Xanadu Weyr - Hot Springs
The warmth that flows from this cavern is almost overwhelming for some, the steam rising from the shimmering pools as thick as the morning fog that rolls in off the ocean. Numerous pools are scattered here and there with ribboned walls that are natural in their construction. The water has a somewhat green cast to it, but it is merely a reflection from the ethereal light which is the glow down here that was so noticeable from the tunnel leading here. People can often be found down here washing themselves or just relaxing.
Situated along the walls are various racks covered in fresh towels ready for those who step out of the warm waters. A set of shelves have been installed towards the back wall, allowing people a place to put their belongings while they rest in the pools, and despite the white color that these have been painted, they are cast with that eerie green glow. Then, it's obvious. The ceiling of this cavern is covered in the fluorescent phosphorous matter that glows are made off. The mossy substance almost glitters and appears quite lovely.
A sloped tunnel leads back to the main caverns, a single branch carved out along it to detour down into the laundry room. It allows the passage of people, but even more importantly, it allows for metal pipes wrapped with insulation that run along the ceiling to carry heated water back and forth to where it's needed.
The description above may say almost overwhelming, but the humid, steamy air was all around too overwhelming for newcomer Ajral the first time she tried it. This, this is a second attempt — she has found herself in the springs again determined to get some quality meditation and resting in, and was also prepared for the uncomfortable heat blast to the face this time. The hot springs are so peaceful — at least so far — and so elegant that she couldn't really resist. And so: settled in a comfortable corner, in the water, wearing a swimsuit 'cause she's not actually trying to bathe here, Ajral making an attempt at serenity. And yet her face is stil very read, and she's sort of gawking at the ceiling. It's really awkward serenity. And she looks really awkward.
Sylvarin has /mostly/ avoided going outside today, but he is clearly in need of a bit of scrubbing. It seems that there may have been a mishap in the kitchen because he's got flecks of flour and sweetener all over his arms and his face. There's also a same of something that looks like an awful lot like orange glaze on his cheek. The baker is quick to slips out of his clothes when he arrives and grabs a healthy amount of soap sand. It's only /after/ he's slipped into the water that he pauses, head tilting slightly at the /very/ awkward looking woman that's staring at the ceiling. His green-blue eyes follow her gaze at the ceiling, as if he might find something there, and return to her when nothing becomes immediately apparent. "Are you feeling alright?" Because now he's kind of concerned that she's about to faint or something given her coloring.
"Hm?" from Ajral sounds almost trance-like at first, as she breaks herself from that moment to realize yes, someone is indeed actually speaking to her. She slowly turns to face the aftermath-of-kitchen-disaster baker, and then nods. "Oh, yes. I'm fine. A little warm. I'm just — getting used to it, I don't spend a lot of time in places so humid but I find I quite enjoy it, so I'm attempting to acclimate." In other words: maybe she might faint at some point, but she feels just fine! Comforting, that. And she cannot help but inquire, either, because nosiness comes to her more naturally than anything else in the world: "Were you on the unfortunate end of a food fight? Or maybe just a fight with food?"
"The air /is/ pretty stuffy. I came from Fort so I kind of get where you're coming from." But this is also a man that enjoys taking his time in the baths so it doesn't seem to be much of an issue for him. It's during a quick pause in the conversation that he dips under the water to wet the dark locks that sit atop his head. Once he resurfaces, the baker reaches for some soap sand and gets to work on that crop of hair. "A fight with food, but that's nearly an every day thing for me." His conversation is casual enough, but the baker is /definitely/ glancing over at her every few seconds. He's not trying to be creepy but he's still fairly concerned that she might faint and need to be saved from drowning. "I'm Sylvarin for the record, with the bakers. And honestly, this is probably low on the scale of disaster." There's a brief grin that appears on his lips with the last bit.
"It's stuffy but very nice," Ajral agrees, expression shifting to a sort of oh-you-get-it kind of look around her eyes; a subtle relaxation. "I tend to get congested a lot, in my chest, and so I find it relieving but the skin on my face has no idea what to do with it. I'm from High Reaches," by complete way of explanation there. She doesn't seem to find being looked at off-putting, or maybe she doesn't even notice, as she's spending a good amount of her focal energy on watching the ceiling-glows doing their thing. It's easy to wow someone with things like that when they've never seen it before (or saw it once and got too hot too fast to stay). "I'd be interested to see you after a high-scale disaster," she admits with a self-deprecating little laugh: that is something she should probably feel bad about being curious about, hm? "Ajral, I'm a healer. Well met, Sylvarin."
