Kale at the talk of dress. "What.. A dress?.." She eyes herself slightly at the htought and scratches at her neck a few moments before a faint sigh escapes her. "This dance is sound more.. /interesting/ all the while." She eyes Kale a moment. "Then your have to dress up all fancy too, don't forget it." This pointed out before she shifts and lets her hands settle into her pockets. "I should get going I guess, have some stuff to finsh back at the stables." She really doesn't, not that they would know it, that frown from Soriana is still on her mind an she finds the sudden urge to slip off for a while it would seem. "I'll see you guys later." Is offered softly while she starts to walk back the way she came, her gaze settled on the ground as she goes. Asher soon troting along after her, bumping his head into her now and then which soon gets her hand settled against his head while the walk.
Kale isn't even sure what "fancy" consists of with male clothing. Better trousers than what he currently has? A frilly shirt? A hat? Er… Possibly, he needs to do some research on this. He looks at Soriana, trying to imagine her in a dress. He can't. He wouldn't be surprised if she showed up in a pant suit herself! As Idrissa finds her escape, he waves to her, looking a little jealous that she can escape the situation of dances and clothing and dates (or non-dates) so easily. "Don't worry about /me/ dressin' up. I know how to look nice. I've tons of stuff." *cough* "Good day to ya," he offers in departure as she heads off with her faithful young hound.
A hat… with feathers! Is that fancy? Soriana gives Kale a slightly dubious look as he explains how /he's/ all fine for knowing how to look good. So how come she hasn't seen any of that? Hmm. Him dressed up like one of the dandies would be like… like… like her in a dress. Ahem. Oh, look, here's Idrissa having to go! "Seeya later!" she says with a nod. "And don't worry, we'll make it all work!" …yes, because Soriana making it work definitely isn't exactly what has Idrissa unhappy in the first place! Once the other girl is gone, Sori looks back to Kale, and hmms as her gaze falls on the barrow. "Hey, don't you have to get that stuff… dealt with… or something?"
"Huh?" Blue eyes shift to the load of metal scrap, and he ohs! "Heh, yeah. Almost forgot," he admits with a snicker, rolling his eyes as he returns the barrow. "Jus' takin' it to the forge to be dealt with in the mornin'. If Idrissa gets that dog trained up, I'll have /him/ do all this pullin' and draggin' stuff for me. I'll pay her a small fee, for lettin' me use her canine." Kale smirks a bit as he hefts up the handles of his load, but after that he pauses, watching her with a curious look. "Hey…can I ask you a question, other than this question that I'm askin'?"
Soriana laughs as Kale admits his distraction, and nods. She gathers up Inkfoot more securely and turns as if she's going to move along with him… then pauses as he does. Her head tilts sideways. "Other'n that question, huh?" And other than all the other questions he's asked, pretty freely, in the time he's known her. "Yeah, sure. What is it?"
"If y'wanted to go to this dance with me, why'd you figure you'd have to use your wager for it?" Kale asks, looking curious. He slightly cants his head to one side as he asks it, and when the question is indeed asked, he doesn't look angry. Or upset. Or even embarassed. Just genuinely curious.
Now that is a good question, isn't it? Not one Soriana was expecting, either. She looks down at Kale's shoes, briefly up at his face again… then out to the edge of the forest. "Well…" she begins, and trails off. Why _did_ she? "I… I figured you wouldn't want to. I mean, I'm not like… Darsce or someone." She glances back to him for a moment, then away again. "I don't have that. So it's not like you'd want to, but… I thought it'd be fun. It'd be nice, to go with you."
Kale is quiet for a time after, mulling over what she said. Darsce, eh? Well .. she's right. Darsce is a gorgeous example of a woman. Flawless, or at least made to seem that way. Kale will likely drool every time he sees her and do his damned best to try to impress her by trying to act and seem older than he is. Soriana is easier. More comfortable. Perhaps not a supermodel, but not an ogre either. In truth, Soriana is more realistic. "That's stupid. Why wouldn't I want to?" said with an easy going grin. "You're fun, even though y'cheat when we wager, and you're .. you're nice. It's nice to talk to you." He adjusts his grip on the handlebars of the wheelbarrow. "You wasted one've your tasks, cuz I would've said yes if you just asked." His grin broadens now as he steps backward, wheeling the load back a bit. "I'll talk to the woodcrafter. I really should get his name.." he muses. "I'll see ya."
Because… he wouldn't want to! Soriana doesn't have a reason to say, it's just… that's how it is. Or… isn't, maybe? But just asking would have let him say no, and making hm do it then… well, it would have been mean. If she didn't /know/ he didn't want to… and she didn't have to risk him saying no… well, that was mostly the only way she managed to ask. Er, demand. The initial confusion and slightly indignant frown slowly give way to a smile. Fun? Nice? These are good things to be. Cheating… okay, there's a brief grin there. She totally didn't break the rules, just took shameless advantage of him. Nothin' wrong with that, at least… not when it's done with good spirits. "Well," she says, and smiles. "I guess I did. Too bad… I'll hafta make the other one really count… before it just goes away at the dance." Though with what, she doesn't know! If stuff like /this/ can be had just by asking, what else is there to demand? It's not like she's going to do anything actually /mean/ to him… pranks, yes, and cheating at bets, but those are only fun when it's a challenge, not if she just forces him. "Yeah, see what he says, and… I'll ask around too." She grins back with a warm fuzzy sort of feeling inside her, and lifts a hand. "Seeya. …and next time, I'll see 'bout just asking."