Fort Weyr - Shenanigan's Lounge
The natural walls of this cavern haven been completely covered and replaced by straight and sometimes curving walls of brickwork. There's method to the madness of covering stone with stone. It's as simple as the electric buzz in the room. New grade electric lights dot the fancy brick worked walls, with wires cleverly hidden behind, allowing more focus to be centered on the rest of the room rather than the numerous strings of wire needed to operate the lighting. Each bulb roosts in a bronzed metal flowering fixture, giving the room a rich atmosphere. Still, the walls are not the only place which has stone on stone appeal. The floor has been run smooth, the surface now slate rock, creating an imperial cast.
Beyond the actual foundations of the lounge, the luxury continues. High backed wooden chairs with padded white seats have been stationed all around the room. Between the individual chairs are benches fashioned out of the same rich wood with pillows made to flatter the cushions. There are low lying coffee tables or end tables near the individual chairs, while there's larger dinning room sized tables with chairs to match scattered as well, giving much variety to those who find themselves in the room. Decorative hangings and framed artwork has been neatly hung around the room, but to offset the meticulous method of the room, there's some pieces that give a sporty feeling to the room - such as a fishing rod or a snow shoe.
Of course, the final appeal of the room comes in the form of it's purpose; athletic competition. There are several games of darts lining the walls, various decks of dragon poker cards available, a large velvet lined pool table centered to one side of the lounge, a mat area surrounded by ropes, and an area that keeps track of all the runner races around the world via radio signal, giving constant updates on the status of the runners. Lastly, there's a bar here, small and built with brick as well. There's usually a bartender on duty willing to mix drinks during the evening hours.
Hopefully, the aftermath of the flight wasn't too awkward. Dtirae, despite having never had anyone win but Th'ero, was certainly trying not to offend S'ai. Being that she likes the bronzerider, and he's saved her. There is an offer to buy him a drink later, if he'd like before she's departing with as much elegance that can be mustered from the situation. And that's how she ends up in Shenanigans, sitting quietly at her own table with a plate of finger foods and a drink. It's non-alcoholic, however.
S'ai shows no sign of being offended and he's actually quite mindful, sounding more concerned with making sure she's okay versus him. After ensuring things were okay and as unawkward as these sort of things can be, there was the agreement getting cleaned up was in order and he agreed to meet later. S'ai can never resist food after all. He makes his way into the Lounge as promised. He's quick to spot the goldrider and makes his way over, giving her fair warning with a clearing of his throat and an offered smile. "Hey."
At his arrival and the clearing of his throad, Dtirae looks up in his direction and offers a smile. "Hey S'ai." She gestures easily to take a seat, either beside or across from her. She picks up a fried tubber and nibbles on it a bit before giving him a curious look. "I had been meaning to talk to you before," a gesture between then. "To thank you for saving my face. I was going to offer to buy you a new jacket… But, I'm sure you've replaced it already."
S'ai takes a seat across from her, better to see, and leans forward to rests his forearms on the table with an easy sort of sprawl. "Eh, no thanks needed. Coworker, stranger, friend; no one should get scorched. It didn't work out well but we were all safe and that's what matters. We did what we could. No one could have predicted that." Or this? "All of that, from me going back to us going there, could have ended bad. It didn't. I take that as a win."
"Still, you didn't have to. It certainly could have ended better, agreed. But, no one was really hurt." Aside from the arsonist. Dtirae's smile is a touch wry for that subject. "But, I still appreciate you having my back. Or front." This widens her smile a touch before she's nibbling on the tubber and finishing it off. The plate is slid closer to him, in an offer to share. "It could have been worse is also true… A win, indeed." She pauses and considers him a moment longer. "Did you want a drink? I'll have something brought over."
S'ai reaches out to pluck up one of the tubers and merrily pops it in his mouth. "Drink sounds good, whatever they got on special. I'm not too picky. I plan to grab some food while I'm here. Breakfast seems forever ago. Well.. it was before dawn, so it kinda was." There's a quick chuckle from the Thunderbird rider. "I don't want to steal everything on your plate."
