Is There A Problem?

Xanadu Weyr - One and Only Weyr
A series of arched windows along the curved outer wall of this weyr look out at the encroaching forest. Each one displays a different slice of the surroundings - a sturdy oak tree, a bristling thicket of thorn bushes, a tangle of flowering vines around a small sapling. No two sights the same, and inside, much the same is true.

A wooden partition divides the half-circle of the interior into wedges. The larger segment, taking up most of the weyr, is the living room, dominated by a comfortable-looking couch with a pair of mismatched end tables. One is dark wood, a round top perched high and graceful on legs that curve together and then out again at the base. The other is a paler wood, square and squat. Pillows are scattered atop the couch, and a few larger ones set on the floor in case the seating runs out or there's a need to sprawl.

A hefty walnut table sits off to one side, in against the small kitchenette in one corner of the crescent. It's hardly suited for any sort of elaborate cooking, but it'll do for reheating things from the caverns or making breakfast. Surrounded with four chairs, The table is large enough for a small dinner party - though only an informal one. One chair matches the table, two of a medium oak, match each other save for the scuff marks, and one with a white frame and a woven wicker seat doesn't match at all. That one usually has a coat draped over the back.

Tucked in the other corner is the small piece of weyr pie that is the bedroom, the view of the arched window there curtailed by a tangle of ivy encouraged to grow right outside and give some privacy to the pile of pillows that all but conceals the bed.


It's been one of those loooong days in which too many things have happened. Between waking up in bed with his Senior Weyrwoman and later finding Marel in her troubling state, Ka'el could use a week to recover. Unfortunately, he only has a few hours until his first day on the job begins! Night has fallen on Xanadu. The dinner rush is winding down and folks are retiring to their weyrs, families, and lifemates. Kanekith's arc is notably empty. The large bronze hasn't left Seryth's side since awakening, leaving Ka'el to his own devices. The…uh, Weyrleader is in his weyr, standing in front of a mirror, looking at himself. This is not his biggest problem byfar, but it IS a problem: What is he supposed to wear? No one gave him a dress code, or even a Welcome to Weyrleading! pamphlet. And so he's left staring at his reflection, dressed in the only suit he owns. The same one he wore at graduation that wasn't… TOO long ago. He makes a face. Is this good enough? Too much? Not enough? He makes a noise in his throat and presses a hand to his face.

A soft rapping comes tap tap tapping upon the Weyrleader's door.

A visitor! .. Wait, a visitor? Ka'el peers at his door, then checks with Kaneki- … oh wait, he's not there. All he's getting from his lifemate are cooish thoughts about Seryth, which isn't helpful at all. "Second.." he says, loosening his collar as he exits his bedroom, heads through the living area, and approaches the door. Why does he grab a hammer along the way? Because he's Search and Rescue (or…was…) and being cautious has been beaten into their heads. Granted, a baddie probably wouldn't knock first, but one can't be too careful, right? So, a dressed-to-the-nines Ka'el unlocks and pulls open the door…

And, surprise, it's Mur'dah. Looking worn and…nervous. Seeing Ka'el in formal attire has the brownrider blinking in surprise, straightening and…saluting? He hesitates, but he does it away. "Uh. Sir?"

Oh, it's Mur'dah. Ka'el's not sure who he was expecting. The Weyrleader Patrol or something to make sure he hadn't run off, maybe? But upon seeing the brownrider, he lowers the hammer, leaning it against the wall by the door. "Hey." Wait, why is he being saluted at? … Oh. Yeah. Weyrleader. He grimaces. "Don't," he murmurs. "I haven't even started yet, officially." He gestures to his knotless shoulder, then steps aside, gesturing him in. He probably should be feeling something else other than worn out. He did sleep with his mom .. and … everyone knows this. Meh, flights. But like with Marel, other things are occupying his mind, pushing 'awkward embarrassment' back a few places on his list of things to feel.

Mur'dah blinks. "Did…you just…is that a /hammer/?" He can't help it. He snickers. Not meanly. Just…wow. Waving off the salute, he steps inside and eyes the bronzerider. "Oh. Well then…hey, Ka'el, how's it going?" An attempt at normalcy, but…things aren't normal between them when Ka'el /didn't/ just sleep with his mom, so yeah.

