Xanadu Weyr - Rustic Rooftop Cafe
Perched on the cliff overlooking Xanadu's beach is a gnarled and massive skybroom tree. The bark and outer layers are sturdy enough to support the thriving, brushy top, but the interior, which is hollow, contains a spiral staircase that leads to a cafe built on a high platform amongst the branches. With a panoramic view of lake, sky, Weyr and the mountains beyond, the treetop eatery offers both sheltered seating just inside the trunk and tables on the wide deck that encircles the old tree.
The cafe's decor is comfortable and rustic, but closer inspection shows the smallest embellishments to be artfully combined into one detailed masterpiece. The wood of the doors, floor and walls of the trunk have been stained a dark mahogany that lends the space a sense of intimacy. Tables in various sizes have been carved to mimic driftwood, the chairs and benches padded with oiled sailcloth cushions to provide weather-proof comfort. Each table has an aged brass lantern filled with shells and agates gathered from Xanadu's shores, the sparkling natural mosaics holding tapered candles upright in their embrace. Lamps hang from the ceiling on silver poles, the thick frosted glass carved into intricate pastel shells or swirling white-capped waves. At night the colored glass softens the glowlight to enhance the ambience.
During the day, the retractable doors allow leaf-spattered sunlight to fill both the outer deck and the smaller interior with green and gold light, as well as allowing pleasant breezes to cool the interior. On clear nights, farviewers perch on the elaborately carved railing are free for use to enhance the gorgeous view of the stars over the Caspian Lake, the Sea of Azov beyond and the rock formations of the Weyr.
Late afternoon has the cafe sparsely populated but still very much its comfortable and rustic self, a perfect locale for some quiet food and drink and perhaps some conversation. The windows and doors, normally opened to allow a breeze to pass through are closed against winter's chill but still provide a wonderful view of the sky and some of the beach and Weyr below from within the warm interior. Tucked away at one of these window tables is none other than the Weyrsecond herself, though with her jacket draped over her chair and her rather slouched and casual appearance Kiena is not on duty and has likely crept away from the offices for some downtime. There are only so many reports and dusty, musty hides she can read and administrative and diplomatic mumbo-jumbo she can take in a day. In front of the bluerider rests a mug of mulled and spiced cider and a barely touched bread bowl filled with a hearty stew that is now well on its way to being cold. Her focus isn't on her meal and her blue eyes are turned, along with her head towards the window and distant, lost as she is in thought.
It may be late afternoon, carrying the freshness of the spring wind and all but not if one look at Eltanin's face. Pale even with his natural tanned skin, his face looks creepy and he ambles in with half-closed eyes. His shirt is out of his pants and hangs above his right hip and his left boot is unbuckled which gives him the the limping walk of a single legged wherry. He does not carry anything as he usually does. His arms are hanging free. It seems that he fell asleep in his clothes again and over some starscharts. "Err…hum…sorry…" He says suddenly bumping in Kiena's table.
Kera steps into the cafe, losing the fight to stifle a yawn. She tries to hide it behind her hand and stomps caked on snow off her boots. Minimur sways on her jacket covered shoulder, chittering happily to the lizards already present nad flutters to perch and commune. Kera's not quite so perky, or sweet smelling considering the mucking she's been doing very recently, even though she cleaned up as best she could. Sniffling briefly, the greenling barely looks around the sparsely populated room, heading straight to the bar as if she's in a hurry, her eyes already scanning the specials of the day.
Kiena starts from her deep thoughts with what begins as a scowl directed at Eltanin, before her blue eyes absorb the state of the apprentice. He'll get the once over from her and then the Weyrsecond is struggling not to wrinkle her nose but keep a concerned look about her expression and tone of voice. Not that what passes her lips isn't still laden with some sarcasm. "Jays, you look rough. Everything alright, Apprentice? Maybe you ought to sit down…" And she'll gesture to one of the vacant seats across from her and offer what she hopes is a welcoming smile to the young man. Then her attention is drawn to the sound of firelizard's greeting one of their own and through that method Kiena spies Kera making a beeline to the bar. That earns a quirked brow and a faintly bemused smirk before she too is flagging the weyrling over.
Eltanin stays there for a moment, his path being blocked by the edge of the table. He rubs his eyes alternatively, trying to focus on the voice. Then, finally, a sparkle reaches his blurry mind. Images of the Weyrsecond's eyes, face, smile then knot slowly appears and he immediately straightens. "Oh…." What to do? what to do? what to do? "…I'm fine…I mean…thank you…err….Weyrsecond…" He then bows and plops down on the offered chair. Looking at his lap for a moment, he too notices Kera's entrance and a smile timidly appears on his lips. Alright he seems to not be the only one in need for a good rest.
Kera waves down the closest waitress and places her order for food, gesturing for a big huge bowl and a big huge mug to go with it. As the waitress turns to put her order to the cook, Kera snaps her fingers and adds a bowl of lizard meat to her order. After seeing the woman's back vanish into the kitchen, the tired greenling rubs her eyes aa few seconds and finally takes a moment to peer around. She can't do much til her food arrives anyway. It's only then that a waving gesture actually makes her focus. Oh great. How long as she been iggnoring the Weyrsecond tryin to flag her down quietly? Probably long enough to earn some trouble. Returning the wave, she hops off her stool and slips between the tables "G'day Weyrsecond, Eltanin." A polite nod is sent to each.
