Xanadu Weyr - Wanderin' Wherry Tavern
It is often whispered in the crowds that converge here, that a certain Weyrleader was asked what he wanted in the remodeling of the pub that was not so long ago given a refreshing. He muttered back over the rim of his ever-present mug, "I don't care what you do with the place, just so long as there is plenty of ale." With that in mind, cask after cask of ale lines the walls of the tavern, the remodeler's idea of a jest. As they age, the casks bring a real rustic atmosphere to the pub, along with the deeply wooden flavor that seems to be the theme throughout.
The lighting is dim, as it should be in all good pubs, and the tables and chairs are plentiful. A long mahogany bar, intricately carved with runner beasts, stands vigilant duty at the head of the bar, lined with stools for those patrons that seek the bartender's company.
It was pre-dawn when the eggs started to hatch, and though the whole affair didn't seem to take too long in and of itself, there was certainly time after that where the pairs were getting settled, fed, and even cleaned to a point. By now it's well into the morning, and some of the new weyrlings are starting to straggle out from their barracks.
Phylicia is one of those candidates. She has apparently found enough time to take a hasty bath, by the damp state of her hair. Wherever the post-hatching party has moved to, it's not here, and Phylicia is sitting down with a long, soft sigh. She lets herself idle for a few moments then, too tired to go search out her father or her mother - both of whom said they'd be here.
One good thing about candidates, they're not hard to track. Anyone who just picked up a dragon as a spare is going to get noticed, so it's not difficult for Jaice to find out where his child has wandered off to. Persis is apparantly elsewhere when the mind-healer enters the tavern. A quick glance around finds his daughter and he starts over with a wave to her, his face warm and proud. "Didn't I tell you, young lady?"
Phylicia doesn't notice that initial wave because her eyes slide shut for just a few moments, like she's trying to collect her thoughts. Though as that familiar voice speaks, she starts, her eyes popping open. Her smile is wide, if a little tired already. "Didn't so many people try to tell me?" She laughs back, opening her arms from her seated position for a hug. "You managed to make it!" Yes, there is happiness to that. "Did…?"
Jaice' face smiles wide as he hugs his youngest child. "Of course I managed to make it. Your mother too, though Thread only knows where she's managed to get off to. She'll be around before too long, don't you doubt. I thought she was going to scream herself hoarse when you walked off of the sands with that pretty green of yours." Then her last question is asked, and his smile softens a little, lessens. "Yes, Phylicia. He was there."
Phylicia's smile to her father's answer is both happy and a little sad at the same time. "He'll find me when - if - he wants to." She has little doubt that he'll find some way of getting a hold of her. But for the moment being, there's little use in speculating, and she lets herself be swept away by the elation at hand. "Her name's Fauikith." Just incase you know, people missed that when she walked away, and there's a soft wonder to her face. "She's so small, even compared to Jessa's green…" Or any of the other greens that hatched as well. "I didn't think dragons were ever that small." Of course, when it came to dragons, she apparently didn't think much at all.
"Part of me wonders if you feel like I did, when each of you was born…not thinking that a human could ever be so small and so lovely." Jaice sits down beside her then. "Fauikith…" He tries it a few times to get his tongue around it before he smiles again. "A good name." Then he grins at her. "Tell me about it? Are you surprised? What was it like?"
As her father sits down next to her, Phylicia takes another moment to get her thoughts into order, though her stomach chooses that moment to rumble softly, just loud enough to be heard. "Sorry." She appologizes at first, a little sheepishly. "Am I surprised? Yes! I … thought I was going to be left there, since it was just Faui and that brown left." Oh, give her a break. She'll learn the other names soon enough. And it's a constant battle to find words, it seems, though that wide, touched smile never leaves. "She'll be my strength, she says. And she says a LOT right now." Her cheeks flush at that, having to already cut the green off once or twice. Pity Phy the moment she isn't paying attention, and Fauikith lets something slip…
"It's good that you have her then, Phylicia. The world isn't always kind…and someone there to lend you that strength is a blessing that has few peers." Jaice reaches a hand out to give her shoulder a squeeze. "You should eat. Eat, and get some of your own strength back. I suspect that the next few months of your life will see little other than your new friend."
Phylicia gives her father a small look, one of mild annoyance, though it seems not much can seep through that sort of post-high she seems to have going on for long. "You really don't need to tell me that the world isn't kind, Daddy." But that slightly tart remark is made up for with a smile. "Eat with me? Unless you've eaten, that is?" Her stomach gurgles again, impatiently. "Fauikith was just so hungry when she hatched. I think it rubbed off, a bit." Not to mention, she has completely bypassed her normal breakfast time in caring for Fauikith.
