
Xanadu Weyr - Wanderin' Wherry Tavern
It is often whispered in the crowds that converge here, that a certain Weyrleader was asked what he wanted in the remodeling of the pub that was not so long ago given a refreshing. He muttered back over the rim of his ever-present mug, "I don't care what you do with the place, just so long as there is plenty of ale." With that in mind, cask after cask of ale lines the walls of the tavern, the remodeler's idea of a jest. As they age, the casks bring a real rustic atmosphere to the pub, along with the deeply wooden flavor that seems to be the theme throughout.
The lighting is dim, as it should be in all good pubs, and the tables and chairs are plentiful. A long mahogany bar, intricately carved with runner beasts, stands vigilant duty at the head of the bar, lined with stools for those patrons that seek the bartender's company.
Going with evening, because drinking in the bar during the day isn't something even she can get away with. Vivian is sat at a side table, next to one of the windows looking out at the strange weather outside, cuddled up in a woollen top, bottle of wine on the table, glass in hand as she sips.
Morlanol is curled up in his much abused winter miner's coat. He hadn't really expected to need it in the south, but was now glad that his mother had made him pack it. He's carefully feeding his flits scraps of meat, his own bubbly pie getting cold in the process. He glances out the window and sighs, "I can' b'lieve it's thunder-snowin'."
"It looks like a fairytale or something that you'd expect from High Reaches." Vivian replies absently before the little one flies over to Aine. "That thing better not spatter any of that on me, or you'll find yourself out there on your ear." She growls towards Morlanol, her eyes narrowing dangerously at him. Aine for her part uncurls her tail from Viv's shoulders and stretches herself out towards the other firelizard, a happy croon rumbling through her body.
Bloodstone gives a happy little chirrup and holds the meat out to Aine as an offering. Agate gives his best impression of Morl's characteristic eye-roll and continues eating from the plate. Morl, for his part, harrumphs, "He keeps hisself pretty clean, Viv. An' though I don' doubt yer 'bility t' throw m' out, I won'er if that'd coun' as rough-housin'?" He grins, subtly reminding her of the candidate rules against fighting.
"It's amazing what a pretty smile from the right person can accomplish." Vivian replies, flashing Morlanol a truly beautiful and dazzling smile. If you didn't know her better it's probably mesmerising. Her little bronze appears form between, probably upset that Aine got fed and he had to fend for himself, it lands on the table and creels softly before quieting at a glance from Aine and Viv's hand reaching out to scoop it towards her. "Wow, you prefer candidate chores to crawling about in a dank dark tunnel, there might be hope for you yet." She sounds amazed at the prospect, though she's probably faking it.
Morlanol shrugs, clearly unaffected by Viv's smile having seen what lurks beneath, "Mayhaps, bu' tha' don' make it righ'." Bloodstone scoops up another gob and, ignoring Viv's bronze entirely, returns to Aine, offering it again. Morl rolls his eyes, "If'n yer job in th' mine was t' crawl through tunnels barely big enough fer a wher an' pu' up joists t' make the next area safe fer others y'd think anythin' else was be'ter too. Th' only goo' thing 'bou' it was tha' I'd get extended breaks af'er a hard run."
Cerveaux allows himself to be scooped along by Viv's hand until he's close enough to jump up onto her chest and pads himself down until he's nice and comfy. "That depends on if you're the one on the receiving end or not." She says with a sly smile. "But mines are fairly evil places when all is said and done." She replies, her hand reaching for the bottle to pour more into her glass. "Never did like it down there." She adds absently.
Morlanol finally, after letting it cool far too much, manages to get a good solid bite out of his bubbly pie and he finishes chewing that before responding. While he does so, Bloodstone again offers the meat to Aine with a soft chirrup. Morl speaks, after swallowing and taking a drink to clear his mouth, "Ever'thin' depends on perspective, doesn' it? I like bein' in th' mines. Seein' the pretty veins o' gem 'n' rock, bu' sometimes I wish I were bigger so I coul' actually mine instea' o' havin' t' tunnel run all th' time. When were y' las' in a mine?"
