Fort Weyr - Living Caverns
This cavern, having been created by bubbles in the volcanic flow of this extinct volcano, has a breathtaking ceiling — a vast dome that arches high above the heads of the weyrfolk that scurry around beneath it. A hollow echo can be heard from loud enough noises, and the chatterings of various firelizards are consequently multiplied into a chaotic babble. All in all, the living cavern is a loud place.
Tables are scattered around the room, apparently in no particular order. Over to one side near the kitchens, two medium sized serving tables are constantly spread with snacks, klah, and other goodies. The tables look worn, yet perfectly fitted to the atmosphere of the caverns. In the 'corners' of the cavern, smaller two and four place tables are set up for more private talks or just a less chaotic atmosphere in which to eat.

The current time for zone 3 is: 2690.9.5 17:06:37


The living caverns are all hustle and bustle as evening closes in on the Weyr, the cool autumn day fadining into a cold night. Many residents have settled in to dinner, making steady inroads against the roasts, fish, and vegetables arrayed on the serving tables. Idralia is among these, staking claim to a seat at a table beneath a heating vent and depositing her plate, mug, and a pitcher of klah on the table before adding a stack of documents from her satchel.

And enter Deitra, through the entry way from the bowl and shedding her jacket on the way while grey eyes scan the area in a thoughtful manner, searching for a good spot to settle down. Idralia's table becomes target number one and the woman makes her way that way, depositing her coat there. "Hey." A simple greeting and then she is off, towards the food table and piling a plate full of various foods. And when the plate doesn't look like it can handle any more, she's topping it off before returning to the place in which her coat resides. Plate goes down and Deitra makes herself comfortable there at the table before glancing at Idralia with an uplift of her brow.

It's been a while since Miki has left the infirmary, but news of her discharge has been overshadowed by news of an obnoxious, fur coat wearing weaver that runs about the Weyr calling the assistant 'my Miki'. Today however, it is the greenrider that appears in the caverns, wearing a flowy blue shirt and well fitting pants. Stretching lazily, she moves up to the food tables. It seems like the tiny woman is making up for all those months of being unable to eat properly, her plate piled to the brim before she makes her way to the table already occupied by Idralia and Deitra. "Hey Idalia, and…." There's a glance towards the other girl, staring for a few seconds before a small lightbulb seems to go off in her head, though she doesn't comment on whatever it is she's discovered.

Idralia glances at the pale skinned woman curiously as she stops by, watching her for a moment before returning her attention to her papers and meal. It is only when the girl returns that Idra looks up again, granting a brief nod of greeting. "Evening," she says simply before she starts to examine her papers once more. Miki's arrival, however, pulls her full attention, and she smiles warmly to the greenrider. "Hey, Miki! Good to see you without your shadow," she says as she stands, reaching to touch the rider's arm in greeting.

Miki's face is an unknown one to this young woman, but she gives her a rather polite smile and a nod of greeting before she's reaching for a breadroll on her plate and ripping it in half before also tearing that half. "Deitra." She supplies for the greenrider before grinning. "Well met." Idralia has her attention again, considering the paper that the woman works on with her brow lifting higher upon her head before the name the crafter supplies has her zeroing in on the greenrider once more. Mouth opens, "so yer the sister of the crazy weirdo." And insert bread and she goes on to chew the bun before looking towards her plate and picking out a fingerroot from the massive pile of food.

Miki smiles over at Idralia. "Hey there. Thanks, nice to see you too. Looks like you've been busy?" The arm touch is given a slight nod before the assistant slips into a seat and leans back. "Ah! I knew it. You are Deitra." The girl also earns a grin which quickly turns into an amused smirk. "Crazy….weirdo….well, I have to say. There's only one person in this Weyr fitting that description. And it /is/ my brother. You should hear him, going about my weyr chirping about how, 'I'm going to be giving Dei and Lyn brother clothes. They're in /dire/ need of my fashionable creations.'" The imitation is done with a slightly lower voice, though Miki can't physically go to his voice level. "Don't take him too seriously, yeah?"

