Xanadu Weyr - Smith Forge
Loud, dim, and hot is the large area set up for the Smith's forge area. It's been roughly divided into separate areas, the large common one holding the main forge lodged against the western wall, with bellows at the ready and a chimney rushing high to open in the ceiling outside. This is the area that the apprentices are taught in and are able to use, the nearby wall clasps a vast and unspecialized collection of tools, while the built-in shelves of another wall host jars of nails, crates of wood and metal scraps, spools of wire, sacks of sand, and heavy bins of Cromcoal, all decorated with a fine coating of grime and sawdust.
To the other side are the separate forges for the Journeyman's use, each one kept clean and neat, even when in the midst of a project. Behind and to the back is the private forge reserved for the Master Smith of Xanadu.
With the hot haze of summer in full swing, one'd have to be a fool to seek the fires of the smithy if being here isn't required! .. Color Ka'el crazy. Galaxy training has consisted of a lot of pushups, sit ups, running, more pushups, chin ups, and any other exercise his superiors could find with the word 'up' in it. Today's been much of the same with the promise of water drills in their future and combat practice after that. A sweaty Ka'el enters the forge with a look of purpose. He's here on occasion still, using rest days and nighttime hours to work or scour through spare bits. His intentions are just that, heading over to an area of scrapped metal, both usable and not, to rummage through, brows knitted.
Does that make all Smith's crazy then? Hot summer or freezing winter, it won't keep another from the forges. If duty allows, Kiena is there and lately she's been there an awful lot. Luckily for her, she's of the Crafter's Wing and does not have to worry over any exercises consisting of 'up' unless it's tacked with 'lifting'. Which she is doing right now, as she hammers away at some metal. Clang, clang, clang! She's got a decent rhythm going and hums along with it, ignoring the sweat building on her skin though she's at least made a better effort at holding back the wild mess that is her auburn hair. Another hammer fall and… the piece she's working on suddenly snaps, the clear sound it makes as it does drowned out by her explosive cursing. "Damn it!" Hammer is set aside and she wipes in a furious swipe across her forehead, glaring down at her ruined work.
A ha! Ka'el pulls up a piece of metal. A banged up hulk of something that might as well be gold the way he's looking at it. He sets it aside, then continues to rummage. Too small. Too thin… snap! Even with the clang of hammers, the sound of snapping metal due to a hammer fall is distinct enough to lift him from his searching. Blink. He pauses, glancing up and around til he finds the source of cursing. He presses a hand to his knee as he rises, picking up the single piece that he's claimed for himself before he heads her way. Carefully. One never wants to sneak up on an angry smith armed with a hammer! "Too heavy a hand or too thin of metal?" he asks, peering at the broken piece with a vague wrinkle of his nose. "Ah. S'too bad. Sorry."
Anything snapping is bound to bring a lot of attention of mixed variety in a forge and it's enough to set Kiena to flushing in embarrassment and anger-laced frustration. "Quit gawking!" she snaps irritably at a pair of younger apprentices, who scurry back to their tasks while she grumbles under her breath and begins to carefully collect the shards. The bluerider no longer has her hammer in gloved hands! Just those shards… which are pointy (two are extra pointy!). Regardless, she starts and then turns her head, wide blue eyes fixing Ka'el with a blank look that swiftly changes into a narrowed glare. She remembers him though… they've crossed paths before! Something about a challenge of daggers? Kiena's memory yields only that much but it's enough to leave her snorting, features relaxing into a more amiable and welcoming half-smirk. "Both, I think. S'what I get for rushing into the experiment!" Such a waste. Kiena grimaces and begins to go about properly sorting the pieces, likely hoping some can be salvaged. "Sorry? What're you sorry for? Ain't your fault. Just my stupidity." Shrugging, with her hands now free she places them on her hips and peers curiously at the bronzerider. "What you doin' here anyhow?" That metal is spied out and a brow quirks up. "Plannin' on smithing something?" Logical assumption, right?