Snerk. "I'm a smith. What do you expect, a sword?" counters Ka'el, who pauses after speaking it. "Huh. … not a bad idea, actually…" he says in afterthought. He can make a sword! He's made plenty of knives and daggers… Hm. He puts the thought aside. There probably won't be much time for smithing anymore, and the thought makes him frown a bit before he refocuses his attention on Mur'dah. How's it going? He blinks at him. "..Really?" He lifts his arms, gesturing to his suited self, as if that speaks for itself. "This is how it's going." His arms drop to his side, and he moves through his weyr, gesturing to his sofa as an offered seat. "Want a drink?" he asks, already heading towards his small cooling unit.

Mur'dah snorts, "You're the /Weyrleader/, you really think someone is coming here to off you?" Pause. "And that they would knock?" He looks Ka'el up and down again. "That's what you're wearing?" Helpful, Mur'dah. As for the offer of a drink, Mur'dah sighs softly. Inwardly. "Water." Of course.

"Maybe. I know a Weyrleader or two I wouldn't mind kickin' in the shardin' balls," snorts Ka'el, who probably doesn't have the luxury of saying such things anymore…now that he's a Weyrleader and words can be a damning thing. He nods at his request for water, and grabs a glass to fill from the pipe. For himself? ..Well, he probably shouldn't drink the night before official duties start, right? Luckily, he has a little bit of apple juice left, which he pours for himself. He hands Mur'dah the glass, then seats himself on one end of his couch. "I don't know what the shell I'm wearin'. I never looked at Weyrleaders' clothes. I figured they looked .. I dunno. Not like me on a regular day." And this defintiely is not Ka'el on a regular day. "What am I supposed to wear?"

Mur'dah smirks. "Zi'on. Do Zi'on first." He takes his water and sits down, eying Ka'el's juice. "Fuck us," he says, lifting his glass. "To two of the biggest pansies in the weyr, shit. Water and apple juice, really? No wonder no one takes us seriously." He shrugs, tipping his water back before he leans back, one boot on the other knee. "Wear whatever the hell you want. You're the Weyrleader. Unless you're meeting with someone important folks'll want to see you in regular clothes. Wear that and they'll think you're trying too hard."

"Gladly," Ka'el remarks, pausing to peel off his suit jacket, tossing it over the back of the couch. He glances at his juice during his assessment, and the look on his face is rueful for a moment before his eyes slightly harden. "They'll take me seriously," said more to himself than his friend as his juice is reclaimed and brought to his lips. They'll have to. After a swallow, he lowers his cup to consider Mur'dah and his advice. He glances down at his clothing. Wear his regular clothes? His head gives a slight and thoughtful nod before his eyes flit back to him. "You didn't come here to give me fashion advice, did you?"

Mur'dah snorts a soft laugh. "Why? Why will they take some kid bronzerider seriously?" he asks, eying the newly made Weyrleader. "No, I didn't," he adds, voice a little flat as he sips his water and looks around. Over there somewhere.

"Because I'm not a kid," replies Ka'el, who eyes Mur'dah now with a vaguely tense look. Just slight. "Because I'm their Weyrleader, like it or not, as tradition says." As Thea reminded him this morning. Tradition! "Because I'll show them that I'm someone they can respect. They might not now.." Hell. He knows they don't. He's already heard some of the doubtful murmurs. Too young. Still a child. Yeeeeah. "But they will." Shards, if tradition holds, he'll definitely have time to work on it. -.-; He takes another drink, then lowers his cup to rest it upon one of the end tables. "You're pissed at me because I won your ma's flight," he says, watching him even though he doesn't have his eyes.

Mur'dah snorts again, shaking his head. "You're going to have to /earn/ it. The knot means shit right now." His gaze shifts a bit to peer at the Weyrleader. Not-yet-Weyrleader. Not until morning. "I'm pissed at you because I don't know if I even like you any more," he says. At least he's honest. There's a pause. A swallow of water-I-wish-you-were-vodka. "Thanks for not hurting her much." That's genuine, softly spoken, but swift.

Now it's Ka'el's turn to snort. It's a snort fest. "That's what I said. I've said the same thing to Sori. A knot doesn't mean respect to me." Meh. Soriana. That's another hurdle he'll have to face when the time comes. For now, he's almost glad she isn't here. One thing at a time. And right now, it's Mur'dah. A quirks a brow at him. What's not to like? "What'd I do?" That quirked brow lowers to a frown afterwards though, scowling at his thanks. "Don't thank for me that. It was a flight. Thankin' me for doin' or not doin' something in a flight is nonsense. I'm glad I didn't, but it… it was a flight."

