Xanadu Weyr - Smith Forge
Loud, dim, and hot is the large area set up for the Smith's forge area. It's been roughly divided into separate areas, the large common one holding the main forge lodged against the western wall, with bellows at the ready and a chimney rushing high to open in the ceiling outside. This is the area that the apprentices are taught in and are able to use, the nearby wall clasps a vast and unspecialized collection of tools, while the built-in shelves of another wall host jars of nails, crates of wood and metal scraps, spools of wire, sacks of sand, and heavy bins of Cromcoal, all decorated with a fine coating of grime and sawdust.
To the other side are the separate forges for the Journeyman's use, each one kept clean and neat, even when in the midst of a project. Behind and to the back lies the more private forges reserved for the few Masters that stay here.
There is a door to one side that leads into a hallway and to the dorms and rooms of the smiths that call Xanadu home.
It's been a long and incredibly cold day on Xanadu, with many people holing themselves up on the hatching sands for warmth with eyes on the thermometer. The grumbling and mumbling has gone up in volumes as those accustomed to the luxury of electricty and heating are left to fend for themselves and do what they can until things are fixed. Any day now, right? ka-el has been tasked with much since the ice storm. Breaking ice, shoveling snow. The journeymen smith have their worries too, mostly with keeping those seeking warmth away from the forges, and keeping their stash of coal secure from those brave enough to try to snatch it from surly smiths. But things haven't gone on long enough for that. Yet. But still, they aren't taking chances and the few apprentices there are have been kept busy since sunrise. Outside, Kale curses for the seventh time in an hour after slipping on black ice, upsetting his cart that's thankfully empty, but the fact of that doesn't help quiet the curse or keep the annoying of falling at bay. Leaving the cart overturned, he heads into the heavenly warm forge, pulling off his gloves and hat with a scowl. Now his knee hurts. Stupid ice. Stupid no electricity. Stupid storm!
Sometime while Kale was trying to deal with that cart, someone has crept into the forge. The journeymen are giving her Looks, but so far they haven't done more than that, probably because she's not one of those fools who've been trying to stick their hands right into the flame. She's just standing there, only barely inside the door, with her hands in her pockets. Okay, so maybe there's a little bit of warmth she's stealing, but she's staying out of the way to do it. Besides, she won't be here long, she's just waiting for, "Kale!" Soriana says as he comes in, stepping forward and offering a smile.
Usually, when someone says his name in the forge, it's followed by 'get this and take it before !' Or some variation of that. And so, intinctively, he waits for that instruction, still scowling because of his sore knee, but it never comes. Plus, there was something familiar about that voice. He only has to look up to spot Soriana here, and his scowly face turns to one of surprise. "Hey," he says, the surprise on his face heard in his voice, but that sour look has faded. "What're you doing here?" Eyes glance to the side, another instinctive motion to give a wary look to the Journeymen. They've been kicking folks out all day! He moves to sort of shield her from their vision, as if they hadn't already noticed she was here.
Soriana fails to have the followthrough Kale expects! Instead she actually smiles a little, stepping toward him. "Coming to find you," she answers, and hesitates a moment to look for the right words before realizing that, with journeymen looming to send Kale on other missions, any words fast are probably better than the right ones. "I heard about you being worried about the flight. And Thea," she says. "So… I thought if you wanted to talk, we could." A glance back to the main forge. "When you've got time." A thing which seems to be in short supply for the smithcrafters today.
Kale cringes a little, though he didn't intend to. "You spoke with Idrissa?" he assumes, also not intending to sound as accusational as he likely does. He grimaces, stilling his tongue. Idrissa is already upset with him, and him with her. Adding Soriana to the opposing team would definitely make this a losing battle in many ways. Talking about the flight is what had this mess unfolding in the first place. But, Soriana is different. Dragons are her expertise, and she has knowledge that he is obviously lacking when it comes to gold flights. Her mother is a goldrider, after all. Plus, beyond all those facts, her smile, small as it may be, does help to neutralize the acid that's been on his tongue the past few days. "..Moment," he says, holding a hand up a bit before he scurries off to a wall chart, flipping through the loose papers to read the messily scrawled information. He returns, after pausing to have a conversation with a senior apprentice. "They don't want us out after dark because've the no lights and blackice. That was my last delivery for the evenin' til sunrise. … I've got time."
