Tearing Things Apart

Xanadu Weyr - Nature Gone Wild Weyrbarn
The victim of one of the major storms to pass through the Weyr this past turn or so, this weyrbarn stands amidst the majestic trees of the forest like a sore tooth. Although still structurally sound - the underpinnings intact and the foundation unmarred - there is little doubt it will take a great deal of hard work and time to make this once elegant structure livable once more. The roof has been stripped to little more than crossbeams, the walls gaping with holes where boards had been stripped by the wind. The inside of the barn is little more than rotting floorboards and plant life tentatively exploring its new home. The bulk of the interior seems to be given over to dragon living space - stone gives in less to the demands of nature than wood, and most of the wallow seems yet in good repair.
Such cannot be said for the human side, however, where storm and nature have combined to create a verdant ruin where once was a two-level dwelling area, complete with vine-encrusted kitchenette, an entertainment room for mushrooms and fungi of all sorts, and two well-sized - and well-stocked with wildlife - bedrooms up what was once a spiral staircase. Choked with plants, overrun by forest furries, there is little of what was once a well-loved, well-tended weyrbarn in this decaying structure. Yet, with such a sound foundation, there is little doubt that it can be repaired, with a little hard work, a little ingenuity, and a lot of friends and family.
Just the kind of fixer-upper Thea would recommend for her sons, if indeed she had anything to do with assigning the dwelling. It builds character, right?


The afternoon after the disastrous mating flight lecture, Mur'dah is working in his weyr. The morning was spent in lessons, and then more weyrling duties, chores, and the like, and he has some free time before dinner, so here he is. The clearing is going pretty well, with a large pile of brush and plants accumulating along the pathway and the interior almost cleaned out. He has to move fast if he wants to get things done before the heat of the summer, and then the chill of winter.

Lessons, duties, chores… all those things. Life goes on, even in the wake of last night. The morning after, when you wake up and… discover the funny taste left in your mouth? At least today that taste is just words. Soriana's had her share of them - well, yes, of words, but also of the lessons, duties, and chores. When free time comes, she does not give in to the temptation to head back to bed. Instead, she heads for the forest. She even gets partway along the path before she hesitates. Does she…? Yeah, she will. She keeps going, heading for Mur'dah's weyr… though whether it was the one she was originally planning on… well. She's not telling. The sound of plants being ripped up tells her she's probably in luck, or at least that Mur'dah's here, and she surveys the growing piles of brush as she walks past them before lifting her gaze to seek for the brown weyrling himself.

Mur'dah is standing on the ruin of the spiral staircase, reaching up to pull at hanging vines. Yank, yank, pull, and the vines come down, along with a shower of dirt and grime that they were embedded in above. All over him. Sputtering and muttering, he tosses the vines aside and spends a moment cleaning his goggles - yes, he learned to wear goggles the hard way. Kalsuoth isn't around to be an early detection warning system, so when he catches sight of Soriana out of the corner of his eye it startles him a bit, and he stares. "Oh. Hey," he says, hesitating a moment. "What's up? Ka'el isn't here…" Since he assumes that's why she's visiting him of all people.

The pitter-patter of dirt. Soriana only gives it a glance, though. Mur'dah himself gets a somewhat longer look. "Hey," she says back. Her expression is a reserved one, a little uncertain of herself and probably not anything that'd actually count as happy, though it's not unhappy either. Or it wasn't, but one corner of her mouth turns down at the mention of Ka'el. She gives her head a shake. "I'm not looking for him." Not now, anyhow. If she'd taken the other way along the path… but she didn't. "I just…" Her gaze wanders away from him, taking in the state of the overgrown weyr. Even with new spring growth… "This is looking a lot better."

Mur'dah tilts his head slightly, stepping down off the staircase and bending to lift an armload of torn up greenery. "Oh," he says uncertainly. "I just figured…" Yeah. "What?" he asks at her trailing off statement and then change of subject as he too looks around before he has to focus on his footing as he walks out towards the pile of junk. "Thanks," he says, and there is a small smile and a touch of pride to his tone. "How are you?"

"I'm… okay." There's a slight hesitation there, as she considers the breezy 'fine' and decides against it. Soriana follows Mur'dah as he heads for the junk-heap, her eyes lingering on the tangle of dead and dying plants. "How're you?" …and, okay. Back to the part she was avoiding. "Have you seen Darsce?"

Mur'dah tosses the vines to the top of the growing pile, looking at it with something akin to grim satisfaction. So much done. And soooo much still to do. "I'm…irritated," he admits. "And confused, and concerned. And no, I haven't. I can't seem to find her, not that I've had a ton of time to look. Got my firelizards keeping an eye out for her, and I told Mom to tell me if she sees her, but other than that…" He sighs, pushing up his goggles and looking steadily at the goldling. "Do you have any idea what was /up/ with him last night? Why'd he go off like that?"