Jaice laughs a little. "It's a father's job to tell his children things they already know, just so they continue to know them. If you ever have children of your own, you'll understand." The notion of food sees him flagging over a memeber of the waitstaff and ordering several things in celebration before turning back to his daughter. "Your mother and I will probably stick around here for most of the morning, but I imagine once your friend wakes, you'll need to be elsewhere, and we'll be on our way back to Boll."
Phylicia listens to her father order and she smiles. "Thank you for coming." She says softly, nudging that lull of Fauikith's slumbering mind away from her own. "Maybe it's just the father's job." She says impishly with a smile, as they wait for the food to start coming, and thankfully a glass of water is not long in waiting. Most of her glass is gone before the waitress gets too far. "I don't remember mom nagging quite so much." But then again maybe's it's a father's prerogative towards his youngest daughter. But it's all kindly said. And if he's a mindhealer at all, the slightly worried expression on her face should be a dead give away to the question she wants to ask, but doesn't.
Jaice laughs. "Oh, it's just the father's job. It's the mother's job to nag the father into saying it, so that she remains in a positive, happy light with the children. That's the problem with marrying a woman who's smarter than you are. She runs the whole house without any trouble at all." He sips from his water as well, watching her for a moment. "I don't know," he offers quietly. "I honestly don't. He came there apart from us, and…we were both so excited that we didn't pay much attention to him. I wasn't there for him, after all. I was there for you. He left rather…abruptly once the impressions ended."
The moment the waitress returns with some of the greens and a few more of the nibbly-type things, Phylicia gets a refill for her water with a friendly smile and a 'please' before the waitress disappears, to reappear with a full pitcher of water for the table. And Jaice's summary has another wide grin on Phy's face for a little while longer. She applies herself to some of those greens, to ease the rumbling, and give herself time to think about what her father just said. "I like it that you were there for me. I'd… probably be crying on the two of you, if Faui hadn't found me." There's a small pause, even in her eating. "I just wish… someone had been there for him." And undoubtedly, one of her trio - Ciaran most likely, since her connection is best with him - is off with Ten, if the man will have the blue near. But her stomach rumbles again, reminding her that no matter what else is going on, she needs to eat either way.
"I don't…know if he would have let anyone else be there for him, Phy. I know that your co-conspirator was there, that apprentice Galina, but she was sitting apart from him. He was…quite alone. And I think, all things considered, he wanted it that way." Jaice takes a breath. "I think he wanted it that way. I think he knew, just like I did, that you were bound to impress…and I don't think he wanted anyone watching him when it happened."
There's a knot of worry within Phylicia's stomach now, another case of nerves though this one doesn't leave her hands trembling. But it does cause her to pick at her food a little more instead of just eating it. "Hopefully he'll come talk…" She murmurs softly, hopefully. "Eventually." There just doesn't seem to be too much more to say on that note though, not without worrying herself to death.
"I don't think he even knows what to say right now, Phy," Jaice offers quietly, leaning over and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "And…to be blunt, honey, you… sort of knew this was a possibility. He's a young man, and I suspect that he loves you almost as much as you do him. And whatever the two of you might have had…it's officially been made second to something.
Phylicia leans into her father's shoulder as he hugs her, exhaling. "But it's… Fauikith…" Whatever Phylicia is trying to say, she's failing wonderfully at whatever it is, before she sighs again, a little more like a half-whimper this time. "It's not like having a bond with a dragon destroys your ability to love another human." She finally gets out in something that sounds like a pout. Though she does realize for the next turn or two - at the very least - are going to be devoted to the slumbering green.
"I know that, honey," Jaice offers quietly. "But … human psychology aside for a moment, you have to put yourself in his boots. It's not right or wrong or…anything. It's just the way humans are. And as different as he is, as … repressed, maybe, as he is…he's still a human. And he's tasted love now, only to have it pulled away from him by an evaluation, and now…by a choice that you made. And while I have no doubt that he doesn't begrudge you that choice…" He leaves that thought hanging. "Consider also that…he was your age when he stood…and it didn't go this way for him. I can't imagine being him at age 16…I'm not saying that his behavior is right or wrong, or that yours is either. Right or wrong has nthing to do with it. It's just…life. And the two of you kids are living it now."
