Fort Weyr - Roc Wing Lounge
As soon as one enters the Roc Lounge, the sight of the broad banner of Roc Wing draws the eye, a talon above Fort Weyr's crest, in striking black and browns. It hangs above an enormous hearth, which provides warmth and light, even in the coldest months, keeping the room cozy and adding a faint woodsy scent to the air. The walls are decorated with various tapestries and keepsakes from all across Pern, with a large, detailed map of the planet dominating one wall. Opposite it is a painted mural depicting Roc dragons, laden with cargo, flying in formation above a picturesque landscape. Another wall is taken up entirely by shelving, containing books, hides, and various trinkets.
Behind a tapestry of the weyr bowl is a dumbwaiter with a bell that rings whenever a tray is delivered. A sturdy desk is tucked nearby in a corner, with a computer for those who chose to work, while various nooks with newly-installed electric bulbs provide steady light. There are glowbaskets as well, hanging from hooks on the ceiling, iluminating the rugs in Fort's colors that have been set out on the stone floor. The furniture in the room consists of comfortable chairs and couches, arranged in several small groupings, with low tables placed conveniently for drinks and plates of food.


It's been a few days since the meeting within the Gemstone Tavern. Since thing it's been an eventful time, at least for Anique. For her duties keep her busy as well as Typriaeth who decided to rise and quickly too. So now it's mid afternoon and Anique is back from morning errands and enjoying a bit of quiet time within the Roc lounge. She's on one of the couches with her legs tucked up under and a bronze fire lizard is sprawled across her lap to get an oiling.

Kimmila doesn't belong in here. Does she really belong anywhere? Regardless of the answer to that, the bluerider is stepping into the lounge, dressed in her riding leathers and knotless as usual. "Anique," she says with a slight frown when she spots the greenrider. "Got a minute?" Moving forward, she sits on the other end of the couch, one arm thrown across the back and one leg crossed over the other, ankle to knee. "I think we need to have a talk."

Running an oiled hand along the length of the bronze, Anique casts a surprised look towards Kimmila as the blue rider strides in. Once she's seated Anique merely gives a nod. "Yeah…we can talk." she says quietly. For the moment no other words escape her as the silence draws out. "No matter what else is said I offer my apologies for my outspoken words." she breaks the silence with that simple sentence.

Kimmila lifts her brows in mild surprise at the apology. "Accepted," she says, sitting a bit more deeply into the couch. "But I think they were said for a reason, so let's talk that out. You don't seem to think that highly of me or my position."

Anique shakes her head a bit. "Wrong on both accounts. I've always thought highly of you. In regards of any position you hold I can't think low nor high of something I don't understand."

Kimmila shifts, leaning forward a bit to eye the greenrider. "So was it the proddyness talking then?" she asks, clearly confused. "What don't you understand about it? I just got the sense that there was…that there were issues that should be resolved, between you and I."

Anique grimaces a bit. She's still new enough to being a rider of a green that rises and dealing with the emotions that come along for the ride. "My..I…" she shakes her head. "Typriaeth has risen recently." she stumbles over the start of her words. "My emotions that night were not wholly my own, no." pausing she plunges on. "I don't understand what position you hold within the weyr." a hand lifts from the bronze hide to gesture to the knotless shoulder of Kimmila. Now she gets a puzzled look. "Issues? I have no issues with you Kimmila. Far as I know you could be the only one I can go to to discuss knives." a hint of a smile dances in her eyes.

Kimmila glances at her shoulder and she grins a bit. "Officially I'm a wingrider. I guess I'm part of Phoenix wing, in a way, but I do my own thing. You could say I'm Th'ero's assistant. Someone threw out the term 'Weyrthird' at one point, and that's kind of appropriate. And I work - quietly - with a group of riders on the voluntary cothold wing, doing extra duty rotations to visit all of Fort's cotholds. Well. Almost all. Those that want our assistance," she says with a shrug.

Anique frowns a touch. "I thought only metallic riders were in Phoenix wing." she comments. "Why the quiet? Why doesn't even Wingleader Yhri know of this cot hold wing? It's Roc's responsibility to fix what Roc messed up." her chin juts out in quiet defiance. "You shouldn't keep us in the dark!"