Soriana nods to Mur'dah's list of emotions, unsurprised. She's not surprised at the lack of Darsce, either, though she lets out a sigh for it. Better to know that speculate? …she supposes. Her brown eyes meet Mur'dah's, and then… lower. "Maybe." She takes a moment with her thoughts, then lifts her gaze again. "It doesn't excuse what he said, but…" She frowns, and there's worry in her eyes as she takes a moment to pick her words carefully. "Flights are…" No, that's not the right words. It's something more like… well. What it all comes down to is, "He's holdbred." Did she really just say that? It sounds like one of those horrible prejudiced weyrfolk things, and her lips twist like someone replaced the lemonade with pure lemon.

Mur'dah's frown deepens, lines creasing his brow. "Yeah, I know…" he says slowly, as he considers the implications of that knowledge. "So…he's afraid of flights? I think we all are… But, I mean, he's got you, right? So…" Oh man, this is quickly getting awkward and Mur'dah clears his throat, shaking his head. "Never mind," he's quick to say. "So that's it? He's holdbred and…doesn't like the idea? And is scared?"

Either Soriana's nod about Ka'el being scared of flights is slow, or what she's actually nodding to is that they all are. Her eyes turn away, then come back to Mur'dah for the awkward part. She has a faint and crooked smile, but then it slips away into a sigh. "Flights are different. Everyone knows that, right?" Her tone makes it a question, one waiting for an answer… or maybe just providing room for one. For reconsideration of who 'everyone' really is, and what they actually know. What was it Darsce said, just before she left?

Mur'dah nods, "Well yeah, flights are different, I mean. But /before/…is what I meant. But. It's not my business." Not that he didn't immediately thing of the weyrling class pairing up to…tend to that suggestion. "But, I mean. It's still /hard/. I watched my folks go through it. It's different, but it's really hard, too. I…I don't blame him for being scared. I am. Horribly. And I don't think Darsce was the right person to give the lecture, either, and I told him that. But…he seems…I don't know. He isolates himself when he needs help the most."

There's the faint smile back. "I know," Soriana says. "I'm not worried about before." And let him read what he will into that, but she's not going to look away. She nods, the smile disappearing. "Yeah. It's hard, but at least we know that flights are different. Like… really know it. Because we've seen it." If not felt it. Yet. "You can think about your folks. Ka'el… can't." Well, he can, but a conservative holder-woman and her husband is probably going to do rather the opposite of help. Soriana sighs, and looks away. "She probably wasn't. I wish he'd just left. Walked away and…" she trails off, and shakes her head, looking up again. "He hates asking for help." Her lips quirk faintly and she murmurs, all but under her breath, "Can't say I entirely blame him."

Mur'dah shrugs, "I've seen flights tear apart relationships too. I mean…what we know doesn't really matter, does it? It's still brand new to all of us, when it comes to /us/." Then he sighs. "It's not even that. It's that…he doesn't even /have/ to ask. When it's /offered/ he spurns it. Makes it hard to be his friend." Plus he can be a real jerk. But Mur'dah doesn't say that. "This is hard for all of us," he reaffirms. "I just wish he'd be a part of it instead of lashing out at everyone."

Shiny new and… okay. Maybe not shiny, exactly. More like… glowy. Soriana sighs. "I know. I don't know what's going to happen." She looks away, staring at the tangle of the forest without really seeing it. "None of us do." Not when it comes to themselves and each other. As for Ka'el the jerk… well. Accepting offers of help means he has to admit (even if just to himself) that he needs it. Soriana frowns at a bramblebush. "It'd be nice, but…" If V'dim doesn't have a note along the lines of 'proud' for Ka'el, he should. Sigh. "I should go talk to him."

Mur'dah nods, "Exactly," he says quietly. "None of us do. More reason to stick together…and, you know what? He was such an asshole last night to my sister /and/ to me, but at the same time…I still want to be his friend. So I don't know. I don't know if that's me being too nice or what. But. I…y'know. Careabouthimandstuff." Mutter, mutter, glower at a rock. He glances up at her and then at the forest in the direction of said bronzeling's weyr. "I'll be here until dinner, if…you know." It goes poorly? It goes well?

Soriana looks up at Mur'dah, and smiles. Tough brownrider is tough, what are these feelings… aww. "I don't think you're too nice." But, well. She's dating the bronzer (still?) so maybe she's not the most unbiased observer here. "Thank you." The smile is half of one, now, but it's an honest half. "If I need to tear some vines, I'll be back." Yay destructive therapy? Yay… going off to look for Ka'el. Ohboy.

Mur'dah shrugs and tries to blow it off. Feelings. Ugh. Feelings about /Ka'el/. UGH. Stupid bronzeling. But then he laughs, low and brief. "Alright," he says, giving her a nod before he's turning back towards his weyr-o-destruction.


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