What's he sorry for? Huh. She has a point. He didn't do anything. Ka'el lightly lifts and drops a shoulder. "Empathetic, I guess," he says with a vague smirk, not helping with the clean up because she's already done with it. "Done it a couple'a times myself. Frustratin' as ever if you've gotten far along on whatever it is you were making." Or experimenting with, he assumes. Her question elicits a nod from him in answer, eyes drifting to the metal scrap he holds. "Yup. Well, still in the process. Gettin' a dagger done for a friend who needs one. Blade's mostly done. Just lookin' for ornamental inspiration now," he admits, turning the piece over in his hands before returning his gaze to her. "Then probably doin' a new one for myself. Sharpening the one I have would do the trick, but … wanting something new." Change isn't always a bad thing. "What've you, recluse? You're still on Xanadu, but no one'd hardly know it! Half thought you'd went back to…" Where was it that she said she came from? "…Fort?" he guesses, sounding dubious. "How's your blue?" She .. is a bluerider, right? He recalls that conversation, or at least some conversation in which the hue of her lifemate was noted.
Empathetic? Kiena gives him a hard look for that, but eases up as her mind wraps around the concept and she… agrees with it. He's a smith, she's a smith, it just works! Sort of. "Frustrain' is a light way of saying it!" she grumbles, throwing another offended look at the metal shards as if it's all their fault and not hers for bungling up whatever step it is she did (or two, or three…). "I better not catch flak for this, neither. At this rate I wonder if I'll ever attain Senior Apprentice or not." Now that her anger is wearing out, it's being replaced by fretful worrying or at least some disappointed emotions. So she's all to happy to switch topics, her blue eyes drifting back to the metal scrap that the bronzerider holds, peering at it with closer scrutiny. "Nice of you to be handin' out gifts like that! Good friend, then?" Kiena muses, looking up to meet Ka'el's eyes with her own and her smirk says it all. Boy or girl? Not that she's about to pry… yet. But apparently HE will! She bristles at his first comment, not even reflecting on how nice it is to have new things. No, she's got her feathers ruffled over being dubbed 'recluse'. Even though… she is. "So what if'I prefer my own company most of the time?" All of the time! Kiena snorts, jaw working slightly as she scowls. "Just how I am! Don't mean I'm not social…" It totally does. "And who's this half? Who'd care anyhow?" Ouch? There's a laugh then, sharp and brief. "Fort? No, that's my brother's Weyr. It's Western and I've not been back for awhile…" Kiena promptly clams up with that remark and then exhales, shaking her head and most of her bristling behavior abating. "Ujinath? He's been doing just fine. And how's your… bronze. Kanekith." Right?
"Sure you will," remarks Ka'el, waving a hand dismissively at her worries of ranking up. "They've got to move you up eventually, else Xanadu'll be stuck with nothin' but apprentices and not enough Journeymen to go around. Maybe your project is…" Salvageable, was what he was going to say, but after looking at those shards, his mind is quick to change. "Alright, so maybe not. But maybe it's a gift in disguise and somethin' better'll be made from those pieces than what you were intending." Let inspiration strike her! Well isn't he just an optimistic fellow? At least, he is in this setting where things are familiar and comfortable and safe. Catching her look, he gives his eyes a roll. "The dagger? For M'kal," he informs. "My wingmate in Galaxy. Mentioned he needed a dagger, figured I could get practice in by makin' one for him. A … super late graduation gift," he says, rubbing at the back of his neck. He should probably finish this thing sometime this turn! His arm drops after a while, and at her bristling he lifts up his free hand in sign of surrender. "Hey, I understand. I'm preferring my own company more often than not these days. Can't blame me. I'm the best person I know." He grins, joking. Though at the mentioning of Western Weyr a bit of the jovial look of his expression fades. "Oh. … Wait, your brother has a weyr? Weyrleader? S'pretty cool," he comments, inwardly cursing that she remembered his dragon's name but he didn't remember hers. Come on, memory! Step up your game! "He's doin' well," he says, nodding. "S'been a shardin' kitten since the flight. S'been .. weird."
