
Xanadu Weyr - Firelizard Theatre
A natural clearing in the forest has grown a different sort of tree. The Courtyard of the Firelizard holds grass trampled into dirt around the wooden play structures.
In the northern part of this field lies a jungle-gym like fort, with two towers that soar to fifteen feet of height. One of them adjoins a large open deck with spiral staircase up and a metal slide down. That aside, the structure's made almost entirely of wood, the boards locked together either by being interlocked or by huge wooden bolts hammered into the boards. The towers are studded with uneven boards and rough spots, various climbing challenges on each of their faces. A swaying rope bridge with wooden slats connects the towers, and beneath it there's a sealed tunnel to run through or play minecraft.
Just past the fort, there are wooden sit-toys carved and painted into the likeness of dragons. They're about two feet high and four feet long, though the green is smaller than the blue. There's a place for a child to sit on the dragon's back, with their feet resting on the dragon's paws and hands on the bars bars attached to the neck of the dragon. Pushing with hands or feet will make the dragon rock and writhe.
In the middle of the field are two sets of swings, suspended by rope from from a wooden beam that's held up by crossbraces on either side. There's a set of monkey bars, made entirely out of wood but carefully polished until the dark bars glow, and a set of seesaws. The sandbox is set back a little from the rest, filled with sand from Xanadu's beach and scattered with buckets and shovels.
Trees border the area, including a massive Lemosian ironwood that has beneath its branches wooden benches with a view of the playground.
Faranth it was a beautiful day? The sun was shining, the avians were singing, the trees were a dazzling array of oranges, yellows, and reds. It might be autumn in Xanadu, but the weather was still warm enough that one could get away with a sweater and be perfectly comfortable, which is exactly what Mathis pulled on over his shirt before he'd grabbed his stuff and ventured out on a quest of exploration. However, that sweater was far too big for him, forcing him to push the sleeves up and over his elbows least he loose the ability to use his hands. He needed them you see, so that he could manipulate the wood figure he held about the size of his head. That, you see, is one of the items that he had shoved in that bag of his, a bag which was now open beside him where he sat curled up inside the little 'house' that was part of the playground. It was high off the ground and he could see quite a ways from there, that is, if he was paying attention. Which he is not. Some younger children, overseen by one of the nannies, were playing together in the sandbox, completely ignored by the thirteen turn old. Setting the piece down into his lap, he leans over it, bracing it with one hand and rubbing at it gently with the bit of sandpaper in his other.
"An' jump!" demands a young voice, and D'lei obliges - because the voice comes from the four turn old girl riding on his shoulders. They arrive at the playground, and she's all but wiggling to get off and run to play with the others by the sandbox, joining the nanny-tended group with eager chatter for her friends. Which leaves D'lei on his own here! He waves to one of the nannies, getting a nod and wave back from her to acknowledge that, yes, she's acquired a new charge. He takes a few moments to watch the children at play with a fond smile before he turns his gaze to survey the rest of the playground, his gaze shifting around until it settles up on the somewhat-older figure sitting up in that house. His head tilts a bit, a curious expression, and D'lei ambles closer to take a look what Mathis is doing.
For the demands of youth, Mathis wages but a single glance upwards, only so long as it takes for him to see what appeared to be a father figure and his daughter. Not an oddity around here and so dismissed, going back to sanding down any rough edges he may find as he caresses his fingers over curves and dips that hadn't existed before he'd pulled them from the wood itself. He misses the deposit of the girl to the ground and her glee in joining in the play of the other children already in progress, frowning in one breath, while reaching for his bag in the next, rummaging around in there until he comes up a fine beveling tool and presses it gently into the spot that had disturbed his rhythm, a thin curl of shaving growing out of seemingly nowhere until it falls and flutters to the ground along with only about a dozen or so others already littered there. He might have been here longer than previously suggested, what had started out as an attempt to better aquatint himself with the area, brought inspiration to finally start finishing something he'd been working on for quite sometime. This counted as craftwork, right? Sure, it wasn't sitting through boring lectures about chairs or anything, but it was still productive and a good use of his time. Setting the tool aside, the sandpaper is brought back up and rubbed vigorously in very fine and practiced movements, blowing a soft puff of air to send the dust wafting up into the air. Turning his head, this way and that, Mathis lifts the carving up and turns it around in his hand, unknowingly giving D'lei exactly what he was after. A perfect three-hundred-and-sixty degree display of exactly what the kid was working on.