Kiena gives Eltanin a rather level look. Fine? He looks anything but fine! "Mhm," she replies at first, at least until he's settled himself. "Long day or long night?" she drawls next, curious as she inspects the Apprentice a little more closely. "And don't mention it." she murmurs, waving off the thank you. As Kera approaches, Kiena's mouth draws up into a warm smile and she too gestures for the weyrling to take a seat. "G'day to you, Kera! Moncerath is sleeping, I'll assume?" she replies back, returning that same polite nod but followed by a casual salute. Her eyes then drift back to the ruffled looking Apprentice and she smiles. "You're Eltanin, then?" Not that it was that hard to put two and two together, once Kera supplied the name.
Eltanin straightens on his seat, smoothing his pants some and hurriedly trying to put his shirt back where it needs to be obviously realizing what a poor image of himself he's currently displaying. "You could say both, Ma'am." He replies clearing his throat with a cough. "Kera." He then nods at the weyrling, smiling again. "I'm Eltanin, yes." His attention is on the Weyrsecond again. "My apologies I should have took a bath before showing myself in public…" The food Kera's is bringing makes his stomach growl kinda loudly and he tries to cover the embarrassing sound with his two hands. He didn't have much sleep. He knows it but totally forgot the last time he ate.
Kera almost smacks herself in the eye when she returns Kiena's salute, wincing and rubbing the eye in question gently when invited to sit. "Thanks ma'am." Glancing around for the woman who took her order, she gets her attention then gestures to the table rather than bar. Peering back to those around the table, a nod is given in partial reply "Yes'm." A tired smirk slips across her features "All that playing was tired work ya know. Once she got scrubbed up, oiled while she ate and promptly conked out in her couch. Turns out, I'm still hungry so.." Gesturing around the cafe "She's got a full belly so I should have a little time to scarf down something myself." propping her chin on her heels up her hands as she leans on the table, Kera watches her tablemates, tryin not to yawn. Shaking it off, she peers more fully to Eltanin as he tries to make himself more presentable and chuckles. "You look and smell better than half the weyrlings, so it's not all bad." Then her food is magically appearing in front of her. Steaming bowl of stew with rolls, and steaming cider. Hearing The starcrafters stomach, she pushes the rolls at him "Have some if ya want."
Kiena grimaces a bit and is quick to correct one thing that has little to do with Eltanin's appearance. That only seems to amuse her, truth be told! "No need for the ma'am. Just a polite nod and salute is just fine. Well met all the same, Eltanin. I'm Kiena, rider of blue Ujinath," She skips repeating her rank, as that's been made obvious enough. Chuckling, she gives the Apprentice another sidelong look. "Honestly, you're fine. A bit bedraggled but I certainly can't tell you haven't bathed. Was it your studies then that's kept you so busy?" Kiena blinks when Kera smacks herself, having to chew the corner of her lip to keep from laughing outright and is properly sobered by the time she's replying to the weyrling. "Well, at least you're to the point where you can separate your needs from hers. I'd say that's progress!" She will laugh however when Kera remarks that Eltanin smells fresher than some of the other weyrlings. "They can't be blamed for that. It's difficult to settle into routines. Some things get overlooked." Eew?
"But to your discharge, I don't have to muck so it's rather easy…" Tani replies Kera's comment grabbing the offered roll gratefully before his stomach growls again. "You're too kind with me." A wink is offered back and Kiena gets a polite nod. "Well met ma…err…Kiena. To be honest…" He starts to explain, biting on the roll, "I had a couple of observation nights lately and the day..well…I just can't nap." A tiny chirping sound suddenly comes from behind his neck and slowly a tiny firelizard's neck appears. The little head peering at the rest of the starcrafter's roll. He chuckles and hands it to the creatures that gulps it down in one single move.
Kera mouth is full, so makes some noncommital grunting noise to Eltanin as Minimur flutters down from the communal perch when 'his' meal arrives. The brown perches on the edge of the table, already diving into his meal head first, fishing for the choicest bits. She reaches over and thumps the brown between his shoulders gently "Manners brat." Minimur seems to warble an appology before eating at a more less messier. Kera smirks to the Weyrsecond, glancing down to herself before finally shrugging. Deciding she's too tired to worry about offending anyone's sense of smell, she digs into her bowl eagerly, dipping a roll and tearing into that too. Something Kiena says causes the girl to roll her eyes. "At least my smell says I'm tending to mucking after Moncerath myself." The greenling looks to Kiena rather pointedly a few seconds before turning her attention back to her meal. Frowning when Minimur's chirping sounds off, but when she looks to the brown, his attention is on Eltanin's shoulder, offering a cheery croon to the little to the blue head peekin out. In between bites, the greenling reaches over and grabs some of the lizard meat, offering it to the starcrafter. "Oh hush Mini, you stuff yourself all day long whenever meat is being cut up." That quiets the brown's tantrum before it starts.