Vivian doesn't seem all that phased, but the look she gives him when he uses the word 'pretty' is so obviously disapproving. Probably because it's not in reference to her or something else? "About four or five turns ago." She replies quietly. "Didn't like it much, was really smelly." She dislodges Aine from her shoulders so she can go and play with the other while she tilts her head to look out the window again, nicely silhouetted in profile if you're into that kind of thing.
Poor Morl is, once again, oblivious to Vivian's 'wiles.' Bloodstone is happy to change course to romp and fly with Aine, Agate finally deigning to join them as well. Morl grimaces, "If a mine's smelly y' shouldn' be in it… prolly means gasses seepin' up. Mines shoul' be clean an' dry. Th' one here's okay, bu' some o' th' older ones up north are amazin' with brigh' lights 'n' everythin'."
"It probably wasn't the mine that was smelly, just all the miners and whers that were in it." Vivian growls, lifting her glass to her lips and taking a sip as she continues to look out across the snow.
Morlanol shrugs, "Coul' be, some o' th' miners down here do seem t' have somethin' 'gains' soapsand." He takes another sip of juice, watching the flits sport and staring out at the snow.
Vivian continues to look out the window, lost in thought for a while before she answers absently. "I always figured it was miners in general, you know people who willingly crawl about in holes in the ground or around the likes of whers, runners or herd beasts, You've got to wonder about their personal hygiene."
Morlanol scoffs, "My ma woulda killed me if'n I stunk as bad as some o' th' miners down here. It's true tha' we ge' nice'n dirty down there, bu' mos' o' us don' like t' keep i' there fer long once th' day's done."
"I've had a few them thrown out of the baths before, made them go and douse in the ocean before they were allowed back into the weyr." Replies Vivian with a bit of a sigh, the glass rising to her lips again, only to find it empty.
Morlanol takes a sip of his juice and another bite of bubbly, chewing thoughtfully, "Y' shoul' go back t' a mine at some poin'. If'n y' don' face yer fear y'll never conquer it an' it'll control ya."
Vivian is sat at a chair by the window, her feet curled up under her, little baby bronze firelizard curled up on her chest. She reaches for the bottle of wine on the table and pours the last of it into her glass. She's mostly just staring out the window at the sun glinting off the snow and ice outside, Mrolanol is somewhere within speaking distance. "I'm not scared of the sharding thing you wherry brained idiot." She growls at him, no wonder she's drinking. "I was surrounded by people with dubious body odours."
Morlanol is curled up a few tables away in a big, if well-used coat, staring the window near his seat, occasionally glancing at the flits sporting across the main part of the room. He gives Viv a choice glower, "If yer not scared o' 'em, why d'ya automatically assume all miners're bad people? Soun's like yer… what'd th' harper back home call it?…" he pauses, thinking hard, "Oh, righ', obfuscatin' an' turnin' yer fear inta anger at a group wi'out reason."
Rei is a busy lady these days. So many weyrlings and more on the way! Lots of work for a weyrlingmaster these days. And lots of work made Rei hungry! And thirsty! But she was in a good mood, and is whistling on her way into the tavern. "Doo doo doot- candidates!" Rei doesn't quite make it up to the bar, instead veering off to say hello to Vivian and Morlanol. "Hello there! How we doing?"
The glare that Vivian turns on him is probably what's caused the bad weather outside, it's certainly frosty enough. "Are you trying to say I'm afraid of working around really smelly people?" Her eyes are narrowed enough as it is before Rei makes an appearance. "Oh brother, trying to figure out what this idiot miner is whittering on about." She replies to the older woman as she slumps back into the chair, lifting the glass of wine to her lips and taking a big drink with a sigh of frustration escaping those ever so pretty lips of hers.
Oh, if looks could kill, Vivian would be slightly maimed, at the least. "Act'ally, I'm sayin' yer 'fraid o' mines 'n' you're blamin' the stink. Poss'bly 'fraid o' whers, too, which makes me wonder how y' think y'll 'press a dragon." He turns to Rei, his expression much nicer for her, "Jus' 'splainin' th' truth abou' minin' t' thisun thinks we stink, Ma'am." He takes a bite of his bubbly pie, savoring the flavor for all it's gone cold.