"Ah, yes, hello Deitra," Idra says, glancing toward the young woman with a brief smile before looking back to Miki. "I've been lucky enough to not meet him," she admits. "I've been hiding in the mechanical rooms as much as possible to avoid him. But he seems to have done some good for you," she adds with a grin. She settles back into her seat, shifting her papers out of the way and taking a drink from her mug. "How long do you expect him to stay here?"

Deitra eyes Miki for the greeting, chewing on her bread and then taking a bite of the fingerroot. "You think he's a crazy weirdo, too, and he's your brother. Then you know something has ta be wrong with him." The hunter wrinkles her nose and takes another bite from the finger root in her hand. "He ain't touchin' me. Told him I'm going ta break his fingers if he touches me." Brows are drawn into a frown and she considers the greenrider for a moment longer. "He seems serious. Hard not ta take him serious when the first thing he says is that yer needin' a bath and ta be meeting his standards." Her nose wrinkles, gaze shifting to her plate and considering her choices before plucking a green between two fingers and popping that in her mouth. The crafter earns a rather blank look from the young woman, "and you are? Not the best with names, and if we met before I don't remember. Unless you did something ta make yourself more than just a face." But, she grins. "Names aren't my thing. Same with being girly. Ain't my thing."

Miki raises and eyebrow at Idra. "He's not /that bad/. It's not like you have to sneak around….but yeah, it's nice to have some family around." A few forkfuls of food are shoveled into her mouth, all of which is finished up before she opens her mouth to speak again. "Well he transferred here, so unless something goes horribly wrong, for a while." There's a look towards Deitra and then another snicker. "He's got strong opinions about how one should present themselves. He's really harmless though. He would never lay a finger on anyone unless they said ok, but that doesn't man he wouldn't keep commenting on it. Because he will." Miki shakes her head, giving a soft shuckle and fond smile. "I'll tell him you're off limits for a makeover. Though like I said, even /I/ can't keep him from rambling at you."

Idralia lifts a brow briefly at Deitra's question toward her. "As Miki said, I'm Idralia. I thought you'd heard her, or I would have said it earlier. I'm sure we've crossed paths at some point, but I don't think we've had a chance to talk," she replies readily enough. To Miki she says, "Have you ever tried crawling through ventillation shafts in a skirt, let alone a frilly dress? I'm not going to tempt him to try and make it happen, thank you. I've heard enough people say he's driving them to distraction whenever he starts talking about fashion and appearances that I'd rather not deal with it." She quiets down then, focusing on trying to eat her dinner as quickly as possible.

"Opinions are best when they are kept ta yerself unless you know yer company and yer all in agreement ta speak freely. First words ta a person being what he said? Not a proper greeting." Deitra mutters under her breath, staring at her plate and then picking something else out to eat. Notably, there is not a fork anywhere near by the young woman that she grabbed to eat with. Fingers seem to be all the rage. "Would appreciate it if you told him that I ain't interested in gettin' made inta some pretty girl. Ain't practical when I'm out killin' things." Grey eyes lift from her plate and settle on Miki before offering another smile towards the woman. "Still means I'll just want ta break his face. Won't do it unless he touches me, though." Idralia earns her attention and the young woman looks distant for a moment, then shaking her head. "Nope. I don't think I was listenin'. Noticed her lookin' and offered a name." A soft chuckle and she pulls some more food from her plate. "That has ta be interstin', being in a ventilation shaft…" Silence consumes the hunter as she quickly becomes lost in thought.

Miki snickers, "Someone my size could wear three dresses and fit through a ventilation shaft. But nah, like I said, he's not gonna dress you up unless you ask him too. Distraction though….yeah, he's a major distraction. People learn quickly enough to ignore him though." The assistant gives a small shrugs before turning back to Deitra and raising an eyebrow. "Do you honestly think he's one to give a proper greeting to /anyone/? Yeah….I definitely wouldn't try touching his face. That doesn't end well. Aniki's a bit…." Miki trails off, attempting to find an accurate word to describe him. "Well, he's not all bad basically. Just tell me if you're having serious problems with him."