Kimmila shrugs. "It's the administrative wing. Traditionally it's only metallics, but not always. And…why the quiet?" She shrugs. "Didn't seem like it needed to be a big deal. I started this wing turns ago, after Stonehaven. It wasn't supposed to be a big deal. I didn't want it to be a 'look at us and all the awesome stuff we do' wing. It was a quiet, understated group of riders going out to check on all the cotholds. The riders are volunteers, I pay them out of my own pocket. It's my own little project. And she /should/ have known about it. All the Wingleaders know about it, because I pull riders from all the wings and we have our own separate duty rotation schedule. I don't know why she didn't know. Probably because her take over of Roc was so chaotic." As for Roc, Kimmila frowns. "It's /Fort's/ responsibility. And since my riders already have connections with many of the cotholds, why not use those relationships to keep things stable? If you're a cotholder that's been dealing with one particular greenrider for the last two turns, and all of a sudden you start hearing bad things about Roc riders, you're not going to take too kindly to a brand new rider showing up at your door, instead of the greenrider you've grown to trust. These cotholders like /consistency/."

"Plus," Kimmila adds, "I have riders from all the wings on my volunteer wing."

Anique shifts a bit, the action of oiling the lounging bronze long since forgotten as the discussion with Kimmila gets deeper. Leaning back she listens and absorbs the information given to her. Frowning she puzzles it out in her head, perhaps simply trying to understand you. "You pay them?" surprise registers at that as if something simply doesn't mesh with it. "Seems…to not fit into the scheme of the way the wings /work/. It's a whole separate wing made of riders from other wings. One that's…quiet?" she frowns again, shaking her head, still uncertain. She opens her mouth to ask another question but closes it with a snap. "Your business is your own then. I have no rights to question nor any power. I'm just a green rider within Roc. I'll do my duties to the best of my abilities." her eyes flash darkly with suppressed emotion. "And I hope that Wingleader Yhri gets a better picture of your 'wing' than perhaps I do."

Kimmila nods, "I do. Just a small stipend. And why wouldn't it work? It's an extra duty, not enough to make an official wing of it, and pulls people from all the different wings for a special project. If you have questions, Anique, now's the time. Or even if you disagree with it. That's fine too, don't belittle yourself. You have every right to question. And I should speak with Yhri about it too, I suppose."

Anique gives a small shrug of her shoulder. "I don't even know how to word the questions I have." she says honestly. "This wing…well it seems to simply make Roc pointless in that aspect. /We/ made this mess. Why can't /we/ fix it with all these cot holders. These cot holders that you say will distrust a brand new rider will trust one from Roc wing that may not be a part of your special little project. I vowed to aid Yhri in any way possible within the Roc Wing. I alone of the Weyrlings have joined the most troubled wing in this Weyr right now but I did it anyway knowing that I could be an asset. I learned plenty during my time as Assistant Headwoman and I want to keep that knowledge in play!"

Kimmila sighs, shaking her head. "Again, this is Fort's problem, Anique. It's more complicated than that. This isn't something that Roc can fix on its own. And how is this wing making Roc pointless? We're just doing what we've always done. We're not taking over transport duties. And it's not just the cotholders either. Actually, it's more the /holds/ that are having issues with Fort. Many of the cotholds are staying faithful, /because/ of these relationships we've built. This isn't something that can be fixed by Roc flying around apologizing to everyone. Fort has to earn back their trust and our reputation. /All/ of Fort is affected by this. So /all/ of Fort needs to help rebuild."

Anique gives a nod. "I know this is Fort's problems." her words say she does her tone says she doesn't know. There is a roadblock in her mind that this is Roc's mess to fix. "We're trying to do more than just apologize to everyone." she snaps suddenly. The bronze in lap gives a startled yelp as he leaps up and disappears between. Stifling a sigh she quiets down her tone a bit. "Fort's problems to fix but it seems to me your wing is fixing it and just pushing Roc to the side." she stands now that her lap is free. "I want to be a part of the problem but now I'm lost as to how."