Soriana blinks in response to that not quite accusation. "Nooooo," she says. "I talked to Mikal." Now she's got a considering look, though. A look that says, 'What information am I missing?' and 'Should I have spoken to Idrissa?' That's the look she's giving Kale as he scurries off to deal with work-related things, and really, she's still got leftovers of that look by the time he gets back. Probably the leftover bits of look are what makes her response be a more neutral one, just responding to the smither's curfew. "Probably wise of them." It gives her extra time to look at him and see what her Girl Sonar returns.
Oh she hasn't talked to Idrissa. That's good! But now looking at her with that not smile look on her face has him realizing that he probably should have said nothing at all. In bad situations, it's always best to play dumb. Or innocent. Or innocently dumb. Kale faintly lifts his brow in a 'what?' sort of look before he nods his head in gesture. "C'mon, it's loud in here. Can sit in the back, if you want. Shahani's not here," he says with a helpful smirk. "She's stuck in Orik's class for a while, so you don't have to worry about being bombarded for another … oh, ten hours," he exaggerates, taking a step towards the hall. "And don't worry, yeah you can be back there."
With this many journeyman around, Soriana should hope she's allowed to be back there. Otherwise, Kale would be very very dumb. Also potentially innocent? Either way, there's certainly a lot of clanging here, and so she nods to his suggestion, stepping in beside him and heading toward the back. "Yeah, all right." The look seems to have been left behind against the wall, so there's that, at least, though she's quiet for a bit as they head back. Doesn't want to shout over the forge noise, probably-maybe?
"Lucky Orik isn't here.." he says as he moves off with her, his voice getting less loud as the clanging and forging is left behind them. "He isn't the biggest fan of you. Largely my fault," he admits. The hallway, usually lit with lights above, is dark, and Kale reaches for her hand to guide her past an entryway from which a soft glow emits, to a dimmer entrance further back. The apprentice dorms are nothing special. Much like the candidate dorms, two rows of beds are on each side of the room, though there are far fewer than those in the arena. Some look totally untouched, while a handful of others are occupied with trunks and personal belongings. One is occupied by a heavyset apprentice, tightly wrapped beneath a blanket, snoring. The full heat of the forges doesn't reach back here, though still it's kept warm enough by the bit of heat that does radiate back. It's dark here too, with only a few candles lit. "Can't wait til the electricity is back.." Kale says as he makes his way to his own bunk, which is occupied by Alloy buried beneath the covers, to light the candle by his bedside. A chirruped greeting is all he gets. He's not moving!
Soriana can't help but chuckle a little at the mention of Orik's dislikes. It's not every day someone gets to be a bad influence! "Hopefully Shahani will have extra questions today," she says, and takes Kale's hand willingly enough, heading on back to the dorms. They fail to impress, but they do seem serviceable enough, and she glances around, then nods as she follows Kale back to his bunk and hops herself up on the edge of it. "So," she says once there. So many things she could so about! Well, two are the frontrunners, really. "The flight, huh?"
So.. right. He sinks down next to her, causing Alloy to shift beneath the blanket a bit, but otherwise he cares not that they're here. It's warm under there! Kale eyes her, trying to read her face. What does she know? What does she speculate? What has she heard? Yup, that's a good place to start. "What did Mikal say to you about that? You know, you can't believe everything that kid says. I think he tends to stretch the truth a bit.."
This sort of dim lighting would be great for telling spooky stories. Unfortunately, it's a little less than ideal for studying faces. Soriana shrugs a little, and her face seems relaxed, maybe vaguely concerned but not actually to worried and certainly not mad. At least, that's what the pattern of flickers seem to say. "That you were being weird about it," she says, and one corner of her mouth quirks up before her face turns serious again. "That you were worried about Thea with the bronzeriders."