"I hear hot air tends to help with that kind of thing so….it's good that you're getting used to it." Sylvarin finishes off with his hair, disappearing underwater once more to rinse it clean. Soon he's getting started on his arms. "High Reaches, hm? I honestly haven't been there. You'd think I'd have visited at least once but well…" There's a lot of places he hasn't gone because going places involves going /outside/ which is filled with terrible vile things. It's only after Ajral mentions her occupation that the baker comments on the disaster thing. "I have this foreboding feeling that I might become some sort of experimental subject for healer education if something like that were too happen. Course…I /would/ make quite the specimen." Sylvarin smirks, the expression involving one corner of his lips being pulled upwards. It's a joke! "Well met." A pause. "So if you're a haler you probably know when to get out of the hot springs before fainting?" Cause then he can stop paying attention. Sure no one asked him to do it, but the dude's doing it anyways.
Ajral purses her lips together, but she's also smiling while she's doing it. A subtle smile, for sure, and not a wicked or calculating one at all — there's that small comfort. "You're not missing much," she confides, as regards High Reaches. "Unless you really like snow, but Fort has plenty of that as well." She may be assuming that Fort-the-Weyr has the same sort of weather as Fort's Healer Hall, but at least she'd be correct about it. "I promise I'm not here to teach, much," though if there are apprentices around, she might have to, her entire specialty is somewhat elective in nature, "Therefore I won't be the guiding force behind any experimentation on innocent," single, slow nod, "Or not-so-innocent bakers, as it may turn out. And yes, one would assume I would know the symptoms of heat exhaustion or vagal stimulation," she says, which is not actually an answer. The truth is that kind of thing can come as a surprise! But generally it doesn't, and so generally, yes, she could figure it out on her own …
"Sure snow is nice for a couple of days, but honestly…it's much nicer indoors. There's no chance of frostbite when you aren't gallavanting about in ice, and it frankly gets boring fast." Well isn't /he/ just the most fun human being to interact with? "I may just skip visiting High Reaches if it's mostly going to be more of that." Sylv gets to work on his arms, though there's a gleam in his eyes a moment later. "Oh I can /assure/ you, I'm quite the innocent one." Yeah, it's not hard to tell that this definitely is /not/ the case. One glance at those almost permanently knitted brows and toothy smile makes it quite obvious. The whole bit about him assuming she knows how to recognize the symptoms does seem to put the baker at ease…for the moment. He's at least relaxed enough to lean against the side of the spring and take a break in his scrubbing. "So what brought you all the way out here? I just got assigned, didn't have much say in the matter."
Ajral shakes her head, though it's one of those weird headshakes that's actually an agreement: the shaking-no is in agreement about the ice and frostbite and, yes, she's happy with a break from all that too thank you. "I will be sure to remember your innocence, should someone try to tell me otherwise," she promises calmly. There's also no sign that her ears are beginning to buzz, or vision greying out, or anything to worry about, and so she remains content to relax at east a few moments more: "I requested something different," Ajral relates, "From my previous postings of High Reaches and the Fort Hall. This was about as different as they could offer me." And it sure is that. (Everyone here is insane, so it's also very busy.)
"Please do, I'd hate to be wrongly accused for things." Sylvarin lets out a little sigh, his muscles relaxing as the hot water swirls around him. "This /is/ quite a different place, I think compared to anywhere. They've also got some people with /very/ peculiar tastes." He's fairly sure that most of the residents are just an implosion waiting to happen. "You been here long then? It's been at least a few sevendays for me now but…I'm definitely still getting used to things." Broody-butt he may be, but he doesn't seem overly withdrawn from other people at least. Or so it seems!
"The technology is something I am really not used to," Ajral confesses, though her tone gives away nothing in terms of what she actually thinks of it. Odd, perhaps, because Healer Hall has plenty of tech — but High Reaches is the opposite of interested in adopting any of it, and Healer keeps more of their complex pieces of surgical or diagnostic work at Landing. So those who want to pretend that radiology doesn't exist can get away with living in their comfortable denial pocket. Perhaps Ajral was one of those at one point. "I'm getting there, though. It's been … oh, ten days?" She makes it sound like a guess; it is not a guess. "What sort of peculiar?" comes with a two-centimeter-to-the-left headtilt. Maybe the hot springs aren't just good for resting, but for intelligence gathering as well. It's not gossip.
"I imagine the technology can be helpful in your profession?" Sylvarin asks this curiously before his eyes fall on the soap sand again. His break now over, the baker begins scrubbing once more. There won't be even a molecule of flour left on his skin once he's done! Now, Sylvarin isn't one to participate in gossip, and this isn't really gossip, but frankly he's hoping to talk to someone he considers at least partially normal. "There's a few girls I met the other night, one of them…Taeli was her name." He's rather good with names actually. "I think she's claiming random people, maybe her friends, as cousins? I'm marginally concerned that half this Weyr is some sort of fake, or real, relative of her." Look, the huntress was /weird/ in his opinion. Not that he's normal. But SHE WAS WEIRD.