Kiena blinks and for a moment she looks surprised of all things by Ka'el's encouraging remark and that leads her to peer at him suspiciously. Does this bluerider ever relax and trust people? Apparently he's not within that sacred circle yet. Maybe a little closer but she's still wary. "You've got a point. And… might have something going there." Already the wheels are turning and she doesn't quite glare so frustratingly at those shards. Maybe, maybe? She'll have to cobble together an idea later, for now she's caught up in conversation and for once not evading! He is optimistic (at least now?) and it's wearing off on her. "Ahh, that makes more sense then. Super late graduation gift or not, it's still a nice gesture. Needs to be more of that, if you ask me." What? Kiena begins to peel of her gloves then, tucking them into the deep pockets of her apron. Done with smithing for now, it seems and she begins to take a few steps away from the hotter part of the forges and where a bit more of a breeze filters through. Maybe it'll cool the rest of her temper too? As for his joke, Kiena just rolls her eyes and scoffs, but there is the bare hint of a grin there. "Uh huh? Egotistical bronzerider. Who knew?" she drawls with another smirk. "But to be fair, I don't mingle. Just don't like being called on it like it's some… flaw. Just my preference." Tilting her head, she frowns a little when Ka'el's jovial expression fades. "What?" she presses and then chuckles dryly. "Yeah, Weyrleader. Th'ero's my brother in Fort Weyr." As for being 'cool'? Kiena doesn't seem to think so. "Good to hear… oh, shards, right. The flight!" Weird? That has Kiena's attention but she's not about to go diving in. "Ah well… is it congratulations or condolences then?" Yeah… cause that's not an awkward reply at all.
Ka'el lingers a beat longer by the forge, but soon he too is drawn away from it and heads to cooler places. Well, cooler by degrees, but by no stretch cool in temperature. But the breeze makes that illusion seem true as it grazes against sweat moistened skin, and Ka'el moves to lean against the doorframe, resting the back of his head against the smooth wood as he exhales a grateful sigh. "Egotistical?" he grins at the word, turning his head towards her. "Me? Nooo, I call that confidence. Self-assurance!" His words are jestful again, and at her question regarding what his look was for, he briefly wrinkles his nose. "Not a large fan of Western," he says, tone unintentionally replete with disdain. He lowers his metal piece so that it leans against the side of his leg. "No offense to you at all, as you've come from there. You seem likeable enough. I've no qualms with you." He flashes a grin, plucking at his shirt to encourage air circulation, and his topic shifts to the flight. Cue another nose wrinkle. "Eh. A bit've both, I guess. Kanekith's what's important, and he's been doin' better than he ever has since." He plucks his shirt again before dropping his arm. "Also, I apologize. I didn't mean to offend you with what I said. I suppose it was my subtle way of saying I wish you'd come out more often. How'm I to steal your skills of smithing if I can't see you using them?"
"…Egotisical!" Kiena chimes in again and with a pointing finger directed at his chest, but no where near close to coming in contact with the bronzerider. But she smirks, then smiles crookedly. An actual smile. "Confidence and self-assurance are great qualities if you keep 'em toned down. Too much and it's a flaw!" So speaks the bluerider who is likely as flawed as the metal she just tried to use. That nose wrinkle and the following remark have Kiena tilting her head again, some of her wild auburn hair tumbling forwards to which she just automatically tucks back behind her ear. "What'd Western do to you to piss you off?" she asks, curious. So very, very curious. She'll use no doorframe to rest against, simply shifting her weight to one hip and crossing her arms loosely over her chest. "Offence?" Now she laughs, a short and almost barking sound. HA! "None taken. I didn't exactly leave Western on the best of terms, though that was my own doing. Burning bridges and all. Glad that me being an ex-Westerner hasn't jaded yer opinion of me any further." Kiena drawls and quirks a brow, though for once she doesn't smirk or give Ka'el any narrow look or her usual tricks. No, there's a new one she pulls out and she has a vague look of sympathy or understanding to her eyes. "Kanekith is important yes and I guess it's good that he's doing so well. Yer important too though. So it's a bit of both?" Pause. Should she? She does. "Bad ending, wasn't it?" It's not that hard to puzzle it out. Kiena then shrugs but his apology is accepted even as she mutters, "Don't worry about it. I'll try not to be a total bi— I'll try not to bristle so much. Heh, well…" She glances about the forge then. "What skills?" she drawls, glancing back to Ka'el with a quirked smile. "And I'm here a lot. May be that it's you who've been away." Touche?
