Xanadu Weyr - Weyrleaders' Office
Office and retreat, this is the domain of Xanadu's Weyrleaders. The door is in the eastern wall, quite close to the southern end while the northern wall is dominated by big, expansive windows, framed by sumptuous deep blue drapes edged with a brilliant gold braid and tied back with a thick rope of braided gold and blue cord. In between, the eastern wall is covered floor to ceiling with shelves that house all sorts of records, manuals and supplies that are used on a day-to-day basis. The southern wall has the Weyrleader's desk — plain fellis wood, well polished and masculine. From behind his desk, the Weyrleader can look straight through the windows and out onto the main airspace of Xanadu. The western wall is where the Weyrwoman's desk resides: a lovely piece of furniture made of warm cherry wood. From her seat, a glance sideways gives her an equally good prospect out the window. There are a few other seats, some comfortably arranged around a low round table for small, informal meetings while there also some that can be drawn up to one of the desks.
On the south side of the door, the space is occupied by a low oblong table where refreshments can be set without someone needing to intrude. There is also an 'incoming' tray where incoming correspondence or similar items can be left.
Okay. Today's the day. Soriana got to the office early today, because - when you're going to ask for favors - it's a good idea to make sure all your work is done first. Even - especially? - when the favor you're asking for is to not be doing that work for a bit. Besides, if she does get- nope. Don't hope it too much. Just go ask. She's finished up all the paperwork she's supposed to have done. It's not as much before lunch as she might have hoped, but that's sort of good, right? It might mean Thea's just finishing things up herself, and there'll be a moment without too much interrupting. Then again, given that closed door… it might not. Won't know until she tries (or unless she asks Luraoth to ask Seryth, but that's too much like requesting an appointment) so… she knocks!
It means the Weyrwoman should have dashed out to the caverns before the lunch crowd arrives to grab a tray with a sandwich, some fruit and another mug of klah to replace the one she's left to grow cold. However, she has gotten side-tracked while delving into that all-absorbing paperwork her inbox is stuffed with, so rather than having scuttled back here with food, she's… here without it. The knock pulls her from the document she's staring at, "Com-" Oh wait. That's not going to work. She's done this numerous times this morning. Enough so that this time when she rises from her desk, instead of asking through the door for identification, she flings it wide, and says irritably, "If it's-" She blinks and her lowered brows relent. "Oh! Soriana." There's a peer down the administration hallway and back to her junior, whereupon she manages a somewhat harried smile, "Come in. Lock that behind you, please."
…okay, so maybe Soriana should have called ahead? Or set up an official appointment. Or… her hand started to go for the knob, back when Thea started to invite her in, but that doesn't do much good. Instead, she gets the flung door and… eep. But she hasn't even asked yet! Which has to mean that there's something else going on, which she… kind of knew was the case. It's not like this is a good time, but… she's here. And Soriana. So she nods to that part, with a smile that's mostly relief for not being glared at anymore. "Yeah. If it's not a good time…" Which it obviously isn't. "I can come back later." Not giving up. Deferring. She can do that… but, given the invitation, she does step in and lock the door. She can always unlock it and escape Thea's Lair. (Or so she thinks.)
"It's fine, Soriana." Thea, already on the way back to her desk, says that with a smile over her shoulder that's meant to be reassuring. It's a brief, strained one, but there. Escape? There IS no escape. The whole Weyr is Thea's lair. Or, it was before Cyrus came. She reseats herself, takes a moment to close her eyes, pinch the bridge of her nose, then massage her eyelids, while muttering, "…must come up with an alternative… talk to Jethaniel… maybe my crossbow…" She drops her hand, opens her eyes, draws a breath. Okay calm. She lifts them to her Junior and her hand gestures to those chairs in front of her desk. "What is it?" She's smiling now. Sort of. Just… ignore the tiny bit of tightness about her eyes and lips. That's less scary, right?
Less scary. Right. Thea muttering about crossbows is… actually, yeah, it kind of is less scary. Because, well, Soriana is preeeetty sure she hasn't done anything that would deserve getting shot. So, while that gets a curious look from her, it's not a scared one. She crosses the room after Thea, and sits down in one of those chairs. A glance to the door, locked, and then back to Thea. "Do you need someone to answer your door?" she asks. Because that'd solve the problem right? Far more simply than the sort of way Jethaniel would probably try to do it. (And for less deadly-y than a crossbow.) But never mind that, Soriana has business of her own! Something that… well, it's sort of like an escape plan. It's like she's a v'tol asking the spider - okay how about she doesn't use that mental image. Think positive. "I know things are busy…" Wait, no, that's not positive. Soriana frowns briefly, because her words are escaping her in the wrong way, then tries again. "I have a request. For… time off, I guess."