Rei blinks a bit at Vivian. Then she peers at Morlanol. "Just because we're doing work doesn't mean we have to be smelly. A dip in the baths only takes a few minutes and saves all your other candidates from having to smell you." She shakes a finger at the young miner. "And I don't know much about miners. But lots of men working together usually involves smell." Then she waves down a waitress to order a fruity drink and some fritters. "And whers kind of freak me out, too."
Vivian waves a hand imperiously at Morlanol, one of those speak to the hand because the face aint listening. "Finally someone who understands the concept that lots of miners in a cramped hole are going to get noxious eventually." Her tone remains just as frosty as before, even if Rei is flashed a more welcoming smile. "When you come face to face with a wher in a dark cave, that's frightening, shells coming face to face with just about anything in a dark cave is going to be frightening, dragons on the other hand are lovely creatures mostly, I've never had any problems with them, Kiluaeth, Alhenaeth and Inimeth all love me." She eyes her glass and the little bit that is left and downs it one go. "I think however I may have had enough of the unkempt miners company for this turn."
Morlanol shrugs, "I bathe mos' ev'ry day, ma'am. An' I wasn' sayin' we don' ge' stinky workin', I was sayin' tha' we're not all stinky outside o' work. 'Course we ge' stinky haulin' big rocks 'n' carvin' tunnels out o' bare rock." He takes another bite of his pie, "An' wher's aren' scary once y' ge' used t' 'em. Certainly no' so pretty as dragons, bu' they're nice enough so long as they know ya." He favors Vivian with a milder glare, "If they love ya I doub' they've metcha as y' coul' isolate ore from rock jus' by talkin' to it fer a while."
Rei chuckles. "I always wondered why boys smell worse than girls though. What's the deal with that? Though I guess not all boys. Just the big huge ones usually." She shivers at the mention of a wher in a dark cave. "Oooh. I don't want to think of it." Then she nods to Morl. "You better be! I'll be checking up on the barracks one of these nights. And anyone stinky will be cleaning the latrines." Then she blinks, and giggles at him. "Morl! That's not very nice." But then again neither was Vivian… so there's not much threat of punishment there.
Vivian places her glass down on the table as she gets to her feet, her arm coming up to cradle the little bronze against her chest so as not to disturb it's sleep. "Just because I don't like you much, doesn't mean that others don't love me." She replies to Morlanol, the full on icy glare with poison tipped daggers accompanying her words. "Least it's easier to isolate the idiots from the nice people by talking to them." She mutters as she turns away, bobbing her head to Rei, See polite and well mannered to her betters! "Thank you for saving me Ma'am." She says with a much more charming smile before she heads to the bar. "Another bottle please Verdar, to take away." She calls to the barman as she fishes out the marks to pay her tab before she collects and departs, a lovely sashay of her behind as she goes, no doubt someone will enjoy the view, even if it is just the barman.
Agate and Bloodstone look sad and give little parting chirrups as Aire leaves with Viv before returning to Morl's table and the small remaining pile of meat there for a few more bites. Morl sighs, waiting for Viv to leave before speaking, "I know it's no' nice… an' I *try* t' be nice, bu' she jus' makes me so angry sometimes." He contemplates for a moment, "Wai'… I though' can'dates couldn' drink, ma'am… tha's wha' Cen keeps sayin'…"
Rei blinks a bit. "Aw, Vivian, be nice. He's just a kid." With a speech impediment. Or something. Rei is starting to wonder if all the miners talked like that. She waves as Vivian gets up with her wine. "Don't go overboard with that now. Drunk candidates can't impress." The greenrider waggles a finger at the Xanadu princess. Then she looks back to Morl. "Well, what can you do? She doesn't strike me as the type that likes a lot of other people. And you are too young to be drinking period. Candidate or no."
Morlanol shrugs, stroking each flit with one hand, "I don' drink," he holds out his glass for her to see, "See, juice. I jus' come here sometimes 'cause it's diff'ren' from th' caverns an' y' can' always do th' same thing." He takes a sip of his juice to demonstrate, "An' I on'y asked 'cause tha's wha' I'd been tol' an' Cen's been really down 'bou' no' bein' able t' drink."