"Okay. I'll see if they have anything good." Dtirae chuckles softly, "it was quite awhile ago. And, feel free to take everything there. I'll get some more." She rises with a grin and makes her way to the bar. She places the orders, gesturing towards the table. The drink is the quickest, so she returns with that in hand. She slides it over to him before taking her previous seat. "It's an ale. I haven't had it before, so I don't know if it's any good. The food will be over in a moment." Her grin returns before she clears her throat. "I wanted to let you know that I don't really have any expectations in clutchfathers… Zuvaleyuth has only had Velokraeth catch her so I don't know if she'll be welcoming or… What with Zeruth being on the Sands with her…"
"Thanks." S'ai says as he takes up the drink. "I really doubt anything here is bad, especially their drinks." He takes a drink of said ale as the inevitable talk begins and he can only offer a bit of a helpless but good-natured smile to her. "Well, I've only done this once but Xanadu was… odd. Zeruth tended to the eggs pretty much the whole time, which he didn't mind at all. He wouln't intrude on her if she doesn't want him, though. If she does, he'll be there. He's nothing is not very serious about his job. And.. ya know, same with me. If there's anything I can do come the time just let me know."
"True. I can't say I've had anything bad here." Dtirea grins and takes a sip of her juice, listening to him with a quiet understanding. "That makes sense. If he wants to take part, I'll encourage her to… Y'know, be more… Inviting." A grin before she nods. "Of course. Thank you." With that out of the way, she quiets again and reaches to take another tuber. "So… I really don't know much about you. But, I admit I was curious Abigail said you had a good head on your shoulders. How did you get Searched for Fort?"
"She did?" S'ai says, sounding pleasantly surprised and his grin going lopsided. "Well that's reassuring. Glad to know she gives me the vote of confidence. Well, heck, let me give you the whole story. I've native to Monaco. My mother, Saisri, is rider of gold Avarinth and my father is B'rm, bronze Treasath's. They're in Telgar now but my sister and I were raised there. She's.. traditional. Very. Overbearing. Love her, but I couldn't take her expectations. So eventually I had enough of her impatient stares and I took to wandering Pern. No plan at all, just to.. I dunno, get away. I ended up here because I ran into C'rus, Cyrus then, at the trader camp outside of Fort. I travelled with them most of the time. Guy needed a suit and was headed to Fort to get one, so I tagged along since he had no idea how to buy one. While I was here, I ended up being Searched by Velokraeth and here I am!"
"She did." Dtirae reassures with a grin. She remains silent to hear his whole story, settling down any sort of distractions. "I see. That sounds exciting. The fact that you went out an just.. Left and explored. I didn't realize that you and C'rus had known one another before Impressing. It's nice Impressing with friends." Her smile grows a little wider before she reaches for another tuber and breaks it into two pieces. "Is your family mad you left? Or are they okay with that now?"
"Briefly and I'm pretty sure he's simultaneously annoyed by me and indulges my presence, but he's a good guy." S'ai says with a laugh and another drink. "She raised us to be riders. Dad tried to let us be kids, but mom.. she's pretty ferocious. She meant well but she insisted it was the top of the ladder or bust. I bolted to get space from her and walked right into Zeruth. Mom won that round." He gives a shrug of his shoulders and adds, "Dad understood. Mom was not pleased at all. She no doubt thought I was a failure and a lazy son who preferred reckless activities versus learning his history lessons. We've all come to our peace, though."
"I don't think he would stick around anyone who annoyed him too much. But, I agree that he's a good guy. I've had nothing but good experiences around him." Dtirae notes before popping the tuber into her mouth. "I don't think that would really count as a win on her end, if you got there on your own terms?" The woman grins a touch more before nodding her understanding. "Sounds like my foster parents, really… But, I'm glad it's been worked out."
"No but to her the fact I impressed bronzes proves all her hard work." S'ai says with a slow shake of his head. "Ah, but… mom's. They want the best for their kids. So you had foster parents? Were your parents, or mother anyway, a rider? I was a bit of a weird case, my parents never fostered us. They had help occasionally but they were pretty intent on raising us themselves."
Dtirae huffs softly, "if hard work determined what color you'd Impress, then I'd've been on brown or something. It doesn't prove anything. She should know it doesn't work that way." A slight grin before she's nodding. "I suppose they do. Even if what they think is best isn't necessarily what you want. As for my parents, I don't really know. I don't know anything about them. I have memories of my sister and I being with them… I don't remember their faces, just that we were together. Then my sister and I were fostered." The other half of the tuber is eaten and she shrugs. "I hear of riders who raise their kids on their own. That seems to be a thing. I don't know how I'd raise my kid, if I had one. Maybe… Half and half."
