Xanadu Weyr - Faraeth's House in the Trees
Here within the thickest part of the forest is found something that is rarely seen before, though on Pern there are so many things still to be discovered and maybe, just maybe this is one of them.
Set just a little off the dead center of this large clearing is a tree that has stood here for years on end, the girth of the tree is not one a single person could wrap their arms around, no this tree must have at least 50 people(if not more) standing palm to palm with arms outstretched in order to make a complete circuit around it. Time has created a large cavern in the trunk of it, large enough for a fair sized dragon to lay partially within it to get out of the weather. At sometime in the past several years someone has constructed a large awning to add more space to the dragon wallow area so whomever rests within is now completely covered.
Along the interior of the tree someone has built a stair way that curls around and upward to an archway high up in the tree. From the archway one steps out into a cottage of sorts that resides within a flat cradle where the large branches sprout outward. Inside the cottage one will find things are pretty simple, one large room for all ones living needs with a second room for a bedroom. Within the mainroom one will find a set of chairs before a stone fireplace, a rather worn braided rug sets between them on the hardwood floor. Each of the walls facing the outside have large windows in them, allowing light to filter in through the creamy sisal curtains. One nice things about these windows is that they slide open and shut to allow for a natural flow of fresh air to move through the cottage. In the bedroom there are plenty more windows in the walls, as well as a pair of huge skylights. A good sized bed rests with the head against the rear wall, the mattress plush and waiting for bedding to be placed upon it.
The day has worn on into the evening hours now. The sun outside is in the middle of setting casting an orange glow over the area. Its still very chilly outside as it hovers near the freezing point and Phylicia is making her way back to their - M'nol's - weyr to actually talk. Her eyes are red rimmed from her earlier crying but the girl is clean now and dressed in 'normal' clothing underneath her gifted coat. She has a limp to her step as she favors the ankle that she twisted and stops after she reaches the relative warmth of Faraeth's hollow, looking at the flight of stairs and sighing softly. This could be painful.
Faraeth blinks at Phylicia when she enters and nudges her very gently, « I can take you up. » The silk and velvet touch of his mind is as tattered as it's ever been, more like strands of thread than actual fabric, « he is cooking. »
Above M'nol is indeed cooking, the kitchen in a certain level of disarray, but he's managed to make two passable meals in the process. Bovine and Wherry alternate on clean wooden skewers accompanied by simple mashed tubers and a redfruit each. His eyes, too, are red and puffy as he moves to start cleaning, hoping she'd be back soon. A single sheet of paper rests on the table beside one of the plates. His blood results.
Phylicia pauses as Faraeth lowers his muzzle to nudge her, re-bandaged hands cupping his snout and stroking gently. "Are you okay, Faraeth?" She asks quietly, concerned. She remembers his 'voice' from a while ago, and this isn't really it. Her stomach decides to rumble then and she turns an extremely weak smile on the brown. "Please?" Is said in response to him taking her up. She was fairly calm when she walked into the weyr, but she's blinking quicker now, as if she's holding back fresh tears.
Faraeth snorts just a little, then speaks « I worry. About mine. About you. He is very sad. Hold tight. » Once Phy has a solid grip on his snout, the brown gently lifts her by it, turning and extending his body to its full length, eventually using the stairs to support him partially, and deposits her gently a few steps from the top. The great brown head blinks again, « Be gentle? »
Well! That's a slightly more unconventional way to get up a flight of stairs. Phylicia squeaks as she's lifted off her feet, but thankfully she's smart enough to plaster herself to the brown's nose, rather than try to help him. As he sets her down, her hand fumbles backwards for the railing. "I-I'll try." She strokes his muzzle before continuing the few steps that remain to the to the door, pausing just inside the doorway again. She swallows, trying to brace herself. "You cook?" Comes her soft question.
Faraeth wuffles softly, then lowers himself back down to the floor and curls back up, just waiting to find out what happens. M'nol glances up when Phy enters and blinks a few times, surely not in surprise, so he too is probably holding back tears, "I… a traveling baker came through while you were gone and taught me… I asked. Thought it might…" he shrugs and changes the subject, "Hungry?"
There's a slight awkwardness that wasn't there before as Phylicia walks over to the kitchen area. It certainly smells good enough to get her stomach rumbling again. Aparently one of the few things she didn't do at the Weyr complex was eat anything that resembled a meal though she may have munched. "Yes." She offers at first, before a hand presses to her stomach for a moment. "And at the same time, no." Ah nerves. What an appetite killer. Though his string of words rises her hackles slightly. "What'd you do, do this the night I left?" And that came out a lot harsher than she intended, if she intended at all, as she blanches and hides her face in one of her hands. "That's.. not.. what I meant." Isn't it? It's only been a few scarce days since Thea and Tenebrous retreated to the cave, and Phy after them.