Rei nods and chuckles. "I like a drink at the end of the day to help wind me down. But I don't drink a lot." She nods to him and then offers a fritter. "Hm. Well, from what I was told it's okay to have /a/ drink or two. In fact, a glass of wine can actually be good for you. But you can't go overboard. What if the eggs were to start hatching and you're drunk? No dragon would ever impress to someone drunk. The sire and dam probably wouldn't even let you on the sands. As far as Cenlia is concerned… that would be her judgement. If she can control herself to just one glass. If not… then maybe she shouldn't drink at all."
Morlanol nods, taking the offered fritter, "Yeah, I don' ge' th' 'pression tha' Cen has much control when i' comes t' alcohol. Bu' I also don' think it's fair fer some can'dates t' drink while others think they can'. Like it's no' fair tha' Viv don' sleep in th' barracks or do chores. Wha' makes her special like tha'?"
Rei nods. "So really it's best if Cenlia just sort of takes it easy. Vivian's been a candidate before, anyways." She peers at Morlanol. "Vivian is Niva's eldest daughter. The weyrwoman. She was born of a flight I think.." Rei scratches her head. "Before my time obviously, Vivian is only a few months younger than I am. But I think it was back when C'ian was the weyrleader. That basically makes her royalty." She chuckles.
Morlanol shrugs, "Or a'leas' she thinks it does." He sighs, taking another bite of food, "Bu' Enkavir an' Satoris are both datin' Weyrwomen an' they moved inta th' barracks. Does Viv really no' hafta do chores jus' 'cause she's Niva's daugh'er?"
Rei giggles. "Yes. But they're not the product of the senior and her weyrmate weyrleader." She waggles a finger at him. "And neither of them are dating the senior, anyways. And Vivian has chores. It's just that her job before involved being the weyrleader's secretary. So she already worked for the weyrleader doing important things. That's all. I won't deny she gets special treatment… but that's the way things go." Rai shrugs a bit.
Morlanol shrugs, taking a sip of his juice, Agate and Bloodstone both beginning to slip into a light sleep as the conversation bores them. "I s'pose, jus' don' seem tot'lly fair t' me, y'know?" He gulps then gestures wildly, causing his now disturbed flits to squawk at him irritatedly, "No' tha' I'm sayin' she shouldn' or such, ma'am. Jus' seems a li'tle odd is all!" He calms, stroking the flits to calm them as well, "Wha' was i' like… bein' on th' sands 'n' all tha'?"
Rei shrugs and nods. "True. I agree with you, but not everything is going to be fair, you know? We can't help the situations we were born into. But we can make the best of them. Besides, what are you worried about? You've been searched! That's already quite an accomplishment for someone so young." She finishes off her drink with a grin. "It's hot. Hectic. Scary. Exciting! Crazy, really. It's hard to remember for me though. I only stood once."
Morlanol nods, "Tha' I kinda unnerstan'. A turn ago I coul' never have 'magined bein' a can'date. Bu' at th' same time it seems so improbable tha' I won'er if I'm dreamin'." He takes a drink, listening closely, "I can' wai' t' try, bu' at th' same time I'm afrai' I won' 'press an' hafta go back t' th' mines an' say, 'I'm back… guess tha' dragon wasn' righ' after all…' y'know?"
Rei nods. "Before I was a candidate I worked in the kitchens." She giggles. "And before that on the hold farm taking care of my brothers." She shrugs and giggles. "Most everyone who is searched impresses eventually. Just because you don't impress right away doesn't mean you'll have to go back to the mines if you don't want. You can still stick around the weyr. I'm sure they can find something for you to do." Rei grins. "I can't promise it'll be fun, but… And there's always the chance you'll be searched for another clutch here, or someplace else."
Morlanol shrugs, "I wouldn' mind goin' back t' th' mines overall. I like minin' an' all. There's jus' th' worry tha' I'll be lef' standin' there an' I won' see m' frien's again 'cause they'll be so busy with their dragons an' m' ol' frien's in th' mines won' do nothin' with me 'cause I'm no' like them no more… I prob'ly worry too much… I mean, there're people lef' standin' ev'ry hatchin', aren' there?"