D'lei does get that good view, and he nods a bit to himself at what he sees. He takes a glance down the body of the tower, considering its shape, then looks up again to Mathis atop it before he gives a crooked smile and takes himself a few rungs up a climbing-ladder on the side of it. He may be too big to be 'supposed' to play on it, but too bad. D'lei hooks his arm around one of the upper rungs to hang in place there with his head roughly at the same level as Matty's. "…I have to admit," he says by way of greeting, "it's a bit more impressive than the sock."
Mathis, was oblivious, hazel eyes very focused on checking every single aspect of his work thus far and anything that looked even remotely questionable earns his devout attention immediately. Returned to his lap, he chips at this and rubs at that, removing imperfections that probably no one but he would see. He's completely unaware of the wicked smile that had appeared on the Weyrleader's mouth, or that he was climbing upwards nearby. There's merely a semi-distracted turn of his head towards the sound, but his eyes never leave the carving lap, rubbing a little more at something else before giving the piece a quarter turn and soon sends another few curls of light colored wood to be carried off by the lightness of a cool breeze. He's ignorant of D'lei only until the man swings in and is suddenly at his eye level, nearly jumping out of his skin as he skitters back and away, dropping his bevel and clutching his project to his chest. "AH!" Eyes the size of dinner plates, the woodcrafter candidate stares openly at him, even as that tell-tale color creeps into his face, "W-what…uh…w-where did y-you come from?"
D'lei might only be another of those small children, after all. It's not like this is an isolated spot! "Ah, sorry!" D'lei says as he sees just how startled Mathis is, because… well, okay, he did intend to be surprising, but maybe not that surprising. Still, there are traces of amusement lurking about the corners of his mouth. "Just down the path," he answers with a wave of his free hand. "Unless you meant further back, in which case…" D'lei lets that trail off into a shrug, and his eyes shift to that carving. "It looks good," he says, eyes shifting back to Mathis's expression - blush and all - and he smiles. "Is it based on something? Or did you come up with the idea yourself?"
D'lei could have been several small children, or a few medium sized ones, Mathis was just not expecting a full grown man to suddenly just appear like that in front of him, especially not one that…well…nevermind. That only makes the blushing all the worse so he'll just look down very quickly with a rapid flutter of lashes and shift his body in awkward ways that looks far less comfortable than it really is. "I-It's o-o-okay…" is breathed out lacking much push behind it, making several starts towards doing something but it just ends up in a bunch of odd movements that eventually end when he bangs his elbow into the side of the wall, "Ow!" Oooh, that smarted like all get out. Why, oh why, was that thing called a funny bone? It wasn't even remotely amusing when it shot pain and tingly things up and down his whole arm. Face creased, Mathis sets the project down into his bag where it won't be likely to be bumped or shoved anywhere, rubbing at the offended area. He nods, without looking at D'lei, as the man recounts from which direction he had come. "No no, th-that's fine." He wasn't trying to pry into the guy's lifestory or anything. Though as the Weyrleader's eyes stray towards the carved figure of a woman's head, there is no way that he wouldn't recognize it now that he was all up close and personal with it. That, was Risali. Why she had nest of eggs on top of her head was anyone's guess, but it'd be safe to wager that it was symbolic of something. "Thanks…" Oh heck no, demon, he was not going to be lured in by your pretty amber eyes and your killer smile, not today. Not today. Mathis decidedly throws his gaze upwards towards the panelling of wood above his head, "The wood, talks to me, tells me what it wants to be…" Cause that didn't seem weird at all. "I just bring it out for everyone to see."
D'lei at least doesn't find that smashed elbow funny, giving a sympathetic wince for it but not otherwise commenting. Maybe he's distracted by seeing his weyrmate carved out in wood! (The eggs on her head, well. It is Risali.) D'lei's gaze shifts back to that work of art as Mathis looks away to the panels, and he smiles, then nods. "That's what art's all about, isn't it?" he muses. "Finding something and putting it out where everyone can see it." A grin. "Of course, once it's out there, you may find out that not everyone agrees about what it is they see, but… heh. That's not just art, it's everything."
On this, Mathis and D'lei could agree. Elbow mashing equal bad. They both can take a pause and admire some things carved out of or into wood as the case may be, given that he was now seeing the names of people who had etched them just there above his head. None of which he recognized of course, but some of them were kinda pretty. Pyriel. Nice. Iessrien had a nice ring to it too. Why was there a heart…oh. Well, then. That didn't help at all, no. Gaze instantly dropped off to the side, giving his elbow a bit more of a rub down while flexing and relaxing his fingers to work feeling back into them. It's something that D'lei says that draws hazel eyes back to him, if only for a second, plenty of reason there to take to admiring his own work instead. The blush on his cheeks was worsening, now creeping up towards the tips of his ears, "I guess so? I don't know about calling it art, my Journeyman calls it…uh…a da-dalliance?" The word felt funny in his mouth, lips pressed together until it felt normal again. "She thinks there's more important things than making them…pretty…" Those too-thin shoulders sink a bit with that, expression drawn and that brilliant light he always seems to have about him dims a little. Shyly, he nods and risks another look at the Weyrleader, but no longer than a moment or two. "It's my everything."
