Spring Cleaning

Xanadu Weyr - Kanekith's Arc Forge
Half-set into a forested knoll is a curved bulwark of stone, tracing out part of a circle. Slightly more than half, in fact. The curved outer wall is yellowed fieldstone, looking like the ruins of some ancient tower now tumbled to a single story's worth of height and adapted into a weyr. The circular shape is completed by a courtyard of red bricks, set into the ground in a houndstooth pattern. The inner wall is slightly concave, made of that same yellow stone, and the sloped roof is a partial cone made from red tile.

The heart of the clearing is a machine now. A small open forge is set out slightly from the wall. There's a bellows to coax the flame hot enough to melt iron and an anvil to work it over. A few wooden chairs provide a place to sit and listen to any avians not yet frightened away by the clang of metal, or perhaps to roast sausages on sticks over a forge whose coals have burnt down low.

To either side of the forge, there's a large archway that leads to a sheltered couch. It's fairly narrow, enough so that a large bronze might have difficulty turning around, but perhaps that's why there's one archway on each end, the openings cleverly angled to keep out most of the wind while still allowing the draconic inhabitant to keep watch on the approaches. Along the back wall of that couch, in the center, is a human-sized door leading further inside.


With her duties done for the day, Kera wastes little time in getting out in some fresh air. Some of the herbal remedies can be quite stinging to the eyes and nose after too long. Grabbing a few fruits from the kitchen, she makes her way out to try visiting Ka'el. Maybe he'll be around this time, it could happen. Munching on her snack as she strolls along the path, Minimur chortles softly from his shoulder perch as Kera sorta hums around the fruit. Approaching the bronzerider's yard she pauses, Glancing around the center yard, then towards the dwelling. "You around Ka'el?" is called out before taking another bite from her fruit.

Something smells good. Like meat roasting, and upon further inspection, roasting meat is exactly what is making that yummy smell. The coals on the forge are burning low this spring day, and Ka'el has set a few sausages on a rack over them to grill. Ka'el himself is nowhere to be seen, though Kanekith is lounging in the sun, unstrapped and eyes open. He watches the girl come closer and closer, his head resting down upon the grass, though he soon raises it once she's arrived. Ka'el emerges from the innerworks of his weyr not long after, dressed in worn trousers that have been torn at the knee to create shorts and a nondescript shirt above. "Hey Kera!" he says, waving a hand that holds a rag, grinning. "You come to help me dust out the cobwebs in this place?"

Kera sniffs the enticing aromas coming from the forge and eyes it curiously from the little path. Kanekith is noticed when the bronze lifts his head. How did she not notice the huge bronze before? Hmm. She'll blame deliria due to the forge scents confusing her brain. Giving the bronze a dip of her head "G'day Kanekith." She doesn't expect a response of coarse, would be rude to not greet him though. Sniffing the air once more, she cast her half eaten fruit a wary glance and loses her appetite for it. Ka'el's greetting draws her attention to where he exits his weyr. "Flashing a smile and wagging her hand airly in greeting "G'day Ka'el, hope I'm not intruding." Cleaning cobwebs? Her eyes dart to little nooks and crannies. Cobwebs mean spinners, and she really dislikes those. "Well, I hadn't planned on cleaning, but if ya need an extra hand.." Her little brown chitters a greeting to the bronze pair before winging over to settle on a perch near Kanekith.

Ka'el laughs and wipes his hands on his rag before unceremoniously tossing it into his open doorway. He leaves the door open to air out the place and continues wiping his hands, now on the sides of his shorts, as he heads over to check those sausages. "Intruding? Nah. Only spring cleaning," he says with a grin. "Tradition, y'know. Well….it was at home, an' it's sort've been engraved in my mind." He smirks as he lifts up a long fork to turn the sausages with a sizzle. "And you don't have to clean, nah. … I mean, unless you /want/ too," he says with a smirk. "Was just going to sweep out the entryway a bit, but that can wait. You want something to eat?" Kanekith doesn't seem to mind the presence of the senior apprentice, though his attention has drifted to the little brown who has landed nearby. His head vaguely twists and he rumbles lowly. Possibly a greeting? At least it's not a growl!