"Hmmm?" goes Idralia when Deitra speaks to her, blinking at her for a moment before catching up to the conversation. "I hope it isn't interesting. Interesting usually means something has gone wrong, like a fan breaking or a filter getting clogged. Or that I'm up there to scrub the things out, which is hardly pleasant," she clarifies. She makes a face at Miki's comment. "If I were your size, that part of my job would be a piece of cake. Oh well. It motivates me to keep in shape," she remarks.

"Nope. Not him. Don't seem the type ta give a proper hello." Deitra declares without a second thought, "even treated Lyn like some animal when he met her, called her over like one would try ta corral an animal that got lose." The hunter shrugs and moves her plate slightly to the side so that she may plop her elbow upon the table, propping her chin up by her hand and staring at the greenrider. "I ain't touchin' his face unless he gives me reason ta. If he cares 'bout it, he'll move. I'll let you know if there's any further issue." A soft chuckle, "I mean. If he wasn't so persistent, I wouldn't have minded it so much. Woulda laughed it off." Her grin grows wider as her eyes shift towards Idralia again. "Vents could be used for interestin' things."

Miki laughs, "Well, if you were my size, you'd also be mistaken as a little more often than not." Further mention of Aniki has the greenie rolling her eyes, "He has this tendency to label all women as kittens and all men as dogs. Of course, this also means that he's learned to dodge pretty well, so I don't think I'm too worried about the two of you." A few more bites of food before Miki downs some of her drink. "I think it's more that he doesn't care what other people have to say rather than persistance….meh. Aniki is his own brand of special. And that isn't going to change. Believe me, we've tried."

Idralia winces at Deitra's grin, responding with a firm, "No." She shakes her head. "Interesting things should very much /not/ happen in vents. It's hard enough to keep them clean without people sneaking in and out and tracking in who knows what that would have to be cleaned up." That may be a point of irritation for the crafter. Miki's mention of her brother's labels elicits a soft snort. "Right. I'd like to see how he does with R'oc. Then again… maybe not." Wince.

"Sounds good then. Least if he can make himself up when talkin' like that, I ain't got any issues." At ease now, Deitra picks up a few more tidbits from her plate, popping her fingers into her mouth and peeking at Idralia for the rejection of he notions. Fingers are withdrawn and she chews, listening for a bit and then nodding. "Figure a lotta people get the idea to put something that ain't the freshest in there. Sorta a been there, done that thing, though. Most of the weyrbrats probably have some claim ta that." Fingers dip back down onto her plate and pokes at it. "Could pay money ta see it."

Miki freezes for a few moments before suddenly bursting into a fit of giggles. "Oh….oh shards. That'd be great! Aniki'd probably hit him with that stupid wooden fan of his or something. And then they'd get into a fight and I can seriously see R'oc running after him yelling…..Aniki's fast. REALLY fast." The greenie seems to be tearing up a bit as these images run through her head. "I…have to set this up….shells." Weyrbrat pranks. Miki knows ALL about those. "Pay? Shards, the brats here will do it for free. Just ask the right one." And by the sly ound of her voice, Miki knows who the right one is.

Idralia gives a pronounced shudder of disgust as she recalls many a day spent picking stuff out of vents and ductwork. "You have no idea the kinds of things that used to turn up in there, before we installed better vent covers and filters," she says. "I still check the easiest to reach places frequently, just to be on the safe side." Her lips start to twitch as the topic moves to R'oc vs Aniki. "I'm not sure who I'd bet on," she admits. "I'd love to see the Weyrleader get knocked down a peg or two, but I don't know if your brother could do it."

"He has a fan?" Deitra blinks then shakes her head slightly, "no. That shouldn't surprise me. I'm tempted to goad R'oc into tracking him down and talkin' him inta finding your brother. Sell tickets ta the event. Get rich. Buy a runner." Big dreams, there. Big dreams. "Nah. Any ol' weyrbrat wouldn't really be the same as yer brother, bein' how he is and all. 'm sure quite a few he has imposed himself on may enjoy it." A chuckle and she picks at her plate again, fingers going into her mouth. Grey eyes resettle on Idralia and the weyrbred hunter just does her best innocent look but saying nothing more on vents and their covers. "I wouldn't care, long as I got 'nough ta buy a runner."