Love, sweet love! It's a funny thing, love… though for Mathis right now, it's probably about as actually funny as that poorly-named bone. D'lei tilts his head to the boy, a curious look on his face and then a quirk of his lips. "Depends on how you're judging what's important or not," he replies with that faint smile. "If you need something over your head because there's a storm rolling in… well, probably not so important that it be pretty. But… if all you ever have is just exactly what it takes to keep you alive…" He shrugs a bit. "I don't think that'd make me very happy. Don't know about your journeyman… or anyone else… but it sure sounds like you aren't the sort to be happy without making a bit of beauty in the world… and letting those things you feel in the wood out to share in it." D'lei grins. "And be shared with others."
Love had many facets, shades, and depths. To date, the only love that Mathis had ever felt was for his family, friends, and craft. Much the same couldn't be said for surges of unwelcomed hormones, a rather new development that had unexpectedly reared its ugly head one day while he was minding his own business. What had started as a flicker, with acknowledgment and acceptance, had developed in an all consuming inferno that showed no sign of stopping. In the turns to come, he'd learn what to do about it, but right now it was nothing but a nuisance and source of immense embarrassment. "I…" the boy starts, scrunching up slightly. It wasn't that he was rejecting what D'lei had to say, but sorting through his thoughts was a bit difficult right now. The longer they talk though, the less uncomfortable he seems to be, all that blushing seemed to have reached a crescendo and was now beginning to subside. "I understand that she wants me to learn other stuff, but I can barely keep my eyes open listening to people about angles and measurements and…" It all comes out in a rush, fading off from there with a soft huff at the end. "…sorry…" It wasn't the Weyrleader he was frustrated with. As for the rest of what the man had said, Mathis nods in absolute agreement, that light which had dimmed starting to shine again brilliantly, forgetting completely that he was avoiding looking at him. "Yes, I don't see how anyone doesn't get that! Who wants to be trapped inside boring box? Eat at a simple table? Sit in a plain chair? There's life in that wood, and she just wants to let it be….dead." Through all of that, there are hand-gestures and exuberance, true passion. "I know I'm just a kid, but why wouldn't you want to leave the world prettier than how you came into it? UGH!" Throwing up his hands he shakes his head, rolling his eyes upwards, no longer looking like he was backed into a corner or self-ignite. They were just two guys, talking about really important things, like beautifully carving the wood of the world into masterpieces of wonderment. However, as things get more personal there, with that grin and comments about sharing, Mathis is soon staring at D'lei. Expect it wasn't flat and blank, more like he was studying the contours of his face, not noticing of course that those hormones mentioned earlier were back with vengeance. Flame on? No, that was something else. Not a thing for Matty, now or ever. Eyes back to the falling away with haste, he's reaching over into the space between them, but only so he could pick pick up the hand-carved bust he'd made of the Weyrwoman and offers it slowly towards him, without looking again of course. "I don't know how plain your walls are but…" Yep, here you go buddy.
Hormones are jerks like that. It's all great, life is starting to make sense, and bam. Right in the feels! …and other places, but let's not talk about those just now. D'lei nods, listening to Mathis, then smiles a bit for the apology. He makes a small gesture with his free hand, as if to wave it off, then nods again. "Now, admittedly, I also like to not have my chairs collapse when I sit on them." He grins, the expression warm and playful. "There's a place for those angles and measurements, but… you're not going to really learn them unless you actually care about it. But…" His smile turns encouraging. "If the wood wants to be a chair, you'd want to make it the best possible chair it can be. And that includes being something that people like to sit on. So…" He trails that off into another shrug, then a heh. "Maybe you should look for some wood that wants to be a chair?" Aww yeah. Talking about all those very important things. "Might be a better teacher than your journeyman." This is what he lets pass for logic, apparently. Isn't D'lei supposed to be all adulty or something? Matty's journeyman would probably disapprove. As the carver offers him that bust, D'lei tilts his head curiously, then smiles. "Thank you," he says, the tone earnest, and he reaches out to take it in a careful hand. "We'll have to find the right place for it."