Mur'dah rolls his eyes, drinking his water. "Whatever, Ka'el. Pretend like you haven't been the hardest guy to be friends with in the history of Pern." As for the rest…there's a shrug.

"And you've made it peaches and cream?" Ka'el counters, watching him oddly. "What the shards, I thought we were fine. Last I remember, you wanted to talk about Kera. We talked. Aaand, from what I've gathered, there's not a problem there anymore." Well, at least not in the 'she's in love with me and I'm not so what in the heck do I do!' sort of way? A brow arches. "Unless there's a problem I'm not aware of, I thought we were past this. What exactly is it that you're lookin' for from me, Mur'dah?"

"I've at least come to /talk/ to you," Mur'dah says heatedly. Then a grimace. "She hasn't talked to me since." He feels guilty for that, but…oh well? "Forget it," he mutters, shaking his head and draining his water, pushing to his feet.

"You know Kera, though," says Ka'el. "She … she'll come around." Probably, though he doesn't seem to doubt that she will. He watches as the bronzerider rises, a frown pulling at his face, but he remains seated and his voice remains even. "You haven't said anything," he points out. "You've come to talk, but you haven't said anything. I'm askin' you, Mur'dah. Apparently, whatever I'm doin' isn't right or enough or is pissin' you off, or whatever. I'm askin' you. What is it that you want? What am I not doing?"

Mur'dah shrugs, looking around the weyr. "Just wanted to see how you were doing I guess," he mutters with another little shrug. "Keep trying to reach out and be your friend but you never reach back, Ka'el. So. Don't know if it's even worth trying anymore. You've got time for everyone but me, seems like."

Ka'el faintly cants his head to one side. Reached out. "I haven't been throwin' epic parties behind your back, Mur'dah. The only ones I've .. reached out … to have been your ma…" Totally un-flight related, thankfully! "And Kiena, for my own personal reasons. I haven't seen much've you, sure, but that's not because I've been avoiding you or because I'm mad at you. I haven't seen much've M'kal either. Or Marel, other than today. But I still consider them my friends." He rights his head now, exhaling a breath after. "I've been occupied with myself, I admit. I'm not going to force you to try to be my friend, Mur'dah. It's juvenile, an' really that's up to you. If you don't figure it's worth your time, I'm not gonna fight with you about it. M'sorry you feel that way, though. I thought it was better than what it was before."

Mur'dah shrugs. "Well it's not," he says sadly. "Not when I'm the one always reaching out. When I don't do anything, we don't hang out. So." Shrug. "Seems pretty clear you're not interested in spending time with me."

"I don't know when the last time was that I hung out with anyone, Mur'dah." Soriana doesn't count. She's his girlfriend who he's been battling himself over the decision to try taking that 'next step' with or not! "Do you know when I see people? On duty. When I'm patrolin' or shovelin' shardin' snow." Thank Faranth that's over for a season! "Or when they happen to be in my squadron," Hello M'kal! He rises from his seat now. "I'm Weyrleader now. I don't know if hanging out is even going to be part've my vocabulary anymore." He's certainly never seen Thea do much of that other than festivals! And even then, she always is so busy. "I've considered you my friend. After that thing in the stands? I thought we were alright. Maybe I should've come around more. Tried doin' things with you. But I was tryin' to do .. my own things. Maybe I was too caught up with my own wants an' issues to notice that I wasn't givin' enough time to my friends. If that's the case, I'm sorry. I don't know what else I can say to you other than I'm sorry."

Mur'dah looks over at his friend - the Weyrleader, shards - and he just nods. "Thanks." So that's…it? He hesitates, glancing around again. "Want me to go?"

Ka'el blinks. "That's it?" He looks momentarily dumbfounded, though after a short exhaled breath, he gives a shoulder a shrug. "If that's all you want it to be, then sure. That's it. I'm not goin' to beg and plead for you to believe that I didn't mean to make you feel…forgotten." Even if he wasn't the Weyrleader. "You might not see me as your friend, but I don't see you as my enemy." His mouth twitches a little, a downward pull. Does he want him to go? What's the other option? Awkward standing? "Whenever you're ready," he offers, moving to collect that empty water glass of his. "Thanks for the clothing advice." He would've felt like an overdressed idiot in the morning.