Thea shakes her head. "No thanks, because people can be talked past. I need a camera and a trap door." She's… serious? It's hard to tell with the smirk following. Maybe about the camera part. Though when the stone masons are re-doing that ready room, maybe she can inquire… In the meanwhile, her crossbow used as a desk ornament will be an excellent deterrent. She can then leave the door unlocked and just…happen… to be cleaning it if an unwanted visitor tries to enter. She's looking decidedly cheerful suddenly. Soriana is given a mild look for her beginning. When are things not busy? She waits patiently for her Junior to complete her thought, then at the revision she considers, lips pursed for a moment. "You…guess?"
"Oh," Soriana says. "Well, then don't forget to get some tunnelsnakes for the pit." Under the trap door. Which is a joke, or at least, she's going to pretend it was - and besides, she's not volunteering to be Thea's doorguard. She's trying to escape the Lair, er, Weyr, entirely! The look Thea gives her is milder than the one Soriana's given herself (inside her head), and so she says nothing to it. Thea's response is… not outright denial! Great! Soriana nods. "It's not for a vacation." Which is why she only guesses it's time off. "I'm close to grade two for dragonhealing. Really close." So close she can almost taste it. Or so she thinks. "But there's studies I need, in depth stuff, exams." Things that can't be done by trading for extra weyrwoman-time spent in the dragon infirmary here and asking the dragonhealers there for lessons in the quiet moments instead of doing paperwork. "I want to go to the school at Ierne and get those. To get grade two."
"I'll put it on my to-do list," says the Weyrwoman dryly, the smirk lingering. "Oh? But… aren't you overdue for one?" Nevermind that she hasn't taken one in ages. "You've still got that voucher for the resort." Her lifted brows ask, yes? And she knows likely because the Weeping Willow hasn't requested reimbursement for those vouchers yet. The rest of Soriana's clarification sees her nodding understanding - and approval. This step will benefit both her Junior and the Weyr. Enlightened though she may be as to the nature of the request, she still has questions remaining. "How long will you need to be away?" Still not a yes, though it's more likely to be a yes.
Is this the to-do list that has 'take a vacation' somewhere near the bottom? The tunnelsnakes had better not wait up. "Er, yeah," Soriana says to the matter of her own vacation and voucher. She was going to take one! But then Luraoth rose and things got… messy. "I've still got it. I'll take it." Sometime. (With Ka'el, now that things… aren't messy.) That's not why Soriana's here today, though! She wants to work harder, not take a break. That nod from Thea is, while not a yes, also not a no, and there's hope in Soriana's eyes - though that question brings a sideways tug of her lips as she admits, "I'd like a month for it." Which is pretty much four vacations stacked on top of each other, and so she hurries to add, "I can try to do it in less, if I can get the right timing for lectures and some extra access to the labs," and she doesn't sleep, that's an important part of the plan if she tries to do it in under a month.It's those lecture series and the microbiology labs and… the practical exam series. She's heard stories about that one.
It's…. not even on this woman's to-do list - or her calendar for that matter. Someone's been preoccupied lately. We won't say who with what. Ah yes, the assurance of future vacation-taking is nodded to. The Weyrwoman would hardly ask that she use it for this purpose. A month has her considering. With the Steward partly out of commission, could she spare her to be away that long? There's always recalling her if things go too awry. "Take the month. I want you to survive it so you can return," she says with a chuckle. Sleep is key to so very many things. "As this benefits the Weyr, Xanadu will pay your expenses and salary." Hopefully…probably? Weyr finances can support that.
Besides, resort accomodations probably aren't the best for studying from. They tend to have lounge chairs instead of desks, and while reading on the beach is a thing, those textbooks get heavy! So no, best not to combine vacation and education. Soriana watches that considering face, hope and practicality warring on hers. She knows it's a busy time. There's been paperwork that usually gets half-done by the Steward floating through her office with nothing filled out and more than the usual number of grumpy people who want someone to placate them that their concern really truly is important and will be dealt with soon. Even (especially) when it's been lost in the shuffle and actually nobody's been looking at it in the slightest. Yeah, it'd be unreasonable to expect this now. So says the practicality, but hope doesn't want to give up, because it's like that. So maybe if she starts her day here two hours later (that'd be more reasonable) and goes to Ierne for the afternoon lecture there (and doesn't sleep) she can- Blink. Soriana's eyes widen, and it's just a moment before her mouth catches up with a grin. She nods eagerly. Survival, yeah, she'd like that part too! But she's going to get to go study! For hours at a time until she falls asleep on her textbooks, probably, and then wakes up early to do it all again. Sleep is very key. If you don't get enough of it, the klah stops helping. She blinks again at the continuation of her salary - because, well, yes it benefits the Weyr, but it's not like a grade one (or two) dragonhealer gets the same salary as a junior weyrwoman. A gold dragon makes…. ooh! She's going to get actual lessons in working with Luraoth from actual goldrider dragonhealers, not just other goldriders and dragonhealers both trying to triangulate on the right advice! "Thank you!" For both, really, but- "It shouldn't be too expensive." It'll probably be more expensive than she expects, though Soriana is at least slightly familiar with Ierne and how to not spend an arm and leg there. (Iernians like to make that easy.) She'll try, anyway.