Happy with his greeting returned, Minimur alternates between preening himself and chittering very important things, important to him at least, to Kanekith. Kera grins and nods in a knowing way. "Yea, funny how the wierdest things become traditions." The sizzling sausages call her feet to move a few paces closer. "Before, I would have said I was fine with the fruit.." she lifts said fruit briefly before reaching into her pouch for a little square of cloth and wraps the half eaten snack. "…but those smell really good." A casual shrug given "I don't mind helping sweep up a bit. I sweep out the infirmary several times a day, so this…" She gestures to the smaller weyr "…wouldn't be that much differant right?" Leaning a bit towards the roasting meats "How ya been the past few sevendays?"

"I do know how to grill a sausage," remarks Ka'el with a little smirk to the younger girl. "Pretty well, if I say so myself." And they don't need much more grilling either, and he soon spears one at a time and shakes them off onto a wooden platter for cooling and eventual devouring. No forks. No knives. This is finger food time! Man food. But it's hot man food, so he sets it aside for now. How has he been? He chuckles. "Busy. Good. Good an' busy," he remarks, heading off to grab a broom which he doesn't hand over to Kera. If she's swept all day, he certainly isn't going to have her do it at his place! He gestures for her to have a seat in one of the wooden chairs, newly dusted and wiped down, then he gets to sweeping. "Been doin' more sweeps now that the weather's good. Soriana's gone off to Ierne for lessons most of the day, so I've lost my usual rest day distraction." Another grin. "So, doin' things that I've neglected." Like weyr cleaning! "What about you? I've been so busy, I haven't seen you about."

Kera hasn't been sweeping /all/ day, just several small increments of it. Nodding in agreement as the sizzling sausages are set to the side to steam and cool, she listens while watching Ka'el sweep. Wow, a man that knows how to use a broom. Chuckling softly, she sinks onto one of the chairs out of the way. "Hmm, it took me a while, but I managed to catch up with Soriana a couple sevendays ago. But you riders are not easy to track down so, haven't caught up with her since." She sighs a bit "She told me I could visit her in her office, but I don't think it would be a good idea to interupt while she's working so… But it sounds like she wouldn't have been in her office anyway." A small shrug given as she watches the broom swish back and forth. "Sorry ya haven't been able to see much of her." Leaning back, legs stretching out and crossing at her ankles, Kera considers "Studies and duties as usual. Thankfully the water's starting to get warm enough to enough swimming again."

Luckily, turns of apprenticing has Ka'el pretty adept with a broom! He'll definitely be a catch for someone someday as a house..maid? Ha! But for now, his sweeping skills are for himself. Even men have to keep the dustbunnies at bay! "Yeah, she was busy even before she left," he agrees, head bobbing a few times as he finishes up, elaving the broom to lean against the doorway. He heads over to collect the tray of sausages and heads over to the small cluster of seats, claiming one near his guest. "And I know how you feel. Knockin' on an office door isn't always the easiest of things, huh? Especially when the person behind the door is wearin' a knot as fancy as hers." He smirks, waving off her apology before offering the tray. "Ah, I'll live for a while longer, I think. Here, have a link," he says, smiling as he does so. "And yeah, swimmin' season is right around the corner." When the swimsuits and bikinis come out! His favorite time of the year. "Should invite your dolphincraft friend to visit. Is she still…crafting, now that she's impressed?"

Kera nods a little. "Sometimes those big huge knots can be a bit intimidating, even on a friend." Looking over the cooled links, she plucks one from the trencher when offered "Thanks." A couple of small bites is taken and glances back towards Ka'el, she begins tearing a few tiny bites off and keeping them aside, cause sooner or latger, Minimur will realize there is food to be had. Chuckling over what the bronzer is looking forward to most about the coming weather, her head shakes in amusement while taking another bite. Canting her head a bit "N'talya? Her and Alamith are doing well last I heard." She sighs a little, eyes shifting around in what could be taken as a guilty conscience. "I've not had a chance to visit her in a while. Not since I fell out of the ship skeleton and twisted my ankle a while back." Another bite is taken before hse continues "Echo had joined the local pod and she was looking forward to getting back into her studies at the time."