That all gets Phylicia thinking a little more, and by the looks of her face, she still doesn't like it much, but she understands it. To a point at least. And it seems enough so that the knot in her stomach is unravelling slightly. Enough so that she can stop picking at her food by the time the waitress finally comes back with the main portion of it. "Why can't something just go well for him?" She asks, mostly grumbled while honestly not expecting an answer as she picks up her refilled glass of water, taking another sip, going at it slower this time.
Jaice laughs quietly and kisses the side of her head. "Phy, things have gone right for him. He found you, didn't he? He found you, and he's made a few other friends. That other girl, Galina? She's obviously close enough to him to stick her neck out. It was a stroke of luck beyond luck that the Craftmaster happened to take pity on him and apprentice him, otherwise he'd be nowhere…" He takes a sip of water. "Life isn't…kind to everyone. It sounds like there should be more to say, but…there's not."
Phylicia looks only minorly cheered after that, though at least there doesn't seem to be a huge knot of worry in her stomach anymore. Now it's just a smaller, more manageable one. For a brief moment one side of her lips curls up in small, mostly unfelt snarl. "Fine, I'll stop sulking about it. At least when you're here." She fixes her father with a very vaguely amused look. "You come up with too many points."
Jaice smiles winningly. "That…is also a father's job." Then the conversation shifts. "Other than feeding the brute, have you learned anything about her? About what your new life will hold? And do you have any idea what wing you'll choose to fly with? Or will you try and continue pursuing your craft?"
"She's not a brute!" Phylicia protests with affection, though the bruises she'll sport in a few days might tell a different story, from the few tumbles Fauikith took, as all hatchlings tend to. It just happened to be that Phy was standing in the way of a limb, or her tail in the process. The rest of his questions bring about a faint chuckle, helping to easy that sulky mood of hers. "We… no.. don't know a whole lot right now. It's our duty to keep them fed and well oiled for now, I guess." Because it's been oh-so-long since she impressed, after all. "If the Craftmaster would let me… I think I'd like to continue on in the craft."
Jaice nods. "All thigns being equal…I don't think the craftmaster's going to hav much trouble with that. You were one of the more promising botanists that the Hall had going for it, and you know things that were handed down from the Craftmaster herself. You may be the one carrying that knowledge forward, depending on what the future holds. I hope you have time to do that once the dragon grows up." A pause. "Of course, with a dragon, I'll tell your mother that we can expect you home more often. One less excuse you have for dodging Boll Hold, young lady."
Jaice's teasing about Phylicia's lack of presence at Boll, has her grinning and teasing right back. "Oh, but you'll see a lot less of me until Fauikith's all grown. Unless you come here." Finally she's doing more than just picking at the available food. "If you thought seeing me before was hard…" But her father's praise for her work as a botanist brings a small flush to her cheeks. "You know I still have a lot to learn." Than again, when does someone ever stop learning?
Jaice waves a hand. "Well…coming to Xanadu hasn't been so much a problem of late, for obvious reasons. Assuming that I continue to care for him, coming over to bug my little girl seems perfectly feasable." He grins. "Added incentive for you to get that green bird of yours all growed up."
Phylicia again gives her father a look, still amused. "Keep calling Faui names like that, and see if you EVER get a ride from me anywhere." She was half listening though as one of the Weyrlingmasters was prattling at them. "It'll be a long while before she's up for much besides eating and sleeping though, by the sounds of it."
Jaice faux shudders. "I don't know if my heart could take you learning to drive one," he jokes playfully. "You'll bring her to see us, won't you? Once the two of you are able to travel? We couldn't get a good look at her from the gallery what with all of the other commotion going around."
Phylicia wrinkles her nose at Jaice, before she giggles. "Of course I will, Daddy. Though by the time I'm able to do that, you might have to do it from a bit of a distance." Generally speaking, with the size of dragons. But at the mention of commotion she tilts her head. "Was it noisy in the galleries?" Admitedly, she wasn't paying much attention to them.
Jaice coughs. "There was…an incident, yes. Some poor girl was alarmingly intoxicated, and decided that it would be a good idea to come watch the hatching. Without pants on." He sighs. "There's nothing wrong with a little fun at your age, but…I'm just glad none of my children would ever do such things." He smiles wryly. "We taught you the importance of pants early."
Phylicia blinks. "No… pants?" But she snorts. "There's fun and then there's silliness to the point of stupidity, Daddy. Or just stupidity. Since I didn't see it, I couldn't say." Phy shakes her head a little bit at the thought. "No, your children like to abide by the rules." She pauses giving him another one of her sweet little smiles. "Mostly."