Xanadu Weyr - Weyrleaders' Office
Office and retreat, this is the domain of Xanadu's Weyrleaders. The door is in the eastern wall, quite close to the southern end while the northern wall is dominated by big, expansive windows, framed by sumptuous deep blue drapes edged with a brilliant gold braid and tied back with a thick rope of braided gold and blue cord. In between, the eastern wall is covered floor to ceiling with shelves that house all sorts of records, manuals and supplies that are used on a day-to-day basis. The southern wall has the Weyrleader's desk — plain fellis wood, well polished and masculine. From behind his desk, the Weyrleader can look straight through the windows and out onto the main airspace of Xanadu. The western wall is where the Weyrwoman's desk resides: a lovely piece of furniture made of warm cherry wood. From her seat, a glance sideways gives her an equally good prospect out the window. There are a few other seats, some comfortably arranged around a low round table for small, informal meetings while there also some that can be drawn up to one of the desks.
On the south side of the door, the space is occupied by a low oblong table where refreshments can be set without someone needing to intrude. There is also an 'incoming' tray where incoming correspondence or similar items can be left.
Early morning, and D'son has not yet appeared in the office, leaving Niva to enjoy a bit of quiet. The window is cracked, letting in the chilly winter air, keeping the office a comfortable temperature as the Senior Weyrwoman goes through the various reports that have been settled on her desk overnight. Some are immediately set aside, others glanced at, and still others read as she attempts to make some sense them all. The door is open, though, light spilling into the hallway, even as the others around it remain closed tight.
The drowsy noises from the caverns are few, some footsteps louder than others, and the occasional clinking of a dish from the kitchens or the tables themselves. Gradually though, one pair of footsteps establishes itself from the mix, growing steadily louder and more distinct. They're not exactly forced, but certainly audible for a reason, it seems, before they finally stop outside of the Weyrleader's office. Knuckles coated in wherhide gloves knock gently on the door and a looming form casting a long shadow across the rest of the hall.
Perhaps Niva believed that the early hour would afford her a measure of quiet, or perhaps the Senior Weyrwoman was well-engaged by the report spread out on the desk infront of her. Whatever the reason, she's jumping at the knock, turning hurriedly. A moment later, she's regained her composure, forehead furrowing as she motions him in. "Healer."
"Not really," Tenebrous murmurs quietly. "Just a fetch." He looks around the room as a whole for a moment before glancing back at the Weyrwoman, eyes a bit more composed than the last time he was there. "Am I disturbing you?" He pads into the room at her beck then, footsteps now quite silent.
Niva shakes her head a bit at his words, folding the report shut and setting it aside, the contents forgotten for the moment as she turns in her chair to regard him. Glancing him over once, she shakes her head, nodding to the other two empty desks in the room. "Only reading before the Weyrleader and my daughter make it impossible to do so with their arrival." Fingers indicate a chair, eyes lingering on the young man.
Something like a smile tugs at one part of Tenebrous' face, but any humor is lost before it reaches his eyes. He shifts a little, fingers resting on the back of the indicated chair for several lingered moments before he simply shakes his head. "Thank you, but no. I won't take much of your time." He nods to the hallway. "The Headwoman's been busy of late, or I wouldn't have bothered you at all. Either way…" He leans forward a little, moving with slowness devoid of menace, and gently rests something down on Niva's desk. When he mvoes his hand, a simple, beaten Weyrknot can be seen, clean in some places, and pemanantly stained in others, fraying at some points from time's rough handling.
Gaze continues to linger on Tenebrous throughout the silence pause, regarding him with a thoughtful expression on her face. "If you were to ask Hisolda, she'd be happy to tell that she's always busy, I assure you." She offers, as if dismissing the need for apology. As the young man straightens, pulling his hand away, his eyes dart to the knot for a moment, then back at him with a simple nod of her head. "Should you return, it will be waiting for you." She comments quietly, letting the knot rest where he left it.
Tenebrous nods once, a touch of relief flickering across his features. "I will be…absent for a time, but I still keep an apprentice in the craft that calls Xanadu her home. This will see me passing in and out of your borders with some frequency. Are there any…customs that should be observed, as someone not of the Weyr?"
A gentle shake of her head, and Niva glances once more at the knot before replying. "Our sweeps riders may stop you, but your Healer knot will give you an easy answer - and if you happen to see anything out of the ordinary, please let them know?" A glance at the report sitting upside down on her desk, and she bites her lip, before hurriedly looking back to Tenebrous, a quick shake of her head dispelling her wandering thoughts. "A hot meal and a warm bed are due any traveler, and I wish you good luck and clear skies."
Tenebrous smiles slightly. "Then I'd better start keeping my healer's knot on me." The look to her paperwork isn't missed by the man, and with a slight nod to his head, he murmurs, "Have a pleasant morning." One step takes him back from her desk, and then he quietly turns to leave.
"I would advise it - both as a sign to our riders, and to the Holders. They.. tend not to take to knotless men wandering through their lands." Which, really, might be an understatement. A final nod of her head to the young man, a parting 'Fairwell', and she's turning back to the reports at hand with a soft sigh.