In a blink there is no more roll and Eltanin only had a single bite. He shakes his head, grinning at his blue but frowns as the eager lizard decides to jump on the table to literally steal the meat Kera is offering from her own hands. "Akrab!" He scolds, fighting to bring the blue devil on his shoulder. An apologetically look on his face he nods at Kera but soon he's really busy holding the little hungry lizard…
Kiena tilts her head curiously and by habit immediately reaches up to push back a few strands of her wild, messy hair before it obstructs her view. "Guess it comes with your line of work that you are up most nights. Shame you cannot sleep during the day." she remarks in an idle and casual way, only to chuckle at the antics between the firelizards. Her trio are absent as always, but she often has them away on tasks when they're not with Ujinath to keep the blue company. The Weyrsecond picks at her own meal, though still seems rather disinterested in the food though she'll take a good long sip of her cider and only give Kera a puzzled look for the pointed one received. Did she miss something? "Are some of the weyrling's slacking?" she asks in a vague assumption.
Kera waves off Eltanin's apology the roll she's been dipping in her stew. "D'worry bout it. He's startin to get fat, everyone been tossing him bits when they cut up the meat. Of coarse it doesn't help that he's turned into a little begger with all this fresh cut up meat around alllll day." Watching as Minimur seems downright scandalized, peering from the little blue eating then to Kera is if she'll do something. "Relax Minimur, You can have a peice of cookie when we get back." That seems to appease the older lizard who settles back down. After a few seconds, he even begins to chittering sporatically to the young blue. "Is that his name?" Is asked before washing down the stew with some cider. Peering up to Kiena, she studies the woman's face a few seconds before. Glancing down to her mostly empty bowl, and spooning up some tuber. "It's very possible."
Kiena contents herself to picking at her meal and washing what few bites she takes down with the cider. She'll keep a curious ear open to the conversation between Kera and Minimur, looking rather amused by it all. "S'why firelizards are often called 'flying stomachs'," she murmurs before giving the weyrling the same studious inspection. Then she frowns, still confused and puzzled by the greenling's behaviour. "So… someone stirring trouble then?" she pries gently.
Akrab finishes to engulf all the meats Kera has been kindly offering and croons back at Minimur almost defiantly. Eltanin's eyes grow wide and he shakes his head again. "Shards why on Pern did I end up with the most scandalous flit ever!" He frowns, glaring at the little blue, lifting a threatening finger. It does not have the expected effect and Akrab suddenly takes his flight, stealing a roll from Kera's bowl and quickly disappearing. "C'me here you….you…" The star crafter stands up and begins t rush after his lizard. Pausing he nods, a weak smile on his lips. "I'm truly sorry. I must stop him before he puts me into more trouble. Kiena. Kera." He nods sat each of them, rushing out!
Kera smirks at Kiena's comment and reaches over to gently poke the brown's stuffed belly. "Hear that Minimur, even the Weyrsecond thinks ya are getting a bit of a belly." Soothing her words with a gently scratch under the brown's chin, Kera grins over to the starcrafter, til her last roll is stolen and flies off "Hey!…brat.." Waving to Eltanin as he hurries off "See ya around Eltanin." taking a drink or two, she turns her attention back to the bluerider. "Not for me, then again, I'm just mucking out Moncerath's couch."
Kiena snorts. "Well, I didn't quite say he was getting a belly!" she explains, only to blink as Eltanin's Akrab steals a roll and takes off, leaving the Apprentice to flee after the blue. Shaking her head, she exhales. "Now I think I count my blessings that my trio seem to entertain themselves and stay out of mischief. Except for Beast. He's… well, there's a reason I called him that." Smirk. Yet she still seems lost to Kera's cryptic responses. "I'm not sure I'm following…" she begins, hoping to prompt more out of the weyrling, only to sigh as her eyes unfocus to some message received from Ujinath. "Looks like my afternoon of peace and quiet is cut short. I'm sorry, Kera. I'm needed back at the office. Hope whatever it is isn't a concern…" She's pushed back her chair now and is quickly getting to her feet and hastily donning her jacket and winter gear. "I'll talk to you again sometime soon, eh? Best of luck!" With a quick bob of her head in farewell, Kiena is briskly making for the exit as well. Must be an urgent matter!
Kera grins and nods agreeably "Minimur has his oddities, but he's not quite that bad." She gestures a thumb to where Eltanin ran off after his lizard. Considering Kiena a moment "Maybe Beast is just trying to live up to his name?" A quick grin flashed to the bluerider, that slips a bit when it seems she may be forced to speak bluntly….but saved by the dragon. Nodding quickly "I understand, see you around ma'am." A quick salute that turns into a wave to the departing woman "My best to Ujinath." Scraping the last of her stew from the bowl, scooping Mini under her arm as she rises, Kera wanders back to the bar briefly to pay for her meal then heads back to the barracks. Moncerath will be hungry when she wakes, more meat to be cut…