Kimmila arches a brow at Anique's snapping, and Kimmila sighs. "Anique, you need to relax," she says. "Getting defensive isn't helping anything. My wing is helping, yes, because we're in a good position to help. It just happened that way. We're doing what we've /always/ done. Visiting the cotholds. That's it! It's not like I've swept in with these riders and taken over Roc's duties. We don't do transport. As for how to fix it, every single rider needs to be on their best behavior. Roc can /not/ mess up again. We're walking on eggshells right now and the only thing that's going to fix this is time and consistency. Being consistently /excellent/ is slowly going to erase that one disaster."

"Roc won't mess up again!" Anique says heatedly. "No, you aren't doing transport but there's more to Roc than just moving things here or delivering know it all Lords from Holds." her tone is quiet though her eyes are still snapping. Someone's not calming down. "Roc is the closest I'll /get/ to diplomacy with the Phoenix wing being for Gold and bronze riders. I'm not an important rank here. I'm just a greenrider. That's how I'm viewed when I go out on my duties. It's 'oh, they sent a green rider'. I'm no different than Abigail or So'l or Yhri in my abilities." which now gets us to the underlying reason on why she's wound up.

Kimmila is starting to sense there's more to this than meets the eye. "Do you /want/ to be in Phoenix?" she asks with a frown of concern and confusion. "Anique, you have to /earn/ it. I'm just a bluerider, but I've earned respect from some folks around here, and some folks in the cotholds. Other people can't stand me. That's life. What…if you could do anything in the weyr, what would it be?"

"What? No..I would never assume that I could be in that wing." Anique says quickly. Pacing forward a few steps she whirls to face Kimmila. "I know things have to be earned." she says quickly. Kimmila's last question throws her off guard though. "…I..don't know. Something similar to my duties before as Assistant headwoman."

Kimmila frowns. "Why don't you think you could be in Phoenix? It's not just for metallics. It /usually/ is because those are usually the people tasked with the weyr's diplomacy, but…there are non-metallics in Phoenix wing. Is that what you want?"

Anique snorts. "You just said that I have to earn the right to be in Phoenix." she points out. "Now you're asking me if that's what I want? Are you setting me up to say yes so that you can throw in my face that I've not earned it yet?"

Kimmila shakes her head firmly with a loud sigh. "That is /not/ what I said. I said you have to earn people's respect. You have to earn being more than 'just a greenrider'. Your wing is your wing, if the Wingleader wants you."

Anique's gaze sweeps around the lounge, drawn to the banner of Roc Wing above the hearth. "I'm in Roc now. This is where i'll make my mark. Make my name and prove that I'm not simply just a green rider." she says quietly.

Kimmila eyes her. "Are you sure? Because you seemed pretty damn unhappy a few minutes ago and I'm pretty sure I could at least get you a trail run in Phoenix if that's where you /truly/ want to be. Sometimes the wing assignments are mistakes. And it's not until you're in it that you realize this isn't really where you're supposed to be."

Anique crosses her arms over her chest and draws in a deep breath. Shifting slightly she brings her gaze from the banner down to Kimmila where she sits. She's quiet for several long moments as she considers the offer put down before her. "No. I'll not abandon Yhri when I've committed myself to helping her reshape the Roc wing. If I left for another wing then I'd be going back on the vow I gave her." she says softly.

Kimmila nods, "Alright then. Then you need to let go of this resentment and know that Roc is /your/ choice. This is no time to be defensive or angry. We've all got to work together on this."

Anique's eyes narrow briefly. "I've never said it wasn't." her eyes unfocus briefly. "I've got to go." she says shortly. "I'll trust that you'll speak to Wingleader Yhri to ensure she knows the full details of your little pet project wing?"

Kimmila sighs, "See, Anique, that feels like a jab," she points out, flat and frank. "Would it make you feel better if I asked you to join my wing? It's extra duties on top of everything you already to."

Anique is already striding towards the door. "Don't take it personally Kimmila. I simply called it how you described it to me." she pauses in the doorway to turn back a moment. She smiles though it does't quite reach her eyes. "I'm content within my wing only. I've not proved myself to anyone remember? I'm still 'just a green rider' in your eyes." now she whirls and strides out without waiting to hear of Kimmila offers anything else to the conversation she's trying to close.

Kimmila stands and gives the couch a kick. "/I/ didn't say that, /you/ did!" she mutters before she's stalking out as well. "I actually have a lot of respect for you, Anique, but it's too bad you didn't stick around long enough to hear it." Mutter, mutter, grumble. And off she goes.