What indeed. A hand waves, dismissive, and a matching look settles on his expression. "I'm a rider. I can't speak ill of another Weyr or its people now, can I?" A wry smirk and his eyes shift to the door soon after, gazing outside as he speaks. "An ex-friend've mine is makin' desperate excursions there, to … meet … with its leadership against all better judgment given to her by people who've been her friends for turns, given his…rumored record." Blue eyes roll and return to his fellow smith and linger there. "So, I suppose I'm unfairly prejudiced. Also a bit conflicted, as I'm not sure if that'll sour this conversation with you. I hope it doesn't." His eyes half lid then close, chest gently deflating with a slow exhale. "Bad ending," he confirms, tone distant and concomitant frown curving his mouth. "But I've wallowed about that enough, I think. My friends are gettin' sick of me because've it." A mirthless smirk has his eyes opening again. "And it's alright. You can say "bitch". I'm a big boy, y'know?" As for him being a bit absent in the forge? .. Yes. Touche. "Ah, y've got me there. But! I've an excuse. I've a forge of my own," he says, tone slightly proud. "Was gifted with my weyr, and so I do a lot've practice there when I can. I still come to nick materials though," he says, giving the metal piece a little wiggle against his leg. "You should come sometime! Check out my forge. S'a lot cooler than this place. Smaller too…not as fancy, but it gets jobs done."
Kiena almost bursts out laughing. A rider can't speak ill of another Weyr? For her credit, she doesn't quite laugh but she does fix Ka'el with an incredulous look. Really? "Right. Hate to break it to ya but that sort've talk always goes about. Rider or not. It's gossip! Or plain fact in some cases." she drawls and promptly frowns. He's being cryptic, so cryptic and most of it soars right over her head at first. Give her a momement (or several), she'll piece it together. "Desperate excursions… she lookin' to transfer?" That's what the better judgement part fits in, right? Just another moment, she almost has it! "Rumored…" Oh. OH! Then it clicks or at least what she assumes are the right puzzle pieces kick in her head and she just stares at Ka'el, dumbfounded. "You tellin' me your ex-friend is tailin' after Zi'on?" Uh oh. It's hard to say how Kiena is taking it, right now her uncertainty if she has the facts right is probably a saving grace. Nothing has soured yet and it very may well not. Back to other topics, Kiena can only shake her head and grimace. "Shame to hear it was a bad endin' and well… what'd they expect? Wallow away if it's what helps or… what not." Just don't do what she did and burn a very many bridge! She snorts then, mouth curving into an amused smirk. "I'll decide whether or not you're a big enough boy to handle my swearin', thank you! Shards, tryin' to be polite here and not live up to my reputation, alright?" His excuse for not visiting this forge is a good one, one that has Kiena looking at him with a mix of envy and curiosity. "You lucky bas— man!" Nope, she still won't be quite foul mouthed around him but she will laugh out loud this time, proud though he may be. "If I didn't know any better, Ka'el, I'd swear you just used a pickup line on me. Ooh, come by my weyr and check out my personal forge!" she mimics, snickering as she gives him a once-over look. With a sigh, she sobers and her smirk becomes more of a crooked smile again. "I'd be curious to see how you manage to live around a forge, but damn if you didn't luck out! My weyr is… unique. Shocked me at first — I was expecting different but not THAT different." How different is different? Kiena doesn't go into details, perhaps figuring it needs no further explanation.
Riders gossip? Well he'll just have to make sure that he keeps his ears open whenever he's off weyr! The best gossip always comes from other places, right? He shifts away from the doorframe, allowing a burly smith passage through, though once he's gone, he reclaims his spot. Ahh, relaxation. Almost. There's a vaguely visible tick of an eye at the mentioning of the western's weyrleader. "Yup," he answers simply. "Runnin' off like an idiot pup for dates." Or at least one date that he knows of, though his imagination takes the liberty of conjuring a few more, which perhaps isn't too off base. "Tried tellin' her what he's after likely isn't a lovely lifelong marriage like she has in her head, but," he shrugs, honestly dismissive. "Can't help those who don't wish to be helped. S'er problem, not mine." He has his own problems to worry about! And proof enough that he truly doesn't care is how easily his grin returns with her jest. "Pick up line? Ha! I know tons better than that. I wouldn't insult you with something so lame," he says, exaggeratedly rolling his eyes. "But, yeah! I've a forge, and it isn't awful. My weyr's..sort've difficult to describe. But it works for me an' Kanekith. And.." he quirks a brow and points at her, "not a pickup line, but now you've got me curious enough to want to see your unique weyr. What makes it special? Is it underwater? In the sky? Upside down?" he grins.