M'nol back-peddles faster than a 5-turn-old surrounded by wild felines, "After I screwed up… I was looking for something to help say I was sorry. And it was offered…" He sighs, glancing away and down at the ground, "I've been back and forth across Pern trying to figure out how I could make it up to you… say I was sorry so well that you couldn't… or at least that you wouldn't tear my heart into a million pieces…"
Phylicia's head hangs a little further down the view still blocked from her hand as guilt washes over her again from snapping. "I.." She pauses as her voice, apparently talking to the floor. "'Nol.. I don't want to.. to tear your heart apart. But it's all ripped a tear in mine." She may leave him hurting to go soothe some of her own wounds but it was never intentioned to purposefully hurt him. "It smells good." She offers in a way of apology. Even 'strong' people break sometimes, and Phy is coming dangerously close to that edge.
M'nol nods, starting to take a step towards her, then stopping himself, "I… I don't want to hurt you either, Phy. I almost…" he looks truly ashamed now, "I almost didn't tell you just to spare you the pain… but I knew it would hurt more if I lied like that and then you found out." He glances back at the food when she mentions it and murmurs, "Thanks… the first two tries were rock-hard…" He eyes the blood results, then sighs, turning back to Phy, "I don't know what happened that night… but I do know that I love /you/ and I would never intentionally hurt you."
Phylicia finds a chair and pulls it out, only to have her knees finally give way again, depositing her roughly in its seat. She's just not up for standing and doing this. Right now a hug might do more good than harm as her shoulders hunch slightly. "So what do we do then?" She asks, taking her head out of her hands the fat welling of tears resting on her lower lid. Isn't she normally the one with answers? She hasn't realized what the slip of paper is and barely notices him looking at it. "Neither of us meant to… but we're both hurt." And deep down inside she's conflicted. She's not sure she wants to forgive him right now, even if it seems the circumstances were beyond control.
M'nol slides hatlingly into the other chair, wringing his hands together. His own face is damp, but at least at the moment no alligator tears are falling from his eyes, just leaking water from strain and stress. He sighs softly and reaches across the table for the official report and just stares at it for a moment before looking back up at Phy, "For starters, I don't think I'm ever going to Ista without an escort again…" He sighs, "Sorry… I shouldn't avoid the us part of this… it's just easier to try to pretend it didn't happen… but it /did/." He sets the paper on the table where she can clearly see it and sighs again, "I… I want to know how to best show you that I don't want to be with anyone but you and that I'll do anything for you."
Phylicia almost fixes M'nol with a glare usually reserved for Ten when he's being exceptionally thick or stupid, but doesn't bother with it since she's more or less exhausted completely. "What's that?" She asks of the piece of paper in his hand. After he puts it down where she can see it, she pulls it a little closer to look at it. Healer she may be, but blood reports she's not used to reading. "What..?" Comes from her in mild, tired confusion before she rubs at her forehead. She has one viscious headache from her earlier crying. His last statement and that one sends her over the edge of breaking, as the tears start. "I don't know." She says at first, quietly until her voice rises in pitch a bit. "I don't know!" And the tears roll down her cheeks in a steady stream. "Can't ask you to stop attending flights. It's selfish. Mean to Faraeth." She sniffles, wiping at her eyes with her fingers. Plus there's always the bleed over into the weyr from flights.
M'nol glances at the paper when Phy examines it and sighs, "According to Chaton it says that I was slipped some sort of local herb that makes people all loopy and encourages them to… yeah… said the girl was drugged too. Some jerk probably thought it'd be funny," he grumbles as much to himself as to anyone listening in. When she starts crying he does too, if not as much, "I couldn't promise not to attend flights. If there's one nearby he goes. I could try to stop him, but I could never guarantee it and I wouldn't want to lie to you again." He looks at the paper again, "I could promise never to drink or eat anything local if I'm alone somewhere without friends around to make sure I don't do anything stupid."
Hunching over is so much more tempting when her tears keep coming but she leans back instead, letting the back of the chair take her weight as she hides her face in her hands trying to stiffle her crying. "D-don't be silly." She says, slightly muffled by her hands. She sniffles, moving one hand enough so she can look at him with one eye. "I kn-know you love me," Comes next as she tries to get herself under control, "a-and you know I love y-you?" Apparently she hasn't gotten control of the sobs yet and she hides her face once more. "I ju-just don't know what t'/do/." And she sounds just as helpless as she did the night he visited her to drop off the gloves. Something is off kilter in the relationship right now, and she doesn't know what or how to fix it.
