
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 not long until the midday meal, a gentle mist falling outside to cool the air and leave everything kind of hazy and damp. The caverns are just starting to fill with people, but not quite yet getting as busy as it will be very shortly. Tecoah steps out of the kitchens, grimacing and looking down at her hands, which are all wrinkly from washing dishes all morning, and makes her way over to an empty table to relax for a few minutes before the meal actually starts. With a happy chitter, a faded blue firelizard appears from -between- and lands on her shoulder, tail lashing behind him and sweeping her hair aside while he nuzzles at her ear, "Nuisance, stop that! For the last time, leave my ears alone." The young woman reaches up to brush the lizard away only to have him land on the table in front of her and warble at her until she reaches out to scritch the top of his head with one finger.
Pora seems to run on a later schedule than most of the folks here at the weyr. She's still finishing up her own meal, a sandwich constructed out of whatever sliced meat was available at the serving tables today. She's seated at an otherwise unoccupied table as she chomps on her meal, eyes idly scanning the remaining crowd until a certain blue firelizard lands on the table in front of her. She's startled at first, but once she's sure that he's not here to steal her sandwich, she gives him a smile. "Hi there. He's a cute one!" She remarks to Tecoah, chipperly.
"No, no, no, -no-." Nicca says sharply as she enters the caverns, flailing a hand at the gold firelizard that hovers over her head, the sentiment echoed by the matching critter around her shoulders, words punctuated with a hiss. "Shh." She offers to Destiny as she ducks away from her father's gold, slipping into a seat near Pora and Tecoah, looking a bit frazzled as she does so. "Stupid things." She mutters.
Tecoah blinks a couple of times at the comment on her blue and gives Pora a faintly crooked little grin accompanied by an eyeroll, "Yeah, thanks. He's a nuisance." She reaches up to rub at the ear he was nuzzling, making a face as she does, "And won't leave my ears alone." The rather petite candidate looks over at Nicca as she sits and winces in sympathy for the frazzled look, "Tell me about it." She doesn't elaborate on her reasons for thinking they're stupid, but Nuisance couldn't really care less as long as he keeps getting attention; the blue's long tail still sweeping behind him and threatening to tip over anything that's too close.
Pora continues to grin at the little blue, clearly charmed by the critter despite his troublemaking ways. "Oh, I know. I have a little one of my own… he's off napping right now. They can be pests, but they're just so adorable, aren't they?" She has another bite of sandwich, then looks up to see the clearly frazzled Nicca who just seated herself nearby. Pora looks rather concerned. "Are you alright?" She asks, quietly.
After a moment it seems that Shigure has given up her fussing, the gold getting bored with expending so much effort, flitting off to perch somewhere and peer over the cavern, leaving Nicca with only Destiny to worry about, the little gold eying Nuisance as he sits on the table. Nicca's eyes, meanwhile, flick to Pora and Tecoah with a little nod, and a quick gaze at Shigure before answering. "He wants me to come watch my brother.. And he's a -pest-." Just like a firelizard!
The candidate turns an oddly fond look on her lizard and sighs, "Yeah, they can be pretty adorable." Beat, "When he puts his mind to it, anyway." Tecoah gives Pora a curious look, "You're one of the ones that got an egg from Pest's clutch the other day, aren't you?" She looks thoughtful for a moment, "Brown, right?" She looks over at Nicca again when she speaks and winces again, "Oh, I know all about younger siblings… I've got a couple myself." She shrugs, "They've already entered a craft and live up North, but I used to have to watch them all the time when I was at Fort." She pauses for a moment before she speaks again, Nuisance ignoring Destiny while basking in the attention his person is giving him, "I'm Tecoah." And the white knot pinned to her shoulder offers evidence that she's one of the new candidates.
"Oh? How old's your brother?" Pora asks Nicca, curious, as she finishes off her meal. "I've got a couple younger brothers myself, too. I know a few things about dealing with them." She gives the candidate a chipper smile, holding out her hand. "I'm Pora. I'm just in the weyr to bring in my family's fall harvest. It's very nice to meet you… both of you." She says, with a glance to Nicca.
"Nine. And he's their -baby- so he spoiled absolutely rotten, and they pay way more attention to him then they ever paid to us." Nicca wrinkles up her nose, sulking a bit, though by the firelizard on her shoulder and the bracelet on her wrist, its evident that she's hardly neglected. A little sigh, as if to punctuate her plight, she finally cracks a smile, glancing at both the candidate and the other. "Nicca.." And then her eyes dart to Tecoah. "You're standing for Mother's clutch, then?"
"Well met, Pora. Nicca." Tecoah looks a little surprised at the question and shrugs, glancing down at her waterlogged free hand for a moment before grimacing but clasping hands with Pora for a moment, "One of the clutches, anyway. I guess if I don't Impress when Seryth's clutch hatches, then I'll be back out on the sands for Kilaueth's, then." She shrugs again, "Not like it's the first time I've stood." She, quite honestly, seems to be almost indifferent about the idea of being a candidate.
"You'd better hope its Seryth's, I'm not sure that bronze of the Weyrleader's is going to go the whole time without chasing all the candidates off the sands and maybe having a little snack as he goes." Nicca offers in a tone that's only half joking, a little snort and a shake of her head. "Been there, done that too.." She shrugs almost dismissively.
Tecoah grimaces a little at the thought of Isterreth maybe having a candidate or two as a snack while chasing them all off the sands and shakes her head, "They wouldn't let him do that… Would they?" Yikes! Seems that she might be genuinly worried about that now. Oops. The young woman reaches for her firelizard and actually cuddles him close for a moment, looking like she's doing it without really thinking about it. For his part, Nuisance just eats up the attention. It's not often that he manages to get his person's attention all to himself, after all…
"I don't know, are -you- going to stop him?" Nicca teases the candidate, clearly enjoying the game at least a little, one hand lifting briefly to brush over Destiny's muzzle before her smirk widens. "Besides, there's enough, I doubt anyone would notice one or two missing." Nicca works hard to keep her voice even, to avoid betraying her lies. "I bet we could ask G'ene, he might be willing to tell you otherwise." Oh no, its a trap!
The shorter woman is about as far from weyrbred as a person can get, so the teasing doesn't quite register as teasing. Not right away, at least, "But wouldn't his rider stop him? I mean, they wouldn't let him acutally hurt anyone, would they?" She swallows hard at the thought and nods when it's suggested that they ask Gene, not being that familiar with the Weyrleader's reputation, "Alright… I might do that." Later, though. She's been on her feet most of the day, standing in one spot, so she really just wants to relax for a moment.
Why is it that it's harder to stand in one place for hours at a time than it is to run?