Mur'dah shrugs. Awkward standing it is. "So." Cough. "I got hit by a girl a little bit ago. Not hit /on/. Hit." There's a conversation starter.

.. Wait. He's not leaving? Ka'el glances at him, surprised but not questioning his lingering. He collects his own cup, still half full of juice. "…Hit?" he says as if he's never heard the word before. "…With a fist?" That probably isn't the best first impression, if that's the case. "What girl?"

Mur'dah shakes his head. "No. With her…her whole body. Actually," he leans his weight to one foot, "she hit Kalsuoth, but…same difference."

"….How?" Kalsuoth isn't exactly a target that's easily missed, even from a distance! He may be a smallish brown, but he's still a dragon. AND brown, at that. Ka'el gives him a quizzical look as he moves to put the two cups on the kitchenette table for later washing. Or rinsing. Or maybe they'll just stay there til he needs to use them again. This is, after all, a bachelor pad.

For now. Mur'dah snickers, shaking his head. "We were up in Reaches, in the hill country. So much snow, she came around a corner on this…sled…thing. Headed right for us. She couldn't stop so she ditched the sled and just…tried to fly. Kalsuoth caught her. Swear to Faranth I thought she was dead but she jumped right up saying she wanted to do it again." He shakes his head ruefully, but there's something in his expression, and a slight quirk to his lips. "She's insane. But. She had on this jumpsuit…thing…skin tight. /Red/. And she had to crawl…" He has to stop there. Cough.

High Reaches? Why? The question is on his tongue, but it doesn't get asked, assuming the answer has something to do with his wing. Ka'el lightly arches a brow at the story. Flying girl! Catching dragon! .. Sounds like the title of the next hit movie! "Glad she's alright," he says. It would've been a traumatic experience if she had died! .. Not to mention, a lot of paperwork…for him now. The description of her clothing has him eyeing the brownrider, a faint twitch to his lips, though this time it's an upward one. "You're very keen on what she was wearing," he notes.

Mur'dah coughs. "Well she was hot," he says, just a /touch/ defensively - but really it's from his own embarrassment. "Anyway. I'll see her again soon. Jeth is going to interview her family to come here and take care of those new camilid herds Mom's bringing in."

Ka'el just barely refrains from snerking too loudly as Mur'dah's assessment of the girl. He's heard that before! "Good luck with this one," he offers. "Especially if she comes here. Be mindful around Kera, will you?" he requests, a bit of genuine care in his tone of voice. "Seein' you oglin' some other girl's bound to hurt." And he's sure there will be ogling. Even Ka'el still ogles!

Mur'dah shrugs, running his fingers through his hair. "Well sure, I'm not going to gloat or anything. But…not going to hide it if anything happens either."

"I'm not asking you to," answers Ka'el. "I'm just asking you to take care, that's all." He glances to a window, touching bases with Kanekith for a moment. "I'm meeting Thea in the morning before most of Quasar gets there. I'm goin' to call it an early night." No need to be late on his first day! And likely, it'll be hours of tossing and turning before he finally does find sleep. "Thanks for stopping by and talkin' to me. I'll ry ot make it a point to do the same more than… what I have been."

Mur'dah nods, "Thanks," he says, glancing at the door and then back. "Good luck. Let me know if you need any rich boy help." There's a smirk there. But seriously. He's the Weyrwoman's son. Surely he knows a /few/ things. Like dress code. "Don't wear your apron though," he adds before he's turning to the door.

Hell, he probably knows a heck of a lot more than Ka'el does! Maybe Mur'dah should've been the one to win that flight? … ..>.> What a morning that would have been! He smirks and rolls his eyes exaggeratedly as he walks him to the door. "Yeah, I'll know exactly which rich boy to beckon," he remarks. "And you said to dress regular. My smithin' apron is my regular wear!" he says jokingly as he opens the door, laughing a little after. "Soot smears and all. It'll be the … uh, most memorable first impression of any Weyrleader, I'd bet. I'd even bring my hammer." He nods to the object that's been left by the door, then grins. "Night Mur'dah."

OH GOD MY EYES.


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