Xanadu Weyr - Main Clearing
A wide clearing stretches from east to west, the ground packed hard although grass grows across most of it. Trees are strictly forbidden in this space, their danger to the constant draconic traffic reason enough to banish them to the forest that creates a border to the north. Where the ground is less trampled, tiny flowers poke their delicate heads out from their shaded hiding places with upturned petals to wave to whoever may be looking.
The cliff looms imposingly on two sides. Toward the southwest, a spire stretches up to high above where the everpresent watchdragon sits on a lonely peak with Xanadu's Starstones. A massive rocky spur extends to the north, curved slightly to hold the clearing and pocked with doors and windows.
The hatching arena and Dragonhealers' Annex sit to the southeast, built together into a single complex that takes up a large portion of the perimeter beneath its domed roof. To the southwest, wide steps lead up to the caverns, and almost directly south is the entrance to the Infirmary. Nestled between the infirmary and the main caverns there's a human-sized archway with frequent traffic - it leads to the Wanderin' Wherry Tavern.
Tucked near the arch, just off to one side is a tiny wood-frame shop bearing the name 'Wildflower Boutique'. Windows have been cut along the cliff in various places along the cliff. Those of the administrative offices are placed to have the best view of Xanadu's airspace - to the southwest, over the entrance to the caverns and the infirmary. Others mark the dormitories and those of lucky residents, while toward the northern edge of that spur cluster the windows and entrances to the crafters' complex.
The rest of the Weyr lies to the north and east - a broad road that leads through the meadow and the trees of the forest beyond. At the far northern edge of the clearing, just inside the perimeter kept clear of trees, a clocktower sits and proudly displays the hour.
"Well that wasn't how I had anticipated to end my work day, " Ava muses lightly as she strides out of the infirmary instep with the Weyrling. "But," A little dismissive shrug. "Healing is, at least, never dull." Ava stretches her arms behind her in a wide arch, rolling her neck and shoulders though the motion. "Thanks for catching up with me, I was unsure if Rukaban would see through getting my note to you." The little brown tail was draped out of her coat pocket, the little brown presumably stuffed in there under his own accord. "How have you and Qilaeth been, speaking of never dull moments?"
"You don’t say, " quips Andy with a wry look, lips pressing together into something akin to a sympathetic grimace (or one of constipation); it’s safe to say that there is a great deal of the past several months filled with non-dull days of things unanticipated thanks to the boss-baby to whom she finds herself tethered forevermore. "Your brown found us just fine, " she's quick to assure; whether or not it's entirely true, well. She made it to the infirmary without needing to be seen (today), lingered near the dragon anatomy and physiology charts mouthing the names of joints and commonly injured muscles while waiting for Ava's shift to end. The little pucker in her forehead deepens, hands stuffing into her trouser pockets. "Fine, " comes quickly, followed by a puff of a sigh. "You're lucky your firelizard doesn't talk." With words that never stop, and never stop~
Ava casts an apprehensive look up at Andy out of the extreme corners of her eyes, a brief glance before they snap back forward and she proceeds with conspicuous caution. "Oh? Non stop chatter?" She offers, "I had one of your group swing by for something to ease the tension in their head while they were still adapting, would that be of some help?" Ava is second guessing he decision now, if she managed to impress would she suffer such irritations?
Non-stop chatter. Such a quaint, casual way to really describe what it's like to have Q(ilaeth) inside of one's head. "I just have to stick it out, " Andy says after squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. She even manages a smile after. "I'll be fine. I'm starting to get used to it. He's — " Right over there, in fact, sprawled near where the path begins to turn for the meadow. Already nearing as large as some of the smaller, fully-grown greens midway through his fifth month of life, Qilaeth is thusly able to look down his midnight-dark nose at many who pass him by — if, indeed, he deigns to look at them at all while he basks in what's left of the summer sun this afternoon with partially lidded eyes. "Ignoring me, " the weyrling finishes with a look that's part disbelief despite this hardly being the first time, part resignation. Arms folding over her chest, she turns back to Ava with a little roll of her eyes. "Anyway, I'm done with classes for the day and he's probably not going to move for a while. Did you want to try to eat together before curfew?"
Ava's jaw tightens just so as she gazes across to the way to the blue. To *stick it out* for life? That was not the oft spoken harmony Ava had heard sung of the dragon on rider bond. A sharp wake up call if there ever was one that not all is roses in a potential life mate. Especially not with the tension Ava feels now. "Yes, " It's an absent response until she tears her gaze away and returns her thoughts to present company. "Yes, then I need to pack." She turns towards the dining hall, ambling up the paths with her hands now also shoved into her pockets, cheeks puffed out in held breath. "I was searched by an Igen rider for their clutch a few days ago." It kinda tumbles out in a blurt, her spiteful conviction to spurn her mother's overbearing manner now wavering.
Andy would, no doubt, offer reassurance that Qilaeth does wear himself out (or tire of his own tirades) and that there are peaceful moments between them some of the time. What she's better positioned to offer instead as Ava continues is wide-eyed surprise. "You're leaving?" It's slightly higher-pitched than before, eyebrows nearly at her hairline. Behind them, Qilaeth's tail twitches, eyes unlidding that he might better watch the pair's progress while they're still in view. Andy's surprise amplifies into her own blurt to follow the healer's: "Searched? Ava, wow! That's great!" A beat elapses, in which dark eyes cast sidelong at the redhead. "Are you excited? When do you leave?"