M'nol leans forward, then stops, still not sure where their current boundaries lie, and nods, "I know you love me, Phy." He watches her begin to crumple and finally gives into his urge, hoping she won't slap him for it. He stands, crossing to her side and simply tries to wrap her in his arms, holding her close. "I… I ran into R'zel when I went to get the meat. He suggested going away for a few days. Just us." He waits… hoping for a good reaction to that suggestion.
Phylicia isn't Cenlia. She doesn't usually react with violent tendencies unless provoked, and even then it'd take a rather big provoketion. She lets herself be gathered into his arms, her hands stopping from hiding her face to turn and hook into his shirt as she's unable to get herself under control. One would think she would have been cried out by now. In a last ditch effort she sucks in a large breath and holds it for a scary length of time, before exhaling slowly. If you can't breathe, you can't cry. Or at least it's harder to. And that does seem to get the crying to stop though her sniffles continue on. "Can you manage that?" For that matter, can she manage that? Ten did offer to vouch for her to the Hall for an extended time off and the thought of a vacation for just the two of them sends butterflies back into her stomach.
M'nol gets a little concerned when Phy holds her breath extra long and he sighs when she finally spoke again. He nods, still holding her, "D'had took a vacation not too long ago… I should be able to get a couple of days. And Ruz said he'd ask Farrah for you. I think… I think we need to find us again instead of all this stuff." He kisses her gently on the top of her head and waits for her reply.
"I think…" Phylicia starts off, closing her eyes as she minutely relaxes into him. "I think that might be a good idea." Her voice is exhausted, and that exhaustion is echo'd in her body as she slumps against him, though her voice shrinks as she's unsure how he's going to take the next bit. "Woul-" She pauses for a moment before she plows into her question. "Would you be .. offended if I .. slept somewhere else tonight?" They've definitely taken a step in the right direction, but she doesn't quite feel right enough today to be held in bed. And her body is starting to tense, waiting for the rejection or the possibility of wounded feelings. Again.
M'nol does stiffen just a little, but only a little and he relaxes again almost immediately. He slips down to his knees, but it's not a dejected slide, he's simply changing positions so he can look up into her eyes. He's not smiling, but he's not frowning either, "A little, but I understand. It'll be a while before we're all right again. Hopefully not too long a while, but it'll take some time, I know." He slips one hand into one of hers and squeezes gently, "We /can/ get through this, though."
Phylicia's hands are just-healed enough for her not to wince as he squeezes one of her hands. Her free hand unhooks from his shirt after he slides down to his knees, cupping the back of his neck and giving it a small rub in a show of affection that's still there, but slightly awkward to express until they finish working this out. "Whose the strong one now?" She asks somewhat rhetorically as her lips very briefly manage to quirk upwards into a faint smile before falling back into contemplative neutrality or seriousness. "Thank you, 'Nol." She says, quite a bit more seriously than her last question before her stomach decides its had enough of all of this, and announces again that it wants food with a gurgle.
M'nol smiles a little at her question, "No one, I guess… maybe we're only strong when we're together." He nods to her thanks, giving her hand another gentle squeeze, a soft shudder running down his spine from her touch, "Anything for you, Phy. Anything." He smirks when her stomach rumbles and his echoes its call, "The food's getting cold…"
Phylicia nods, withdrawing her hand after a few more brief moments, turning to look at the meal. "It'd be silly to waste a good meal." Especially when her stomach isn't so extremely tied up in nauseous knots that she could barely eat. However, this doesn't mean they get to totally drop the previous subject. "When.. when were you thinking of leaving?"
M'nol smiles, "I promise it's safe to eat. I tested it before I served it." He stands, slowly moving back to his own chair without turning away from her, "I hadn't really thought about it… a couple of days at most? I don't want to wait to long but I don't want to rush you, either."
Phylicia picks up one of the kabobs, looking at it for a moment as if it's the strangest thing in the world when it's likely not the kabob she's thinking about. "Maybe the day after tomorrow?" She says tentatively. She'd at least like one day to recover 'at home' before she's skipping off somewhere else. Though who knows if tomorrow night Phy will stay with M'nol either. It's a work in progress. Finally, to sooth her stomach before it becomes permanently attached to her spine, she nips off a piece of meat.
M'nol nods, "That could work. Enough time for me to let D'had know and for both of us to…" he pauses, "find ourselves a bit." He gets a little expectant, waiting for Phy's reaction to his cooking. It /was/ his first time cooking for someone else.