Ka'el sets the platter on his lap and picks up a sausage for himself now to bite into as he listens to her. At N'talya's name, he nods. Yeah, her! He smirks after a swallow, a brow angling up. "She's the one with the dragon, yes? That's reason enough for her to be visitin' you," he remarks, pointing the sausage link her way. "I'd wager it's a ton easier for her to get away than it is for you, especially if she isn't apprenticing right at this moment. But .. even if she is," he says on second thought, "she'd still have more freedom than one who wasn't a rider, I'd think. You've been there…how many tmes now? She owes you a time or two." He grins as he sits back into his seat, "Besides, you're far too accident prone when you leave the weyr!" he jokes.

Kera considers a moment, taking a little longer to enjoy the seasoned link before shrugging "Perhaps, but you riders are always soo busy that it's hard to catch up with any of ya at times." Gesturing with the half eaten link "And sometimes my restdays come suddenly one way or the other. Switching duties with another apprentice or something. So, in a way, it's sorta easier for me to find a transport rider to do surprise visits to Ista." Taking another bite, she blinks at Ka'el when he speaks of her being accident prone "Hey! I'm not accident prone. Only once did I get hurt. And that was just a matter of misstepping." Granted, she was about twenty feet above the ground when she started falling. "Nodding stubbornly she mutters ".. am not…..At least I don't go jumping on mountainous spindles and try to run myself through. Unlike /someeee/ people I know." The bronzerider is given a pointed look at that. Minimur decides it's his turn to eat so he wings over and perches On Kera's shoulder, the girl offering the small bites she tore off earlier.

"Yeah, yeah," says Ka'el, waving a hand idly as she speaks of the busyness of riders! It is .. so very true, but he doesn't have to admit to it! He grins though, taking another bite of sausage. But then, he heys! "My job is to put myself into dangerous situations," he says, stubbornly and playfully lifting his chin. "That mountain injury was made durin' the call of duty! Yours, on the other hand…" he trails off there, his grin broad. "Though let's try not to make it a competition of who can injure themselves the most, eh? I don't think the healers would appreciate seein' the two of us all the time. Especially you." He laughs a little, eyes lifting to the brown firelizard that flits her way, looking for his scraps. He smirks a little, his attention drawing over to Kanekith for a moment, though morsels of sausage definitely does not interest the big bronze. "Oh, right.. that reminds me," he says, snapping his fingers. "You lookin' for any more firelizards?"

Kera lifts a brow at Ka'el and can't stop the amused eye roll and smirk before peering back to Minimur. Feeding him tiny bites, "Yea yea, no matter what spin ya put on it, the simple fact is we both could have made good use of a nice secure rope to avoid both our injuries." She flashes an amused wink "Well, Journeyman Cyrus was bit put out that I was off my feet for about a sevenday. But there was plenty of paperwork too keep me busy in the meantime though." The firelizard question gives her a little moment of pause "I didn't exactly go lookin for Mini here, it just sorta happened." Rather than explain it and have to talk about a certain brownrider, she leaves that bit alone. Giving the last bit of sausage to the brown, who gives a smelly little belch in Kera's face for her trouble. "That was rude Minimur." The brown seem unrependant however, and chirps softly as he snuggles against his little healer. Peering back to Ka'el a little nod is offered "Maybe if circumstances work out again, Min will get a little friend." The apprentice chuckles "There's still a bit of room left of my pillow next to Minimur."

Ka'el knows the circumstances of Minimur. She told him the story! But he's not going into detail on that for plenty of reasons, the biggest of which: It's not relevant to why he asked. "Well," he begins but pauses at the firelizard burp. He smirks at the reprimand. "At least he hadn't been chewin' firestone," he remarks with an amused look on his face. "We'd both be in a hot seat right about now. Me moreso than you" It all depends on where that little mouth was pointing! "Anyhow. I was askin' because Sori mentioned how she thinks her gold, Haruhi, was probably gonna start glowin' soon, if she hasn't already. An' so there will probably be eggs to be givin' away sooner or later, and she's lookin' for people to hand'm off to. She asked if I knew anyone who'd want one. If you're interested, I could pass the word along next time I see her." Which won't be for a while, but still!