Oh well that's better than what he could have said. Maybe he learned something last night! Regardless, Kale rolls his eyes. "I wasn't being weird. Just like I told them, I was only showing a proper amount of concern. I mean .. you were there," he says, gesturing to the door with his hand, a gesture that likely was meant as a gesture to the caverns. "You saw how she was acting. Has anyone seen her since? Or either of those riders, now that I think of it?" And thinking of it tends to be the problem, for now that he's thinking about it, there's a brand new thing for him to add onto his mental image of dastardly deeds and a Weyrwoman in peril. "The storm. There was and still is ice everywhere. Dragons can't even land safely. What if she was caught in it? What if they took her somewhere and she's hurt and can't get help because of the ice?"
A tiny bit of the grin resurfaces as Kale argues he definitely wasn't weird, but it quickly vanishes again. Soriana nods to having been there and seen how Thea was acting, and then stops nodding. She lifts up a hand, then shakes her head, then keeps her hand raised until Kale winds to a stop. "I can tell you for a fact that Thea is safe," she says. Big words! "I'm not gonna say she's happy," and here Soriana frowns for a moment, because, in fact, it's a pretty decent guess Thea isn't, "But she's safe. If she wasn't, Seryth would have called for help. And," Soriana goes on before Kale can spin worse tales of woe, "If something had happened to Seryth, every dragon in this Weyr would know. Besides, no bronze is going to go against a queen."
For a fact, huh? Well Kale can certainly counter that! And he's about to, considering the way he takes in a breath and his mouth opens to turn that breath into words. But unfortunately, Soriana presses on before he can interject. Grump. He exhales with a vague frown, apparently not wholly convinced by facts that cannot be proven. Til … she starts proving them. Seryth call for help? It brings the memory of when the sands grew too hot. The alarmed cry of Yumeth for her eggs. The wild antics of firelizards. The roaring of dragons. Losing Alloy. That would've happened again? He frowns once more, though this is a frown of a person trying to find an argument. "Where is she then? If she's alright, shouldn't she be back by now? It's been days now, and she hasn't returned. Is that normal? If she isn't happy…" A pause. "Why do you say she isn't happy?"
To the question of where Thea is, Soriana shakes her head. For all she knows, the Weyrwoman is just tucked away in one of the guest weyrs, safe and sound and building up the fire and not wanting to be disturbed. It's a pretty decent option, really, but Sori hasn't gone and asked about it. "It's… I dunno if it's normal. But… I can sorta see it." She puts her hands on the bed and leans back a bit. "D'had wasn't just Weyrsecond. I mean, he was, but not for Thea. He and Thea were together. They'd been together… oh, ages. Muir and Marella are theirs." So that's practically forever. "And then they were having a fight," Clearly, "And Seryth rose. And it wasn't even Romth that caught her, at least Xe'ter'd be… familiar."
Kale is quiet for a moment, letting her words sink in and marinate a while. While still doubtful, he's at least allowing himself to consider options other than doom and destruction for Thea. The sound of snores is all that's heard for a short period after Soriana finishes, and Kale's eyes are set upon the flame of his candle. Is this how it was in the olden days? Days before technology and lights where people say by candle and firelight to muse over flights? "I..guess…" he finally says, words reluctant in tone. "I suppose if she was in trouble….we'd know. And I guess all that you said is…it makes sense.." He wrinkles his nose momentarily. Making sense doesn't mean he has to like it. "How often does this happen?"
Soriana is quiet, letting those words sink in… maybe ruminating back over them a time or two while she's at it. When Kale finally speaks again, she looks over to him and nods slightly, then nods again. "Yeah," she says. Sensibility and likeability and not actually connected, here. Well, it's better than death doom and destruction, but… "Flights?" she says, and shrugs. "It depends on the gold. No oftener than three or four turns apart, and some of them go a decade."