Miki grins, "You bet on whoever. I'm betting on Aniki. The boy's stronger than he looks. Or, well,….it's not strength per say, just effective use of speed and his size. Pressure points, weak spots. Those he knows. Can't throw a proper punch for the life of him, but a quick jab in the right place is just as effective. It's the same kind of self defense I use." There's a bit of silence as the greenie listens to Deitra's business plans and a quiet snicker. "Tell him you're show casing both his beauty and his brilliant fighting skills and he won't even ask you for a cut. And yes….many enjoy it. You should see the number of people that swoon over him back at the Hall. I once had to throw this one girl off our property cause she followed him home. And he of course was all like, 'Oh sweet kitten. Come under my wings. I am generous and noble. NO ONE WILL BE TURNED AWAY BY MY GREAT SELF!'"

Idralia shakes her head as she listens, continuing to eat as quickly as she can without choking. Finishing her meal, she drains her klah and starts to tidy her space. "Please let me know when the event will occur, and I'll make sure to be there," she says with a smile. "I'm sure it'll be worth the wait. For now, I have to get back to work. It's been a pleasure to meet you, Deitra. Miki, always happy to see you looking well. I'll catch up with you more later." And she bustles off, taking her dishes to the bins before toting her satchel deeper into the Weyr.

Deitra stares at Miki, fingers coming to rest in her mouth after putting some more food in. A frown tugs at her brows once more before she's nodding. "I'll have ta ask him about that, then. The pressure points and weak spots. See if he know somethin' that I don't." More food is pulled from the plate, clasped between her index finger and thumb and then placed in her mouth again. Slowly but surely, the plate is being cleared. "Mmf. Well, better ta get him ta go willingly and let me have all his cut rather than havin' ta share. I'll do that, then." And now the plot is certainly in the works in the woman's mind, brows furrowing with her thoughts before being drawn from then once more by Idralia's departure. "Later." A shake of her head. "Can't imagine doing work while eatin'. She's either really dedicated or she didn't do all her work on time."

Miki waves after Idra with a wink, "Thanks! I'm glad I'm doing better too." Once she's gone though the rider turns to Deitra with a raised eyebrow. "Are you SURE you want to do that? You're seriously never going to heard the end of how amazing his knowledge and skills are." Another shake of her head before Miki drowns the rest of her glass. "I'm warning you now. Once you get the least bit involved, there's really no escape." The comment about Idra earns glance towards the direction the techcrafter had disappeared. "She's pretty dedicated I think…well, as far as I know."

Those fingers linger in her mouth, sucking off the remaining bits of food before reaching for another. "Probably not. I could just find a book or somethin' to learn from rather than listenin' ta him blab his face of again." Deitra considers, poking her fingers into her mashed tubers and considering before scooping up some with a single digit and popping it into her mouth. The finger lingers there and she mutters, "ain't going ta get too involved. Just going ta convince him ta get into fights and yeah. Oh, maybe not just with R'oc. Maybe get people ta try and beat him and they pay money to get inta the fights and if they lose, I keep it all. Sure fire way ta get my runner." A soft cackle of delight and more mashed tubbers are scooped up onto her finger. "Never really think 'bout the person that has ta clean up yer pranks."

Miki snorts, "I'll tell you one thing dear, you talk to him more than twice and you're /already/ involved. Whether you like it or not. He doesn't exactly listen well even if you try to get away…." A few more bites and the rider's plate is emptied. "Well, that sounds fine to me. If my brother gets broken though, I'm not going to be too happy. So don't hold the fights /too/ often, yeah? Though….it's more likely them that get broken." With a shrug the assistant stands, stretching a bit before picking up her plates. "Anyhow, you talk to him about that if you want. I have no part in this whatsoever. And I said NOTHING encouragaing. Got it?" There's a quick wink at the younger girl. "I've got some paperwork to deal with, but I'm sure I'll see you around!" With a final wave and grin, Miki heads off then. To do boring stuff.


'The World of Pern(tm)' and 'The Dragonriders of Pern(r)' are copyright to Anne McCaffrey (c) l967, 2000. This is a recorded online session, by permission of the author but generated on PernWorld MUSH for the benefit of people unable to attend.