Kera crinkles her nose at the mention of firestone belches, or little directional torches. "Hmm, that would be handy for starting a campfire." Thinking a few seconds "Do you think that's something Minimur should know? How to make a little flame I mean." She's never trained a lizard before, so is still learning how to take care of him properly. The mention of Soriana's Haruhi, gives her something to think about, which she does for a short moment before nodding with a smile. "I would be interested if she were to trust me with one of her little ones." Hopefully, no one in the dorms will mind another round of nightcreeling feeding sessions. "I may have to switch cots though, the new beastcrafter apprentice keeps stepping on my cot with his filthy boots." Rolling her eyes while laughing that off, she peers back to her friend. "How did you handle problems like that when you were in the dorms?"

“I’ll let her know.” With his sausage done, Ka'el puts the platter aside. There are still a few left, in case he or Kera wishes to have a second. He lounges back in his chair now, happy for the pleasant day that isn't too hot or cold, and seemingly glad for the company as well. All that's needed now is a bottle of something to drink. But that would require him to get up. "When I first learned of firestone, I wanted to teach Alloy to flame. Everyone was against it," he says with a roll of his eyes. "Figured I'd burn the Weyr down or something." He snickers. "In all truth an' honesty, firelizards don't really need it. Alloy can, but all I've ever had him do was start a campfire an'..coupletimes, flame for no real reason other than it looked cool." He grins guiltily. "So I wouldn't worry about it. And uh, as for your cot problem … is the fellow doin' it on purpose? There weren't many've us smith apprentices to begin with. Never had much problem with personal space."

Kera reaches up to give the brown's neck a gentle scratch as he's well onto his way to a nap, sleeping of the sausagey goodness. Ka'el's advice is pondered and her head shakes "Since I've no real need to campfires, I'll save myself the odor it would bring." Sending a very amused look to her friend "It does look cool when the little ones do that though doesn't it." Wiping her fingers on the hem of her shorts, she's gonna wash them later anyway, Kera shifts in the chair and leans back a little more, Minimur giving a little scolding chitter when his nap is disturbed briefly. "On purpose? I'ld say yea, since he's stepping on my cot in order to get up to his. Evidently it makes /too/ much sense to actually take them off first." The apprentice's eye roll in annoyance before finding Ka'el again. "I tried seeing if he wanted to switch, but he liked where he was so gonna try switching with someone else."

"Ah, so you have those…bunks that are stacked on top of one another, eh?" Ka'el says thoughtfully, pondering her complaint. "An' you spoke to him of it?" It sure does sound like it. Shards, have you spoken to your wingle- … eh, Journeyman about it?" he asks with a faint tilt of his head. "I don't think it's right that you've to switch beds because he's bein' an arse on purpose. Your Journeyman or whoever it is that heads your craft's dorm should be able to put a stop to it," he offers, a voice of optimism. "An' if that doesn't do anything … shards, come to me. I'll have a word with the bloke. I might not be a Journeyman, but I'm a rider. I've a little influence." A tiny smidgeon! "And plus, I can almost guarantee I'm larger than he is. I doubt he'll have much to say to me."

Kera laughs goodnaturely to Ka'el's boasting and nods. "If it keeps on, I'll mention it to someone. Hopefully it won't come to you having words over it." Wincing a bit she coaxes the groggy lizard to her lap, where he curls back up to resume his snooze. It's entirely coincidence that his cute little snout is much closer to the sausages, sending his nostrils twitching. "Oh, I was speaking with bluerider Kiena the other day." Kera chuckles at the memory "She was a bit irked I think, that the Journeyman kicked her out of the forge." a little smirk added "Seems she gets told she works too much too. I suggested maybe she should think about setting up a little forge at her weyr, that way she could work without the Journeyman being over her shoulder." A little shrug lifts her shoulders. "I mentioned you had one and that maybe you could give her a few pointers. In case she shows up askin, now ya know why."