Three or four turns. Kale can live with that. He can definitely live with not having to go through this again. In three or four turns, who knows where he'll be! Definitely not caring about the welfare of Thea, right? And obviously, if this last flight was any indication, things can change without warning. Even if he is on Xanadu, who says if she will be too? And if it's a decade … phew. He can't imagine himself that far in the future. He leans frward and reaches to rub at his knee, still sore from the fall he'll never report. "What do you know about this A'dmar guy?" he asks, Mikal's wild assumptions resurfacing in his mind. His own soon follow. "Anything?"
Three or four turns is nearly a quarter of their lives to date. It's a future far enough future to not be worried about overly much. Soriana smiles a little as she sees Kale relaxing, then tilts her head as she sees that knee being rubbed. Hmmm? Not that she comments on it, just… looks. "Not much," she says of A'dmar. "He's got a business in Ierne, I've gone by it a few times. Quoin Trading Post. Never been inside." She could have done all sorts of surveillance, if only she'd known it would be relevant! "And we saw him at Eastern, remember? At their hatching, with Zahleizjah. And… that's about it." She pauses, and frowns. "No, wait. I think I remember seeing him back when Auspiraeth was here."
It is true. The bristly porcupine that has been Kale for the past some days is finally starting to lower his quills a bit. For really, what has being so gotten him other than a spat with Idrissa and Mikal thinking he's crazy? The nagging feeling that something may be amiss likely will not go away until Thea is done being away, but at least there has been no trumpeting dragon, as Soriana pointed out. He draws his hand from his knee and leans back until he's laying on his back with his arms behind his head, much to Alloy's chagrin. He makes a muffled chirrup and wiggles further down to the foot of the bed, looking like a shifting lump in the bedsheets. "I do remember seeing him. I don't know anything of him. Mikal seems to think that he can go about changing how things are if he wanted. Shifting rules and making new ones." He turns his head, resting his cheek against his arm, to look at her. "Have you been around here long enough to see weyrleaders change?"
"Well, Mikal's sort of right, but he sort of isn't," says Soriana, and pauses, because that's really kind of a profound statement about Mikal, now that she thinks about it. "Weyrleader and Weyrwoman, between them… they're in charge of the Weyr. So… yeah, he could say something, like… that all the apprentices had to leave," to take the example Mikal used with her. "But if Thea didn't approve, he wouldn't get very far with it." She turns herself sideways a little to look at Kale, and reaches out to pet Alloy through the blanket. "Things'll probably change, but… it's not like he's the only one in charge." There are checks and balances here! Sort of. "I haven't seen it for myself, but… I've read about it, some."
".. Mikal must be really worried about apprentices havin' to leave.." Kale remarks with a vague smirk. "He said the same thing the other night. If that was the worst of it, I wouldn't mind so much. I've always wanted to see more of Pern anyway." But it seems like someone in history had this 'ultimate power and control' thing covered. Even though he still considers the way Weyrleaders are appointed as shardin' ridiculous, at least any potential tyrants could be kept in check as long as the Weyrwoman was decent. And vice versa. Thea is most definitely decent. And like that, his mind drifts back to her. Poor, sad, cold weyrwoman, stuck with a not-so-complete stranger who is most definitely not her weyrmate. Or whatever it is D'had is, or was, to her. "The longer I'm here and the more I see, the more I … nearly," he said nearly, mind you, "understand why my mother feels as she does." Alloy voices his contentment at the attention he (if one were to judge by his soft crooning) has been starved of. Poor, poor forgotten Alloy!
"Heh. I guess," agrees Sori about Mikal with a little laugh and a shake of her head, then gives Kale an ever-so-slightly dubious look as he talks about seeing Pern (what? Without her?) before she tilts her head, fingers continuing to pet at the muffled Alloy. She's quiet for a moment, then says, "Thing is… she's seeing all the wrong bits. I mean… yeah, flights get everyone all messed up, but… that's not what life here's about, it's just… part of it."
