Lean On Me
caverns.jpg

Xanadu Weyr - Caverns

A massive cavern in it's own right, this one has been skillfully adapted for human habitation. The high ceilings have been painted a light, soft ivory, as are the walls where numerous tapestries hang to provide brilliant color and insulation from the stone. The floor has been left in its natural state, pale pink granite speckled through with glittering mica and dark flecks of basalt, leveled carefully but kept sufficiently rough to avoid slips.

The cavern itself is loosely divided into areas, each one set up to be suitable for some segment of the Weyr's population. The most frequently occupied area, however, is the one near the Kitchens where tables of varying sizes provide a place to sit down and eat or chat and a buffet of consumables is almost always kept stocked. Its plain that on most days, this area wouldn't accommodate anywhere near the full population of the Weyr and equally plain that on such occasions when a formal meal is laid out, tables are appropriated from all the other areas.

A big fireplace is set into the wall near the Kitchens as well, several comfortable chairs nearby providing haunts for elderly residents or riders who like a good view of all that happens. Rugs cover the floor in strategic spots, all of them abstract or geometric in design and most in the softly neutral colors of undyed wool.

Exits lead off in all directions, a big archway the largest and that leading outside. Shallow stairs to the west lead to the offices and administration area while tunnels to the east lead to the infirmary, kitchen and resident's quarters. Southwards, a sloping tunnel leads down to the hot springs and southwest is a wide tunnel, carefully roped off to avoid accidents.


It's sometime during the middle to late part of the afternoon, when most people are still dealing with the last portion of their duties. However, since Phylicia had just returned to the Weyr she was spared her duties for today. The caverns is relatively empty which suits her just fine as she sits in one of the well cushioned recliners, her legs tucked up under her though her right ankle has an ice pack on it. Estevan is in her lap rumbling happily at her idle strokes while she stares off into the fire. Her hair still looks somewhat damp to the eye as if she's been soaking in the hot springs.

The main entryway to the cavern opens, allowing a tunnel of chill air to breathe into the room before it's closed again. A quiet voice speaks with one of the serving persons moving about the room, preparing for evenign meal before quiet footsteps carry Tenebrous over to Phylicia's place of rest. "I would have thought you'd still be asleep," he murmurs without preamble. A heavy travelling satchel is unbuckled from its running harness on his back and slit to the floor before he collapses into a recliner of his own.

Phylicia is back in her "original" outfit of the fly-away bodice-blouse with her gifted coat carefully folded on the floor next to her chair. "Asleep?" Her voice cracks before she clears it, scrubbing at her eyes even if her eyes and cheeks are currently dry. The driness however doesn't rescend the pounding dehydration headache she's suffering or her red-rimmed eyes. The girl shakes her head. "Trying to get back on a normal sleep schedule." Her voice is slightly gravely as well as if her vocal chords have been minorly abused by crying. The running satchel is peered at for the whole of two seconds before she just seems to lose interest. "Leaving for Rubicon?" Is all that she asks.

Tenebrous nods slowly. "Yeah." He leans back, closing his eyes. "Yeah, I'm leaving for Rubicon. I've got business there, as I'm sure I've told you. I was supposed to be there a week ago and more, but obviously, I was occupied." Then he looks over at her, frowns a little and murmurs, "You, on the other hand…left for home. And now you look like something that the dragon shat, to steal a phrase from my Master." He straightens in his chair. "Has something happened?"

Phylicia doesn't look at Tenebrous straight-on but instead from the side. "I don't suppose-" her breath hitches like a hiccup which makes her lips press together. "I don't suppose you'd believe me if I said it was from keeping myself awake?" No, probably not considering the worse ailment she suffered at the cave during her lack of sleep was serious Bed Head. At this point in time Estevan lifts his head from her lap and chirrups in querry. His pettings stopped? Phy makes her hand resume the stroking, putting an absurd amount of concentration behind the action as she has to blink faster to disperse the water that seems to be gathering in her eyes. "I knew you had to." She's trying to keep herself distracted somehow, but the tactic might not work. "Just … confirming it. How long, d'you think?"

Tenebrous waves a hand. "That depends on if I think I can stomach riding on a dragon, and the answer to that's probably a resounding 'No.'" A pause before, "I'll…absolutely butt out if you want, but I'd have to be about as smart as a dragon's fart if I was going to buy that excuse…" He leans forward. "Phylicia, what's wrong?"