Ka'el lifts his brows a little at the mentioning of Kiena, totally unaware of the little brown's strategic positioning towards those sausages. Now, if one comes up missing… who's going to get blamed? Nomnom! "Hey, I'm pretty good at words," he remarks with a smirk. "I know some rather colorful ones. You just send word if I need to put those *coughbadcough* words to good use. An' I'm glad you spoke with Kiena," he says thoughtfully. "She needs… yeah. She works a bit too hard I think, but I know how that is. It's easy to get sucked into somethin', especially if you're workin' towards a goal. She wants to get rid've that apprentice knot, badly." Blue eyes shift her way. "I was lucky with my forge. I didn't ask for it, but I think the assistant weyrlingmasters and weyrwoman worked together to match us up with places that best … fit us. I was just fortunate some ol' smith left this place behind however many turns ago."

Kera smirks at Ka'el's mention of 'using colorful words'. "If I thought colorful words would solve the problem, I could do that myself. I have picked up a few colorful and interesting phrases over the turns ya know." A little shrug is given and she lowers her voice peering towards the sky "Besides, why waste words when nudging his foot at a certain moment would teach him a better lesson….just a thought." Looking back to Ka'el with a too innocent shrug and smile before her gaze goes to the forge. "Hmm, that's something I didn't consider. Just cause ya use a forge, doesn't mean ya know how to build one does it. I know how to use needles and scalpels, but I don't know how to make them." Considering Ka'el, she nods agreeably "It does seem like apprenticeship never ends. And it's only been nearly five turns for me." Her head shakes almost sadly "I couldn't imagine what it's like for riders that suddenly can't continue their studies in a timely manner."

Ka'el laughs at the suggestion given. "How about a combination of both? Colorful words and a helpful little nudge of a foot?" His grin is smirkish now, and he turns his head towards his forge to gaze at those dying embers. "Yeah, I didn't build that," he confirms. "Never thought of makin' one, actually. I've always … had one to work on, so never had the need. Shell, as long as she doesn't come bangin' through the night, she's welcome to use mine if she wants. I'll tell her, if she does come around." His attention turns back to Kera now, and he lifts his brows at the amount of time. "Five turns, huh? Yeah, it's easy to lose track of time. I wonder where I'd be now, if I hadn't impressed. I'd like to think Journeyman, but can't be too sure. I started apprenticing a turn late." He stretches his arms languidly, then looks to his weyr. He probably should get back to cleaning before he loses all motivation to do so, and he doesn't have another rest day for another seven! "You're welcome to stick around. You're grand company, besides, but I hear a mop callin' my name in there."

Having lulled the little healer into a false sense of security, or so he thinks, Minimur yawns and stretches, his snout and paws extending casually towards the taunting little sausages. Just when he's about to make his final move on one of the seasoned links, Kera shifts her legs and reaches down to put a stop to his attempt at the link. "Think ya are being sneaky do ya?" Kera chuckles at the lizard's antics and gives his chin a little scratch. Ka'el's given her attention again, and she grins. "You'ld probably still be banging around a forge, no matter what knot ya had." She gestures around the clearing. "Oh look, you can do that anyway." She flashes her friend a good natured wink, easing Minimur up to rest in her arms as she stands. Mopping? Oh no, please no, the most unpleasant of things are always mopped up. At least in the infirmary. "I think I'll pass Ka'el, but I do appreciate the offer. I'll get out of your hair." Better to escape before she's drafted into getting a scrubby and bucket. Wiggling her fingers "You both have a good evening." Kanekith is given a polite nod before peering back to the rider. "And give Soriana my best when ya see her. Have a good restday…of spring cleaning." Kera grins at her friends chores. "Come on Mini, let's see how the water is today." And with that, the young healer is off to to get in some swimtime.


Add a New Comment
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License