Kale shifts the arm closest her until it touchest against her thigh, and his wrists turns a little so fingers can idly graze the side of her leg. "Flights shardin' get me all messed up," he mutters. "This one did, anyway. Didn't think that to happen to anybody but riders. Bronze riders. Brown riders. But … I can only guess that having a dragon, a lifemate, is worth it, else nobody would want to stand for one. Without riders, you probably wouldn't even be here, would you?" A vague smirk is sent up her way. "So I know it can't be all bad." He pauses there, eyes faintly unfocusing for a brief moment as Alloy falls into utter relaxation beneath the blanket petting. Warmcozy plus nice stroking. Happy firelizard! Kale snickers. "You might not be so nice to him if you knew what he was up to with your mother's green," he remarks.
Soriana stretches her leg a little, changing her position so it's a bit closer to Kale, a bit more convenient to touch. "Dragons can talk to more than just their riders. They don't, usually. Most of them just talk to their rider and to the other dragons, but they can. And… well, with flights, they sort of… forget not to." She hehs a little. "So they end up sending a lot of what they're feeling to… everyone even vaguely sensitive." And having a firelizard definitely counts as vaguely sensitive. Sori glances away across the room as she goes on, "It's the golds, really. They've got the strongest minds, and when they stop… being in control, they can just sort of go wild." Good thing it only happens every few turns, huh? She pauses to look at Alloy, her fingers just resting there for a moment, and then she smirks. "Better him than Toral," she declares, and resumes her petting of the firelizard. Lalala so not thinking about that in any more detail than necessary, lalala… after a moment, she looks back to Kale, and her tone is serious. "Would you still want to stand? I mean, after…" she waves a hand, "…everything."
Now this is news to Kale! Dragons can talk to others? "Really? .. Huh. I'll have to try with Azrith whenever I see my brother next.." he muses, sounding intrigued by the notion. "I've always wondered what a dragon's voice sounds like. I've imagined he'd sound a bit like Kei, which would be a bit weird really…" He chuckles to himself, both looking and sounding more at ease. His fingers continue their idle touching as he listens to her, gliding along the fabric of her pants as a smirk forms at the thought of Toral and the tiny green. Like, eww in a way. "Suppose you've got a point," he remarks, his statement punctuated by a tail flick from the hidden Alloy. And then comes the question. The same one he's asked himself even before the flight. The same one that ran through his mind as he stood on the hot sands with Yumeth's cluth. 'Is this what you really want?' For a few stretched seconds, peaceful snoring is all that's heard. The echoed lullaby of hammers from down a hallway. The touch of fingertips strengthens to the touch of a hand as his palm slides to rest upon her inner thigh. "Dragons … are meant for their riders, right?" he says, slowly. "You stand, and a dragon chooses you. A dragon is hatched knowing who he wants. A dragon and a rider are … meant for each other. If I'm meant to be Impressed by a dragon and I don't stand, I think I'd be sort of … turning my back on who I'm meant to be, you know? If I'm meant to have a lifemate, then I should stand and let that lifemate find me. If I'm not, then I'll never impress, an' I'm good with that. So.. yeah. I think so."
Soriana pets at the buried Alloy, and her leg stretches out until it's resting against Kale's. "Just because he can, doesn't mean he will," she says of the dragons. It's no wonder Kale hadn't heard about that sort of thing; dragons tend be very private with who they're willing to talk to… well except during flights, but that's not really talking. Talking requires words instead of just feelings and impulses. Not that feelings are bad, necessarily. Soriana reaches out with her other hand, brushing it along Kale's arm as he ponders the question of standing, and then she nods. "That… makes sense to me," she says, and leans in to brush her lips to his. Just for a moment, because a sneaky little thought stands up and waves a flag. Something she should ask about, something important, now what was it… oh. She draws back, and she has an expression more quizzical than anything as she asks, "What happened with Rissa?"