"Makes sense." S'ai says. "Never had one myself, but… I get the point of fostering. Riders are busy and if something happened, the backup is good to have. Stability for the kid too and.. maybe less obsessive ones. I will say, living around my mother's nasty-tempered gold was a challenge in survival. Still, I'm glad to know my parents and have a relationship with them for all of it."
"Exactly… Considering some of the dangerous situations we've found ourselves in?" The fire, for one. And countless things before. Dtirae furrows her brows just a bit. "And yeah, there's the dragon to consider. Some are very possessive. I think… Zuvaleyuth would enjoy it. She loves her eggs and, surprisingly, remembers most of her own." She chuckles just a bit. "Too bad that I probably won't end up having any." Just then, the food arrives. Two plates, to be exact, one with assorted finger foods and one that is of more substance for lunch. The latter is placed before S'ai while Dtirae takes the finger foods.
"Excellent example." S'ai says with a gestured index finger. Then there's lunch and he's giving the server a most pleased thanks and tucks into the sliced wherry sandwich. "Zer, I dunno. I have no idea how he's handle kids. He was mostly indifferent to Candidates unless one sparked his interest, ended up Searching four of 'em." Her mention of kids brings a faint tilt of his head, though he politely doesn't ask into it, only says, "You can always count on life throwing you a surprise. Usually when you least expect it or say something will never happen. Like a sleeping wher, it'll pop up and bite sometime - usually when you're poking or teasing it. It's why I just life one day at a time. Usually there's enough to worry about in any given candlemark, let alone Turns in the future. Go crazy worrying about it all."
Dtirae takes a roll from the plate, tearing it into smaller bits before popping them into her mouth. "Maybe he'll handle kids differently than he'll handle Candidates? I mean, they're two different things. Babies versus full-grown kids." She continues to pop the rolls into her mouth and hums. "I guess surprises can be thrown at you. But, I'm usually pretty careful about these things. If I have a kid, it'll be with someone I want to have kids with. A weyrmate or something. But, I'm not going to worry over it." She grins a touch wider.
"True." S'ai remarks. "Guess I'll find out some day. Or I wouln't. All I know if that he actually cares about his hatchlings for as long as he remembers. It's cool how Zuvaleyuth remembers her's. I wonder if Zeruth will if he ever sees them again." He seems to mull this, or he's just enjoying another bite of sandwich. "So! Your favorite hobbies!" He says with a teasing grin. "Card games, rock climbing, swimming. My top three."
"Well, first would be finding someone you want to weyrmate. And then, deciding whether or not you want children." Grin. "I'm sure you'll find out if he'll remember after this clutch? It'll be easier with them being in Fort." Dtirae blinks at his question at hobbies before she's laughing. "Hunting, and as an offshoot from that, making things from the hides. I suppose that could be called tanning. And… Swimming. Though, I like card games, too." She returns the teasing grin, "do you spend a lot of time climbing rocks? I haven't done that since returning from Drake's Lake."
"Fort and hunters!" S'ai says with a chuckle. "I'm just not that good at it, but hey, can't be amazing at everything. I love outdoor stuff. Rock climbing along the beaches was a favorite way to escape when I was a kid and I just kept doing it. Good workout and it's wonderful to see the world from that high. Dragon helps now but doing it myself is a good workout. Theeen you jump off the cliff into the ocean."
"What can I say? We have great forests. Was officially one of the Weyr's hunters before Velokraeth Searched me." Dtirae beams another grin in his direction. "Maybe you just haven't had a good teacher. I could take you out to hunt, sometime, if you want." More of the finger foods are gathered and then popped into her mouth. "I hadn't considered rock climbing like that… I'll have to give it a try. Usually, I was climbing up where there wasn't anything but land there. Zuvaleyuth monitored." In case she slipped. "It sounds like you've had a rather adventurous life so far."
"I can give it a shot." S'ai says with a good-natured shrug. "Patience and quiet are not my strong points though, just.. a warning. Zeruth keeps most of an eye on me, though we tend to… uh, enable one another. I figure long as we're jointly breaking one another it's not a big deal, though, we're trying to be responsible. I admit, I just love the rush of doing something reckless. I get it, though."