Rei blinks. "Even if your friends impress and you don't, it's not like they'll be /gone/. They'll just have other responsibilities for a while, and you won't get to see them for a little while while they tend to their young dragons. That's all. Once their dragons are a bit older then you'll be able to see them. And if your miner friends won't see you anymore just because you were searched then maybe that says something about the quality of your friendship. Right? There are always many more candidates than eggs. It's not something you can control… whether you impress or not. So no sense in getting yourself all worked up over it really."
Morlanol nods slowly, taking a drink, "I know tha' in m' head, bu' I seem t' keep worryin' 'bou' it anyway… An' we've all sai' tha' if we 'press we'll let any tha' don' help wash th' dragons 'n' ride 'em an such, bu' I still…" He sighs, "I'm bein' silly… I mean, I'm on'y 13. I've go' plen'y o' time t' try 'gain, even if I only ever ge' searched here, righ?"
Rei blinks, then chuckles a bit. "Well, that's nice and all. But a dragon might change your perspective. And while it's small you will be the only one tending to it. And no one will be riding it for quite a while. Anyways, best not to count your dragons. Hope for the best but expect the worst, I guess? And you've got lots of turns to try again, so no sense in fretting over it!"
Morlanol nods, absently stroking Agate for a moment before speaking again, "Wha's it like? No' jus' th' hatchin', bu' 'pressin' and bein' with a dragon." He takes a drink, savoring the flavor for a moment, "Did you really like yer dragons egg?"
Rei peers at Morlanol for a while, munching on a fritter. "What's it like?" She laughs. "How am I supposed to describe it? It's like… a warm bubbly on a cold day?" The greenrider giggles. "There's no way to describe it. It's just… correct. The way the world ought to be. That's the best way I can explain it. And honestly I don't even remember what Dalriath's egg looked like." She laughs. "My memories from that period are sort of hazy. Dalriath sort of outshines them honestly."
Morlanol sighs, lost in thought for a moment, muttering, possibly more to himself than to Rei, "Mos' o' th' eggs were real 'mazin', bu' there was one…" He twirls his glass, staring into its contents, then drinks it. Agate nudges him softly and he smiles down at the little blue, "Is it like these guys, or diff'ren'? I mean, I know dragons c'n talk, bu'…"
Satoris recently saw another candidate drinking. Which means it /must/ be OK. And there's no harm in one small drink, is there? The man is relieved, honestly. Striding into the Tavern, the Miner-turned-Candidate makes his way straight up to the bar, intent upon a good ale. It's been far too long.
Rei raises an eyebrow to Morl. "You're not impressing an egg, you know. What's outside doesn't have much baring on what's inside. If you impress you probably won't remember any of the eggs either." Then she stares at him. "It's nothing like 'those guys'. Who have you been talking to? Firelizards are basically well trained pets. A dragon is… like your other half." She spots Sato on his way in. Another drinking candidate? Sheesh!
Morlanol shrugs, "No one tol' me it woul' be, but it's all I go' t' compare to, so I though' I'd ask." He glances up as Satoris enters, watches him belly up to the bar, and shakes his head softly before turning his attention back to Rei. "I'm jus' tryin' t' figger ou' wha' t' 'spect."
Satoris raises a brief eyebrow as he overhears Rei and Morlanol, passing the two by on his way to the bar. But, he's not the best when it comes to what dragons are like, either. The man may not be as lost as Morl, but he's still pretty damn uncertain. "Ale. Please." The bartender makes some comments about 'it's been a while', but soon Satoris is happily downing his favorite liquid refreshment.
Rei pats Morl's shoulder and chuckles. "Don't overthink it. It's nice. That's all you need to know." Rei had also been paranoid before she impressed, but there just wasn't any good way to explain things like 'what it felt like' or 'how it was'. She gets up. "Anyways, I should get going. See ya later Morlanol. And don't worry so much." There's one more eyeing of Sato before she heads out.