This is getting entirely too comfortable and is worthy of surroundings much better than plain barracks complete with a snoring apprentice. Too bad Kale can't poof them somewhere else that's just as cozily dark yet less .. forgeishly restrictive. He's glad she made sense of his words, for the moment they're gone from his mouth he doubted they'd be heard as anything other than rambling gibberish. The kiss is returned warmly, but it ends far too soon and as he leans forward, she's drawing back. Meh. He hasn't kissed her in … days! But on that look on her face, he quirks a brow instead of protests. Oh. … That. His face twists a little and he rolls back onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. "Nothing." Heh. Sure she'll buy that. "Nothing should have. She got mad at me for asking about Thea and the bronzeriders. And I think she was mad because I said how stupid it was that just anyone could be a weyrleader just by luck. And then she was mad at me because she thinks I have 'a thing' for Thea. And then she suddenly had to leave." The end.
Right. Nothing. Nothing is why Kale jumped to it as soon as Soriana showed up. She remains dubious and awaits the rest of his answer. Not that it helps her that much. "You? A thing for Thea?" Soriana laughs, the sort where it's not quite voluntary but something is just so ridiculous on the face of it that you can't help yourself. She trails off into a giggle as she gets back control of herself, and aherms a little as she tries to be reasonable about this conversation, all calm and rational. "The Weyrleader part is just tradition, I guess." Probably venerable and hallowed, but she's a teen, she can cast tradition blithely aside unless it happens to be one of the bits she has a personal attachment to. As for the other… okay, so yes, Kale was being kind of weird about it (deny it as he may), but that's hardly shocking or fight-worthy. …snerk, a thing for Thea.
Kale glances over at her with a slightly arched brow. And uh … why is this so funny, Soriana? He taps his finger against the sheets, as if counting the seconds away until her hilarious laughing fit is over, all the while staring at her with a /look/. Yes. A Look. He should be happy that she didn't jump on the bandwagon. And oh, he is, for he'll forever assume that any fussing between them will be an Them Against Me matchup. But really? Is it so farfetched of an idea that Thea could be seen as one super hot hottie of a Weyrwoman? Pft. Girls have no idea! "Riight," he says, sitting up a bit and propping himself up on his elbows. "That's what I said, but she's mad about it anyway. And as for the tradition thing, I think it's one that should've been tossed a long time ago." But hey, whatever. He's not a bronzerider, and it's not like Xanadu is going to get a new leader any time soon now! He pokes a finger at her. "By the way, I didn't think it was that funny."
Oooh. Kale knows how to give Looks! This is a day that will live in history. It should be recorded in his notebook. Soriana gets herself mostly back under control, though she's still got a grin… one that only increases as she gets that look looked at her. Not that she says anything about it to him, oh no. She turns to look at the lump under the blankets that is Alloy, and says in a casual tone, "She's got a gold firelizard, you know. Just saying." She smirks, then looks back to Kale and manages serious for a moment about the weyrleader thing. "Maybe there's reasons for it still. Like…" But now she can't think of any, so she settles for, "Anyway, it's no dumber than always giving things to your son. It means things change around sometimes and don't get stuck one way or another." Sothere. The grin bubbles up again at his protest, and she shakes her head a little. "It's just… she's twice your age." Nearly, anyhow. "I mean, I'm not saying she's not hot, 'cause… she is. In an old-person way. But… it'd be different if it was… Bri, say. Someone you might ever actually do something with. But… Thea?"
Alloy does not pay any attention to Soriana's words only because he is not aware she's speaking to him. Under the covers and all. But don't you worry. Alloy is making himself known to every green and gold that'll give him the time of day. He'll get to her. Eventually. There are a lot of firelizards around here! Kale wisely doesn't pursue the topic of traditions and weyrleadership. Or rather, between that topic and the other, the other wins out on his list of priorities. Leadership can be revisited another day, and he'll win that battle when the time comes. But for now…for now. Thea. He looks at Sori as if she's her mind. "She's not twice my age." A beat. "And if she is, she doesn't look it. And it doesn't matter," he protests with a smirk. "I've known men thirty, forty somethin' turns with women who were eighteen." Case in point, A'dmar .. if he only knew! "She isn't old. She's.. have you looked at her? her face, and her eyes are shardin' amazing, and her shape.." He shakes his head. "She does not look thirty somethin' turns old. And you never know what co-.." Wait a second. He pauses, eyeing her with a quirked brow and emerging grin. "Junior Weyrwoman Bri, you mean? How'd it be different? You'd be jealous?"