Phylicia finally lifts her eyes enough to meet his with her head still angled to look at her lap however. "M'nol-" And this time she makes herself take a breath which comes as three different distinct levels of inhaling, and a long exhale which brings silent tears with it. Her hands aren't bandaged seeing as how she got done with a bath not too long ago as she uses the back of them to wipe her eyes. "H-he /slept/ with someone." The pain in her voice is quite audible.

Tenebrous frowns. "I do not understand…You and I have slept together several times since your apprenticeship began. You snore a little when you're on your back, but otherwise, the situation was remarkably uneventful…"

That jerks Phylicia's head up. Even with tears running down her cheeks, she manages to glare as her breaths come in waves more like quiet hiccups. She's crying now so she may as well get it out. "Not like that." She sniffles, making another wipe at her eyes. "He.. he… he had sex with someone else." Her cheeks are given an extra little flush, but for someone her age only a healer could probably not stumble over the word 'sex'. She sniffles again. Obviously, this is a big deal.

Tenebrous ooohs quietly. Then a little bit of Fraille comes out, and he mutters, "But he's so young…" Then he shakes his head and sighs. "Is it something you want to talk about? I'm afraid I don't have much experience to draw on myself, but I do have two ears."

"He's a rider." Phylicia supplies gloomily, her head drooping again as the hiccuping breaths subside leaving the tears to mark trails down her cheeks. "I mean, if he won a flight I could've dealt with it." The apparently have talked about that contingency before. And even though she doesn't answer his question directly she apparently does want to if Ten is being a listening ear. "But… she wasn't even a rider herself!" So it wasn't even both of them had super raging hormones that needed to be settled. And that seems to be making her either angry or depressed. Her body has tensed up from her formerly lifeless position in the recliner.

Tenebrous murmurs, "DId he offer an explination for his behavior? You're a remarkable young woman, Phylicia. I can't understand why he would do something like that deliberately." He frowns again. "He seemed to be a man of concience when we last spoke…"

Phylicia's lips twitch for a very brief moment into a smile at the compliment from him. "Th-That's where it gets all frustrating!" The tears have slowed to a trickle, and the creasing of her forehead tattles to the coming of more. "He says he can't remember the night." Which with some of her aquantances screams of alcohol abuse. "A-and that there was a near-by flight." But whether or not Faraeth chased is beyond her memory. For a brief moment the tears have stopped, leaving her to wipe her cheeks and eyes with the back of her hand again, load of good as it's doing. "But he slept with her…" Her voice mumbles that one out, apparently a little strung up on the fact.

Tenebrous shakes his head. "I'm not sure what to tell you, Phylicia…" He scoots out of his chear and kneels in front of hers, his face concerned. "What will you do now? You can…have all of the time off you need. I'll cover on your behalf if the Hall asks…it's the least I could do…"

Phylicia is sunken enough into the chair where Tenebrous moving onto his knees in front of her chair might just put them level with each other, and his offer is enough to set her off into quiet tears again. She reacts this time by leaning forward and putting her head to his shoulder and her arms around his neck. It might take a little bit of working to make her let go, though her hands are digging into the ends of his shoulders. "I don't know!" She moans softly around this bout of tears. "I-I told him I'd come back tonight. Sometime. Maybe." And then her head is shaking as if she's saying 'no' while her breaths come raggedly without actively sobbing. "O-only a day. Maybe. Distractions are good."

At some point in time, this particular form of contact has become … slightly more acceptable to Tenebrous, and so his only reply at first is to wrap his arms around Phylicia in turn, rocking her gently. "I'm sorry, Phylicia," he murmurs into her ear. "I know it's…not comfortable, but you're always welcome to come back to Stormhaven…I can make a more comfortable bed for you…leave you alone to think for a bit, if you wish…"

"N-Not right now." Comes Phylicia's small voice. "I tw-twisted my ankle." At least that comment of hers has a sheepish tone to it instead of being marinated in misery. Slow and deep - but still slightly ragged - breaths seem to be calming her down significantly. Well, she only has so many tears before her reserves (which were low) get tapped out. Her grip on his shoulders hasn't lessened any however, even if her tears have for the moment. "Though s-stealing cots from the infirmary or storage might not be a bad idea. Rock floor is /h-hard/." And there's a week attempt at humor from her.

Tenebrous chuckles once, giving her a little squeeze. "Didn't you hear? The good Weyrwoman pretty much wrote us an open pass to whatever we needed. We could have that genius Weyrsecond bring it out so we didn't have to lug it. Not that I'd want him to stick around for long." He makes a face, pats her back once, and gently extricates himself, holding her at elbow's length. Still quite close. "Is there anything I can do?"