Phylicia swallows the piece of meat she nipped off, then blinks at M'nol noticing that he hasn't seemed to touch his meal yet. One eyebrow raises slightly in question as she then nips off a piece of the other type of meat. "Is this seasoned?" She asks after swallowing again. "Its good." And the fact they're already in bite sized morsels doesn't hurt either. And then she nods, exhaling a small sigh. "And for me to tell the Masters." She notes softly.
M'nol nods, "Just a little. Thanks." Now he finally takes a bite of his own food, chewing and swallowing. He smiles a little and nods again, "Yeah… long enough to make everything kosher."
Phylicia nods her head in agreement before lapsing into a half comfortable, half awkward silence as she eats the food provided with a sort of quiet gratitude. The kabobs, mashed tubers and redfruit were much more appetizing than items she managed to find in the caverns. She finishes what's on her plate before she shifts a little bit. "I'm just going to put a change of clothing or two into a bag.." She says quietly as she moves to stand up. Most likely so she's not continuously running up the massive amount of stairs on her twisted ankle.
M'nol finishes his food slowly, feeling a little ashen by the whole process, but doing his best to hide it. When she mentions getting herself some changes of clothes he nods and stands to help her, "Of course… would… would you be terribly offended if I asked you to take one of our pillows with you?" And odd request, certainly, but he'd definitely said it.
An odd request indeed, but Phylicia does nothing more than look at him for a moment. "Of course not." She answers softly. The logical reason would be because she likes one of those pillows, and doesn't know just how furnished the bed she's crashing on will be. "I'll take one with me." Her emotions have plateau'd for the moment. There likely won't be anymore rises or dips until she's had a few moments to breathe. She walks slowly and carefully to where her clothing is kept, packing just the bare essentials for a day or so though it does include the current little book she's re-reading.
M'nol smiles gently as he watches her work, "Thank you. Would… would you like me to help you back down the stairs?" It's clear he wants to prolong their current contact as long as possible even though he wouldn't make her stay.
Phylicia's tired eyes and face manage to smile up at him as she nods. "I-I wasn't going to press, but it's either asking you or Faraeth for help, or take all night going down the stairs." She puts the pillow that she likes at the top of the flap, loosely buckling the sack closed before she slings the pack over her shoulders, angling it so it rests along her back instead of at her side. "I think I'd like your help more than Faraeth's." She doesn't need a snout-lift down. Up was quite enough.
M'nol smiles and offers his arm to her, "It would be my pleasure, though Farry may require a few strokes to make him feel better afterwards."
Phylicia slides her arm through his until they reach the stairs, when she moves it to around his shoulders so she can ease more of her slight weight onto his frame. "Mustn't have a moody brown." She manages to tease as she takes the first hissing step down. "Next time I ever try toleave in a hurry, remind me running down stairs is a bad idea?" Though thankfully if you keep off them, twisted ankles heal in a matter of a day or two. But her humor has partially returned, if she's cracking a comment about that.
M'nol carefully guides her down the stairs even as he smiles and nods, "Of course. If it weren't for Faraeth I'd probably have twisted mine too. Hopefully you'll never want to leave in a hurry again." He smiles at her and from below Faraeth's eyes can be seen blinking up at them.
Phylicia sighs as they finally reach the bottom. Note to self: if the room is up a flight of stairs, she's sleeping in the hallway or something. "Hopefully not, unless I'm running late for a class." And she slides her arm back into a slightly more comfortable position back in his arm. She's slightly loathe to leave, but she would feel a little better tonight with just a little bit of breathing and thinking room.
Faraeth extends his nose to Phy as the two reach the bottom and M'nol smiles, "He wants scritches, he says." The brown blinks again and gives a soft wuffle. M'nol squeezes her arm gently, "I can walk you all the way to where you're going if you want… don't want you to over-stress that ankle."
Phylicia disentangles herself from M'nol so she can reach out appropriately and reach just behind the brown's eyeridges. "It's alright. Level surfaces aren't bad." She says easily as most of her attention on giving Faraeth the scritches which is helping to alieviate more of her previously depressed mood. "It's flights of stairs that make it hurt." And there shouldn't be many stairs to where she's headed.
Faraeth emits a happy rumble, his first lids closing happily, « thanks » He's a little better off now, at least, there's a sense of fabric again. M'nol lets her go and nods when she declines his further help, "So long as you'll be alright, Phy. If you need me… well… you know the rest…"
Phylicia finishes giving Faraeth his scritches and pauses long enough to give M'nol a hug. "I know how to find you." She says with a touch of warmth. "Good night, 'Nol." And with that, she turns slowly, to amble towards wherever it is she's headed.
M'nol returns the hug with as much warmth as he can muster, still smiling softly, "Good night, Phy. Sleep well and dream happy dreams."