That's right. The top of Kale's priority list is discussing the hotness of Weyrwomen. "She totally is," says Soriana. "I mean, Muir's, what, eleven? Almost twelve?" Which is, admittedly, still a little kid compared to them, but nevertheless makes some statements about his mother's age. "And I'm not saying she's not hot," Sori reiterates. "I'm just saying, she's way older than you. And D'had's like twenty turns older than she is, so she obviously likes maturity." Whereupon Sori gives Kale a smug look, promptly followed by an eyeroll. "Junior Weyrwoman Briana, yes. It's different because she might possibly like you back." And, quickly before Kale gets a swollen head, Sori adds, "Not that I think she does."
"I know you're not saying she's not hot because she obviously is and you'd be daft to deny it," agrees Kale. "I'm just saying she's not as anciently old as you're making her out to be. She could've had Muir and Marella when she was seventeen or eighteen turns. Which would put her barely at thirty now. And," he continues, apparently able to get a swollen head no matter how unlikely the situation, "if she and her weyrmate were fighting, maybe she's looking for a change. Someone young and vibrant, you know." He sits up and inclines in chin, apparently the poster child for Young and Vibrant Men. He smirks over at her and promptly rolls to hover over her, a hand pressed against the bedspread to prop himself up above her. "You think Briana may not like me, but you don't know for sure. She hardly knows me. If I introduce myself properly and let her get to know me, I'm sure she'll start spending hours daydreaming about me. Much like you do, right?"
"Which-" Soriana interjects, "-is nearly twice your age." She smirks, then rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "Fine, if she's looking for a change, and decides you are the young, vibrant, and modest example of Xanadu's finest," and also on top of her, for which she pokes him in the chest with a finger, "-you have my permission to show her the finest of times and charm the socks off her to the utmost of your abilities." Her finger trails off along his chest to go around his shoulders. "Bri, on the other hand, is busy with Derin. So y'shouldn't disrupt them." That's right, swooping in at the end of a decade-long relationship is fine, but interfering with a budding romance is a no-no. Soriana brings her other hand up along Kale's side, then hmms. "Oh, I don't know. I mean, Ilyas is cute in a rogue sort of way. Maybe I'll daydream about him instead." Her tone is teasing, her eyes twinkling, and those arms of hers are trying to pull Kale down for some more of that kissing thing while they've got the chance.
Oh yeah. Permission to turn up the charm with the weyrwoman! Now … the only thing left is to get her to show romantic interest in his sixteen year old self. It…could happen! In his dreams. But he continues to look grandiosely smug as she talks, stiffening chest muscles as her fingers graze, trying to make them more prominent. Heh, and he rolls his eyes when Alloy shows off! "Derin the wherhandler? Ah fine. I'll let him have his moment before introducing myself and stealing her heart away." It's inevitable! His grin grows as her touches increase, but her comment on Ilyas has a brow arching. "Your daydreams will smell like ships and fish," he warns airily, but his taunting tease is cut short as he's guided down. He happily obliges with a kiss, lowering himself enough that his chest presses lightly against hers. But really, that's all he's going to get, for a handful of moments ago, the snoring stopped. Someone else is awake besides the two kissing teens. It's an older dark skinned heavyset teen, perhaps three turns Kale's senior, with sleepy brown eyes that peer out from beneath the covers two bunks over. "I wouldn't," he warns, voice heavy with grogginess, yet not exactly chastising. Yaawn. "I'm up.so.Classes ending soon."Another yawn. "Orik not gunna like it."
Soriana sighs at the voice from the other bunk. The fellow's right, which, really, is why she sighs, and wraps her arms around Kale for another kiss. One for the road, that's all, and a warm squeeze to go with it before she's untangling herself. The older teen gets a grin and a salute, Kale gets a grin (wink included) and a, "Stay warm!" and then she's heading out, hopefully to escape the forge before Orik emerges from his classes and notices she was here.