Rule of thumb is to ALWAYS keep ears open to gossip! Although that's Kiena's rules and well… she's not the most stable of riders out there. She'll step aside as well to allow the burly smith to pass, giving him a brief passing look. Suspicious, once again! Then she's back to reclaiming her spot, if she ever were in one to begin with. Really, she's just standing there. Maybe the breeze is good? Ka'el's answer has her features darkening to a scowl, eyes flashing with too complex a mixture of emotions to be read but anger, disappointment and hurt are all there. "No, it isn't though that's the sweet song he likes to sing." And she fell for it and would've again, if certain things hadn't conspired. "She's just going to have to learn for herself. Like I did. Or maybe they are destined to be together and he'll actually… settle." Nope, she can't keep a straight face at that and she grimaces. Who is she kidding? She snorts and shakes her head, sighing. "He ain't a bad man otherwise. He has… good up here." Kiena taps the side of her head. "But he thinks with…" She flips her fingers downwards and points and there is no need to guess where. "Always. Made me wonder for a bit of all men were like that." she drawls with a smirk. The bluerider then returns his grin, though her's is tentative and keeps slipping back to a crooked smirk. "I'm sure you do." Kiena drawls and then snorts. Her insulted? Nah. "Well at least it works. But you're not afraid of it being so close to your own livin' quarters? And… if you've got yer own forge now why are you here in this one? Social company?" she teases and at his pointing finger she does grin this time. "Neither of those. It's… well, where to start." Kiena lifts a hand up and begins ticking off her fingers as she goes through the list. "It's got a water bed," Okay, not that unusual unless you've never seen one as she has. But it gets better? "A rope swing, a slide off the staircase and… a trampoline. It goes right under the rope swing."
Ka'el notes that scowl of her though remains notably silent at the details regarding Western's leader. Nope, he has nothing more to say about any of that, but that doesn't keep him from having a good listening ear to her. Watching facial expressions. Trying to decipher them on his own. And then there are some that are quite easy to figure, such as that southwardly gesture of her of her fingers. He snerks humorlessly and nods once. So he's heard. "Not all've us," he assures, speaking up for faithful men everywhere .. which likely number fewer than those that live on the other side of the spectrum. As for his weyr, he shakes his head. "No afraid, nope. I know how to handle fire, an' my weyr's mostly stone," he assures. "So of anyone burns down the woods, don't point any fingers at me. I'm innocent." He got through a whole weyrwarming party complete with contraband firecrackers and sparklers without any sparks or flames! Miraculously enough. The description of her weyr draws a curious look though, blue eyes showing obvious interest that grows with the first thing she ticks off. "A waterbed?" .. Nope. He doesn't get it. "A bed made of water?" he asks, risking sounding ignorant. How does she keep from being wet? And…"Waaait a second. You've a slide in your weyr? A rope swing? And a trampoline?" … "I've gotta see this!" He's probably as excited about it as her children, not that he's remembering that she has children (or even knows) and that such playthings are probably for them and not children stuck in adult bodies (aka him!). "I come here because I can get scraps," he says. "And sometimes whole pieces, if the journeymen are feelin' generous. And sometimes I miss workin' here. Though most times I come because I figure if I don't grace this place with my presence every now an' again, people will feel depressed." There it is again, a grin.
Good, he got it. Kiena was worried she'd have to explain further and promptly crosses her arms again, watching Ka'el just as closely as he may be watching her. Once they've left the topic of that Weyrleader behind though, her expression seems to clear and gone is the troubled complexity of it all. His assurance is met only with a long look, the bluerider not at all convinced. "I'll believe ya… for now. But as it stands?" she spreads her arms in a sweeping gesture as she shrugs her shoulders. Not sold on the idea of a faithful man or, to be honest, faithful anyone. "Right." Stone! Duh, how could she have been so clueless? Kiena tries not to grimace for her lack of thought there but at the mention of the woods burning down, she laughs low and gruff. "Innocent my ass. If the forest goes up in flames, you're the first I'm hunting down!" Who knew she'd garner so much interest just by ticking off a list with her fingers? Kiena's smile only broadens to a grin for the bronzerider's reaction, likely close in ways to hers when she first transferred in and was… greeted by it all. As nervous and flighty as she is, it probably took her a good day and a bit to discover her weyr was, in fact, FUN. Not a dangerous trap but actually fun! "Yeah! Weird concept, eh? But you get used to it. It's a special sort of mattress… thing, I guess. Don't really get it myself but it holds the water in. It's all—" She frowns heavily, brows knitted as she fumbles for the words. How to describe it? "…it sloshes. More you move, the more it'll respond." Seems she doesn't care about his ignorance, seeing as she is just about as clueless about the whole thing. "Yeeeep." Kiena drawls and for a moment SHE looks proud now, odd weyr and all. "Heh. Not a pickup line either!" She points out with a smirk. "But I'll show you my weyr if you show me yours? Or however that silly rhyme goes." Good think Ka'el doesn't bring up her children. First she'd likely pry into him wanting to know how he knows and then likely have to awkwardly explain that… she hasn't brought them here yet. Mother of the Turn… is not her. "Right. Forgot you'd not have scraps and Journeyman work just layin' about at your disposal there." Kiena rolls her eyes then and shakes her head, pushing back her hair again as it creeps forwards. "I'm sure the folk here are just pinnin' over your absence."