Right? Because then that would be veducation and that would be just awkward. It's not the best of timing. She, Sorrin and Esiae will be working longer hours to take up the slack while Soriana is away. They'll be spending longer days than they are already with the chaos left in the wake of the steward's injury even though some of his work they can't do without further chaos resulting. "Consider it tuition reimbursement and living expenses while you are there." The Weyrwoman says of the expense. Crafters are able to move about, seek better postings. Junior goldriders? Not always so much. They're sort of stuck to places who will take them. That's right, Soriana's going to be learning some of the finer aspects of augmenting the healing process with Luraoth's abilities and so Thea answers that smile with a small one of her own. "The service you provide Xanadu will by far outweigh your salary." At least in her eyes. She's happy to have the training covered. Hopefully the budget will suffice for this not wholly unexpected allowance.
Not that there's many non-Weyr places that'll take a dragonhealer, admittedly. Soriana didn't exactly plan for flexibility even in the parts of her life she did plan. She nods about how to view the expense - because Thea should know about the budget, right? If it can't handle this, she wouldn't be offering! Just like she wouldn't be letting Soriana go if they couldn't handle her absence. (And hopefully the Weyr won't go bankrupt and Luraoth will just be learning alongside her rider, not conveying a message that says study time is over, come back now… but Soriana believes Thea knows what she's doing!) The service she'll provide? "Yeah, I mean, I want to do more, and that's why…" but she doesn't have to argue it anymore! Thea's agreed. Soriana… continues with the grin, instead. "Is there anything I should do first?" Like, to not leave things more chaotic than she can help, on the administration side. She already knows one thing she has to do, but she can't get started on that until later. Gotta have something besides doing a happydance to keep her occupied this afternoon!
The Weyrwoman reviews and approves the budget quarterly. While she can't rattle of the numbers off the top of her head, she's got a vague idea of incomes, expenditures and savings. The steward might have to do some tweaking here and there, extract something from savings or barter shipping and transportation with Ierne and the dragonhealing school there, but Xanadu can afford it. Thea considers the question put to her. "Make sure your duties are divided with Sorrin and Esiae, give me anything they're too busy to take on and I'll see if the headwoman can learn a new aspect of running the back hallway and helping cover the paperwork." Oh joy? That's going to help Soriana sleep better nights, right?
And Soriana (yep, still with the grin!) will get herself that grade two tassel. Assuming, of course, that she manages to pass the exams, but she's still flying high enough that she's not worrying about that part yet. Dividing her duties between Sorrin and Esiae? Sure! She nods to that. She'll beam at them while she's at it, because her mother and her mentor are definitely two of the people she wants to tell the news. There's another nod, one that… pauses… at the mention of the headwoman. Really? Well… "Uh. Okay." There's some dubious to her tone, there, but… nah, surely things can't go too badly. So, yeah, Soriana might come back to find half the caverns decorated pink with purple buntings because the headwoman approved her own requisitions, but that's not the end of the world, right? It'll be fine. Soriana slides out of her chair, then pauses. The lunch hour is well and truly here, and… "Do you want me to bring you a tray?" Because being locked in the office doesn't seem like it involves going out to eat, and so long as there's not a pit trap to swing over, Soriana's willing to risk it. It's probably just the excitement at getting to escape Thea's Lair, the Weyr!
Smiling Junior Weyrwomen, a goal aspired to and sometimes met. Thea can check that off of her to-do list for today. Hopefully is the headwoman decides to redecorate she'll have better taste than pink and purple, ick! Though will the woman manage to help fill the gap problem-free? Likely not. Soriana's rising, the Weyrwoman is reaching for her next document, eyes already drifting down to it. "Hm?" Lunch tray? "Uh, sure." A smile (it's a touch relieved). Mind not that shifty-eyed acceptance!
Hopefully! But while Soriana may be many things, an interior decorator is not one of them. She's got enough to do just balancing Junior Weyrwoman and Dragonhealer without trying to add a third career. Whatever Thea's reasons are for those locked doors and shifty eyes, Soriana is gleefully untroubled by them just now. Her visit here is a success! So she nods to Thea, and will come back with a tray of lunch (and klah, because you always bring klah) for the senior. That visit will be an unobtrusive one, though. If Thea's engrossed in that paperwork, Soriana won't disturb her. If she's polishing her crossbow… Soriana will just leave the tray behind and get out of range!