Ava lifts a hand and wobbles it side to side. "Excited isn't quite the word I would use.." Ava hazards with a tense grin. "Bit of an impulse agreement really. Was writing another placating letter to Helen when it happened. Figured it would be a delightful jab at the old wherry but I doubt I'll see Weyrlinghood." She not upset by that statement, only offering a neutral shrug. "I really have no idea what to expect, especially not from Igen but after my patients are settled in with other healers I figure I would be clear to step away without fretting over unfinished business…so..soonish?"
"Oh, " draws out Andy slowly, frowning a little with the look of someone who doesn't quite understand. "Well, that's … it'll be really hot, you know? And dusty, " the Xanadu-native, who dreamed of a dragon-friend for much of her childhood, says oh-so-helpfully. "I bet they'll let you work in the infirmary there as part of your chores, though. And you'll get to visit the other side of the world for a while." She might find that exciting, given the way her pace of speech increases just-so. "Think of all the neat stories you'll have afterward. You might find a — a friend, and you might not, but I know you won't leave empty-handed no matter what happens." There's certainty in her earnest attempt at encouragement.
"It will be exciting to see a new place, and honestly, do something I chose to do, not something I was cajoled into." Ava's tone sobers slightly but rebounds quickly, casting a grin to the weyrling. "Despite my dragonic doubts, dust and heat. You're right, it'll be an enlightening experience, either way." That lit of excitement doesn't slip past Ava and the grin broadens. "When you are free to go about unrestricted, where is the first place you plan on visiting?"
Andy returns the other young woman's grin, expression animating unabashedly; truly, this one's hopes and dreams are worn baldly on her sleeves. "There are so many places I've always wanted to see, " she says enthusiastically. "I spent a little time in Ista when I first started with the bakercraft, but I've heard that Monaco has a beautiful resort that's worth seeing, and I'd love to see what winter looks like in the mountains all the way up north. You know I've never been to Landing?" There's a subsequently apologetic look as she apparently realizes how much she's chattering on and on. "But that's — all quite a ways off, " she concludes, smile turning a little sheepish even while she waves a cheery hello to someone she must recognize as they get closer to their destination. Then, in a burst of not-quite afterthought: "Do you need help with anything before you go?"
That genuine enthusiasm calms those anxious waters, if only a touch, that she had felt moments before. The glint of a warm consideration for the idea crosses her mind, it would be nice to be so completely free, if only for the sticky attachment to being permanently bonded to another mind..Ava lets a soft breath and a playful huff pass her lips. "Oh much closer than you were half a turn ago! Perhaps some joint adventures as well because I have yet to see landing myself." A beat for consideration then. "Reassure me this isn't just a foolish impulsive daydream?"
"Maybe a little closer, " Andy laughs wryly, "but it's hard to feel like a dragonrider when you're not to the riding stage yet." There's a pleased look for the proposal of joint adventures. "Deal. We can go take the historical tour together if they don't take you during your candidacy." Wistfulness tinges her rejoinder after a moment. "It's not a foolish daydream, " the weyrling replies softly. "I thought about it often as a kid; I think a lot of weyrbrats do. It's hard not to. Impulsive, though? You said yourself that it was just that, " lilts into a tease with a brief jostle of elbow-to-elbow. "And a dragon chose you to stand. That's not without meaning." Dark lashes cast briefly downward before she adds more slowly, "That was never the case with me. I — asked for my knot." It doesn't quite end in a whisper, but turns into a little noise of throat-clearing after. "Which apparently didn’t matter to Qilaeth, anyway. They always say that the dragons just know."
"I look forward to it." And really, she does. "To me it is impulsive." Ava slows her step and thoughts for a moment of longer consideration. "I guess it feels a bit..reckless? Hold life was, well. Every moment was spent towards some ordained purpose for me. Marry, elevate my family, produce the next generation." Its a bitter taste in her mouth. "Being a healer was a move in mothers game so doing something so far out of her grand plan for me.. " Avas hand rolls over in the air as she grabs for her phrase, "I think anything else besides the plan would feel impulsive to me. Dragons or otherwise." Her elbow catches Andy's then, her upper arm playfully joining in the jostle. "I think thats a brave and bold move, asking. Taking your own fate in your hands. It may just be what Qilaeth saw in you. Once he got his feet under him he only had a mind for you." Yes, they did seem to just know, and it gives Ava a fond, knowing smile for her friend.
Andy listens while watching her feet as much as the healer's face, eyebrows lifting as her shoulders roll through a shrug. "I guess." She doesn't sound especially convinced for being the person whom the blue chose out of the other young people available to him that day, but there's a peek back over her shoulder anyway, to where the dragon in question may or may not still be watching. "He's so smart, " she confides, "and I'm just little ol' me, you know? But you, you're so — " Confident? Bold? Any number of traits she doesn't see in herself, perhaps, given the way she gesticulates wordlessly. "It's their loss if they don't partner with you, " she finishes, sounding sure of at least that point. "I'm sure there will be experienced riders there who can answer your questions along the way, but, um, you can write to me if you want, while you're away? If it helps." She is, after all, not so far removed from her own candidacy just yet.
Ava gives Andy a grin shes not quite so sure she feels and it shows by the way it doesnt squint her eyes or nose. "You're more than your realize hun, and thank you." The healer takes a deep, centering breath, hands lifting to run her fingers through her hair, reseating her bun anxiously. "Oh I'd love to write to you, if Rukaban can manage it. He's well, " Ava wobbles a hand side to side with a laugh. "Either way I'll get letters to you!" And that's a promise she will keep as the noise of the living caverns washes over them as they pass beyond the threshold, any other conversation on dragons and reassurances is soon lost in the noise.