A special mattress that … sloshes? Ka'el wrinkles his nose at the thought. "Doesn't sound very comfortable. A person ought to get seasick on somethin' like that." Ka'el's mind paints a picture of himself laying on a gelatinous blob that threatens to rock him right off of it and onto the floor! Surely it can't be like that .. could it? Luckily his wonderings won't have to last forever, for here comes her invitation to see it all firsthand! "S'a deal," he agrees with a brisk nod. "Though I think I'm gettin' the better end of this deal. You've toys in yours! I've a forge … and .. I guess it's interesting because the weyr's round. Ish." Curved more than round, but eh, details! "Alright then, it's a deal. I'll see yours an' you'll see mine …. and now that I know to expect company sometime, I'll make an effort to keep it neat." Or something close to neat, which may consist of pushing everything under athe bed and sofa just to get it out of sight! His is a bachelor pad, after all. And Ka'el is not always the tidiest of young men. Case in point: Now. He needs a bath, what with the sweat that's now evaporating from his skin, leaving behind the salty film of a yucky feeling that needs to be washed away. "Pine doesn't even begin to describe. They'd be in tears if I didn't stop in at least once a seven. Their collected tears'd be enough to douse any forest fire I may or may not accidentally begin." A smirk, and he leans to the side a bit to lift his metal piece with one hand before pushing away from the doorframe. "Should be goin' before the day gets away from me," he says, glancing outside to gauge the time. ".. I liked this," he says, gradually looking back at her. "This was nice after … all that's happened." The flight, which few details have been given. The aftermath of that, which none was given at all, but with the distant look that touches his face, one can infer his references aren't pleasant. Unlike this interaction with her, which has been. "Thanks." A smile, small yet genuine. "I'll see you, eh? With your rope swing and trampoline.." He lifts his free hand in a wave before he heads out.
He's not far off in the description of the waterbed! "You might but I'm used to the motion of water," Kiena remarks with a low chuckle and then the deal is struck! She returns that brisk nod and may even extend her hand to shake upon it. "Deal, then! And maybe you are and maybe you're not. I'm curious to see this personal forge and rounded weyr! I'm beginning to wonder what other… oddities other rider's weyrs hold now." Oh, if she only knew! The bluerider laughs, "Clean? Pfft, don't feel you need to do that. I ain't going to tidy, I'll warn you now. Not that I'm no slob." Because she isn't, despite her bluffing about not minding mess and clutter. Her weyr is no doubt meticulous but with signs it's lived in at least. She spends enough time in there, after all! Speaking of baths though, Kiena is due for one and yet doesn't seem too intent to leave the forge quite yet. How long has she been there is anyone's guess. Again, she rolls her eyes for his joking remark and her weight shifts again, sensing a gradual end to their conversation. "How eloquently put!" she drawls and then turns her head to peer outside. Where has the time gone? "Yeah, I hear ya. I should try to mend those shards… Or salvage. Either or." Blink. He what? "You did? Even with me being a bristly, snarky bitch to start?" Granted, he got the very mild treatment. Kiena… looks at a loss, truth be told and even a little puzzled. Or is that relieved? "Glad it wasn't so bad then. Guess I'm gettin' soft." she muses, turning the teasing on herself for once. As for the ambiguous 'all that's happened', the bluerider only looks at him again with a silent but understanding look. No, she gets that too. She's her own skeletons to hide. Details are not needed, Kiena is not the sort to pry unless her interest is piqued enough (or she blunders into it). "Welcome." Kiena smiles back and then turns to walk back to where she dumped her scrapped project, pausing only to nod to Ka'el as she looks over her shoulder at him. "I'll see you. Just send warnin' through to Ujinath!" That wave? Is returned, even if tentatively and then it's back to work for her.