Phylicia lets her hold of Ten go, her hands flopping into her lap somewhat limply. She still can't meet his eyes for long unless he wants her breaking out into tears again. But for the sake of her head she's trying not to do that. "A new ice bag?" She asks, holding up a perspiring little sack that doesn't look to have any ice left to it. And it's almost luke warm to the touch. And the topic of Thea makes a very good brief distraction. "She's alright?" Is asked in reference to the weyrwoman leaving the cave. She knew it was happening, so she just hopped out early in hopes of a happy reunion, only to have her bubble visciously popped, which makes her face drop into deadness for the moment it takes for him to respond.

Tenebrous nods once. "Yeah, I think I can find you some more ice." He taps her thigh. "Do I want to know how you managed to twist your ankle?" He stands slowly, giving her shoulder one last squeeze, and then heads over to one of the end tabels at the end of the cave. A cloth napkin is filled with ice from one of the bins before he starts back over.

Phylicia finally makes a last pass at her face with the back of her hand, sucking in a big breath and letting it slowly out, sounding slightly more in control of her breathing than she was a moment ago. But by no means does it mean she's smiling. "Going down th-the stairs of his weyr too fast?" Or in otherwords, running away with the satchel of dirty clothing on her shoulder? She holds out her hands for the napkin full of ice then, frankly looking more tired than she ever did at the cave.

Tenebrous laughs quietly, as non-mocking as he can manage. "What an apprentice you are. YOu've already got your forest legs under you and yet you trip down a pair of man-made stairs." He brushes a bit of hair out of her face. "You'll do just fine."

"It happens." Phylicia almost manages to get her tone to a huff but it falls flat, just like most other things seem to. "Daddy never was able to keep me indoors long.." Which likely frustrated the Master Mindhealer to no end. "Or find me after I hit the trees." And that definitely explains her ability to climb trees, if a young child could evade parents.

Tenebrous smiles. "You have a place of your own to stay tonight? I can help you get home, and get settled in?" He shifts a little, making himself more comfortable in the squat.

Phylicia shakes her head, getting dragged back down. "If I need to I'll go to the apprentice dorms." She says softly. Apparently, she's decided. "I-" She pauses only to sigh. "I'm going to go talk to him. After this melts." At least she's decided as much. Obviously she's hoping she didn't stick her foot too far down her mouth by leaving as she did. Finally her gaze focuses enough that she registers he's squatting. "That can't be comfortable." She remarks, sounding only slightly more normal.

Tenebrous snirks. "I'll…be honest, it hurts like hell. I've still got a compress bandage on my thigh, and it's old enough that the adhesive is pulling on almost every leg hair it's attached to." A pause. "Listen…I have a private room here in the Weyr. It's not far from here. Master Fraille had it set up for me about five years ago, and I never use it. But it's warm, and it's comfortable…" He digs into his pocket, coming up with a slightly battered key. "If…the talk doesn't go well, all you have to do is let me know. I'll stay here, in the Weyr, just in case. In the Infirmary. If you need me…"

"Well stop squatting then." Phylicia says with a hint of her normal not-motherhenning. She slowly reaches out with the hand not holding onto her ice for the key, looking at it with a few mixed feelings. "Thank you.." She murmurs quietly before the rest of his offer sinks in and stubbornness creeps back into her face. "Go to Rubicon." She says shortly at first, though it takes her a moment to curb her temper which is sitting right below the surface of her today. "They called you how long ago? I can … manage." She does have other friends for who she'll dampen their shoulder. "Thanks for offering to stay just in case, but they had to call for a reason…" She points out gently now. "I am … whole enough." Though it may not honestly feel like it.

Tenebrous stands up slowly, one hand absently going to his right leg in an all-too familiar gesture. "Yeah," he murmurs to the 'Whole Enough' comment. "I thought I was too." He paces over to his own chair, picking his running satchel up. "Do yourself a favor…hunt up a friend if you find out you're wrong." He nods once with more than a little respect to the younger woman.

Phylicia manages to crack a very small smile at his last comment. "I will." Crying always works so much better when there's someone to hold and comfort you afterall. It's almost disturbing sometimes, to see Phy acting as she does. Some moments she's a (more or less) normal teenager and other moments she's a mini-adult. "You don't push yourself too hard. I can't glare at you all the way from here." At least she admits to boring holes into the man's back at regular intervals when he does something stupid in her senses. Her free hand lifts in a semi-listless finger waggle of a wave.

Tenebrous snorts. "Which is…precisely why I probably will. Teach you to avoid a field trip." He nods once more to her. "Be well, Apprentice. You'll know where to find me when you're ready to resume your education." Then he's moving towards the doorway out, fastening the last few buckles on his satchel.

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