Ajral is certainly no gossip either, but she is the sort of inquiring that people tend to frame as 'nosy' — if she doesn't repeat any of it, though, and she never does, it's not gossip! "It can," she agrees with a more easygoing smile. "I'm finding that I appreciate it." An opinion revealed! As for Taeli's claiming of relatives that may or may not be relatives, Ajral meets this information with an assessing, "Hm." Sounds like she can add that name (which she'll probably forget, because names AREN'T her strong point by any means unless she actually has met the person at least once, twice is even better) to her list of people that might require further investigating. "Lots of people in a Weyr being related isn't too unusual, though. Dragonriders not being prone to reproducing with only one other person, and all." Says she who is probably the child of two dragonriders, and couldn't name either one.
"I guess it /wouldn't/ be a surprise if she had a fair amount of relatives here. But she just sort of declared the other girl was a cousin so…." In Sylv's mind it doesn't seem logical at all. The baker continues scrubbing and honestly is skin is starting to look a bit red from it, but that seems to be his signal to stop. There's no more soap sand taken now. Instead he reverts to relaxation. "So…what do you….do for fun?" Clearly small talk is /not/ a strongpoint for Sylv, but the dude is trying! He's just not good at coming up with random topics. A for effort though? At least he didn't ask about the weather! Wait no…they did kind of discuss that earlier, ha!
The indoor weather, more than outdoor — and the outdoor weather of somewhere else — automatically makes it less stereotypical. Whether or not it makes it less boring. But Ajral is far from judging; nor is she showing a sign of amusement. She just looks peaceful, that annoying unflappability of hers. "Whether or not the other girl seemed to agree or have a clue?" Ajral smirks, unable to help it, though the expression is only momentary. And then she's talking about herself suddenly, whether she likes it or not; there's a pause, and then, "I draw, and I like to garden." Basically she draws flowers, sometimes dragonflies and moths, so she's a little one-track in her hobbies … "And yourself?"
"Oh she seemed to jump right on board with the idea. Course, she didn't think they were related before. But what's not to love about spontaneous new cousins?" Sylvarin's voice drips heavily with sarcasm and are accompanied by an unceremonious roll of the eyes. This expression soon turns to horror when Ajral mentions gardening and he even gives a little shudder. "Gardening? Out there? Where there are bugs and things?" Count him /out/. It's unpleasant and uncomfortable and entirely un-fun! "I prefer things that keep me inside. Reading mostly. I spend most of the time in my kitchen though. I can't say I draw like you but I'm a fair hand at sketching out desserts. Haven't really attempted much else in the art realm though."
"I prefer to draw what I see, though I make interpretations of it," Ajral says, and she's going somewhere with it, really — "Or just doodles, admittedly, but. I like flowers, in part for the smell and in part as illustration subjects. So, if you're not big on outdoors," and she's relaxing, here, so her braincogs aren't turning to try to diagnose him with some phobia he may or may not want treated, "And you still wanted to garden, it's perfectly feasible to do so indoors. I have quite a few potted plants." Her personal quarters are like 70% potted plants and 30% necessity. "Plants do make good life-drawing subjects, though I suppose so do desserts. Neither are inclined to move."
"I'd…rather not. Plants involve dirt, dirt tends to have bugs, and honestly I wouldn't want to touch any of that. I'm more than happening tinkering away in the kitchen instead." Maybe he'll change his mind at some point, but it's unlikely! It's not that he /won't/ go outside, he just doesn't particularly like it and avoid it if at all possible. "My sketches come before the actual product though, it's kind of a template for what I'm trying to make. Most of the time it works out but…other times, not so much. I've had some ideas that I probably won't have the skills to do for a few turns to come." But…dream big?
"Oh!" Now Ajral sounds … it's not intrigued, or excited, exactly, but kind of a close-to blend of both. She's smiling, at the very least. "Aside from the fact you don't like insects — which I suppose is understandable — " She is not one who understands it, from an empathy-perspective, but it's understandable, "Anyway, that sounds interesting. Sketch first, and make later, so your dishes have … presentation as an aspect of their merit. Is that a grading thing," bakers surely have Masters they're trying to impress, yes? "Or a personal preference? I mean, I haven't much given thought to if my meal or my dessert is physically attractive, but I can see how something with an interesting display would taste better."
The baker lifts an eyebrow at the change in her tone, which is fairly different than it has been. It certainly causes him to pause slightly and now it's his turn to look a tad suspicious. The emotion is fleeting however and soon he's moving back to topics that are far easier to talk about. "A personal preference, though my Master did put quite a bit of emphasis on it. I think I took it quite beyond what he was imagining though." And there's a hint of pride in Sylvarin's voice at this. "You see, if something /looks/ amazing people are far more likely to pick it from a tray that has other things that look less appetizing. It gives me an edge up on the competition. Not that my flavors need any extra edge." Oh yeah, he's definitely smug about that sort of thing. Nevermind that he just acknowledged he has more work to do. It's about this time that the baker seems to finish relaxing and pulls himself out of the water to claim a towel. "In any case, well met Ajral…I'm sure I'll see you around?" There's a tilt of his head for her and though it'll take a moment for him to get his clothes on, soon The Sylv has left the building, so to speak!