"There's different sort of hunting. Pit traps, though dangerous if you've got people wandering around. But, effective if you're not used to quiet and patience. You're loud, and drive the prey into the hole. It's not good for getting hides after, either. Because of the holes… Though it depends on the type." Dtirae waves a hand in a sort of dismissal. "We'll figure something out. And, I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with enabling one another, either. You do your duty when it is required, it seems." As she has observed! There's a soft laugh and she nods her understanding. "I get that. The rush that comes with it… I had fun doing that, too. Used to be a fighter. It was fun. That was a rush…"
S'ai clears his throat quietly, "Yeeah, I've had a few fights in my time, that crazy walk-in-the-woods idea as a Candidate aside. Bar fights, mostly. One with a trader who didn't like me looking at his sister. She was dancing! I mean, not looking is kinda rude. Anyway. That's our motto. Play hard, work hard. Try not to die or do permanent damage." He holds up his arm, showing the long scar on it and gives a helpless shrug. "Didn't work so well in weyrlinghood, but still alive."
"I'll have to ask about the crazy walk-in-the-woods story, sometime." Dtirae notes, "used to get into bar fights. Sparring with… Friends." She grins about the trader, "sounds like you're a ladies man?" Teasing, really. "But, seriously. I think that… What you do works. For you. I think you've got a good head on your shoulders." As he shows the scar, she's leaning in, just a bit. "What'd you get that from?"
"I got the same luck as anyone, I don't go hunting." S'ai says with a shrug of his shoulders. "Yeah, for now it's just us. Someday it may change. As for this scar, it was that mess in weyrlinghood. Zeruth and I got the grand idea that as soon as he flew once on his own we could up and go flying together. Went right into the cliff wall. Snapped my arm, they had to go in and fix it. He got tore up, I smacked my head against something.. knocked me clean out. Concussion. We ended up graduating late. Day we did, we got invited to Thunderbird by Abigail. Then I went to fill in my parents, except Zeruth got the memo Kairokyriath was rising and detoured us. Then that happened. It was.. a busy day."
Dtirae hums once but nods in understanding. "You're young, yet. It could change." She listens to the story of the scar, wincing visibly and her nose wrinkles some. "That sounds… Awful. Shells…" The breaking of the arm, graduating late bit. "Wow. So, you graduated and ended up winning your first flight all in the same day?" The woman whistles softly before grinning. "And you just won your second gold flight. A resilient pair, you two."
"Zeruth does the work." S'ai says with a quiet exhale. "I just get to deal with the diplomacy after. I'm just glad you're here. It's easier when you're at home. Sand sitting was boring and exhausting, lot harder when it's in a strange place. And.. ya know, you're you. I know you. Well, so to speak, but you're not a complete stranger. Easier to do these things when you're with someone you'd call a friend, ya know?"
"How true. But, he's proven to be a strong flier." Dtirae points out. "Diplomacy has to be the worst part. Especially catching at another Weyr." Her smile grows, a touch of fondness lingers there and she nods in understanding. "Right. I agree. I'd like to consider you a friend. And… To get to know you better, if you'd like."
"We're going to have a lot of time to talk!" S'ai says to her with a grin. "I wouln't leave you sitting out there by yourself the whole time. At least /this/ time I can sleep in my own bed. Which is amazing. Xanadu was okay, don't get me wrong, but it definitely reminded me Fort is home. I was glad to come back."
"True! As long as you're open to it." Dtirae laughs and gives him an appreciative smile. "I appreciate that I won't be alone." She glances down towards the plate on the table, picking pieces from it idly. "Sleeping in your own bed is always nice. I'm… Glad you consider Fort home." Grey eyes glance upwards and she smiles a little wider. "Thanks, S'ai."
"Hey, Fort's well and good, but it's the people that make it home." S'ai says with a gesture of his glass to the folks in the Lounge. "Crazy as they are, I wouldn't trade 'em." He offers up the glass then to the goldrider with a wide grin. "Here's to the clutch and plenty of conversations while getting chaffed by sand and scorched by heat, because that's what friends do!"
"Very true. I can't imagine Fort without all these people who are here now." Dtirae chuckles. "Agreed." She lifts her glass in cheers before downing her drink. "And, to a good clutch with healthy Hatchlings." With that, they'll finish their meals and part ways, at least for now.